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Florida No. 1. for Pedestrian Accident Risk, Its Metro Areas Ranking 8 of Top 10

Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 18:46:22 GMT

A new report indicates walking may be hazardous for your health – in Florida, anyway.

Florida has long ranked among the most perilous places for people to move in non-motorized vehicles, and pedestrian accidents in Fort Lauderdale have been a major problem for residents and tourists alike. Now, the newest Dangerous by Design report by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition found 8 of the 10 deadliest metro areas for pedestrians were right here in the Sunshine State. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area ranked No. 14. The other Florida locations where hazards were even higher were:

No. 1. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
No. 2. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach
No. 3. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
No. 4. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton
No. 5. Lakeland-Winter Haven
No. 6. Jacksonville
No. 8. Cape Coral-Fort Myers
No. 8. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater

Bakersfield, CA and Jackson, MS rounded out the top 10.

Between 2008 and 2017, U.S. pedestrian deaths spiked by nearly 36 percent. Nearly 50,000 people lost their lives in pedestrian accidents during that decade, which works out to more than 13-a-day, noted The Miami Herald. Put a different way: That’s the equivalent of a large jet going down once a month. If we had 5,000 people dying every single year in plane crashes, air travel would come to an immediate halt and we’d be looking into swift and decisive policy changes. Yet the problem is getting worse.

As our Fort Lauderdale pedestrian accident attorneys know, pedestrian deaths have climbed every single year since 2009, unlike overall traffic deaths, which have fallen by 6 percent.

Over the course of that decade in Florida, more than 5,330 people were killed. That means we have 2.74 pedestrian fatalities for every 100,000 people here, which works out to a pedestrian-danger index of 182. In Texas, the state with the second-highest PDI, it’s slightly less than 112.

Just in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach region, there were nearly 1,550 pedestrians struck and killed, for a PDI of 153.5.

Many of those killed are disproportionately elderly and minorities who live in poor communities.

Why Does Florida Have So Many Pedestrian Deaths?

The problem, say traffic policy experts, isn’t that people are walking more. We are driving slightly more, but that still doesn’t account for the out-sized risk. The issue, according to report authors, is that Florida was built for speed. Streets were designed solely with the purpose of facilitating fast-moving motor vehicle traffic, and that hasn’t changed since the WWII era. We are continuing to design streets that are unsafe for everyone – including motorists.

Sprawling growth patterns – particularly in the South – have led to roads that are wider, blocks that are longer, and prioritization of motor vehicle traffic over the safe movement of those on foot, bicycle, e-scooters or mass transit.

Another problem is the design of our motor vehicles. Large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks have become increasingly popular, and yet are associated with a pedestrian fatality rate that is three times higher compared to those collisions involving a smaller sedan.

Some call for decreasing dependency on motor vehicles as well as a shift to road planning that incorporates both the needs and safety of all users. That means safer intersections (more roundabouts), more sidewalks, more bicycle lanes and narrower vehicle lanes that encourage slower motor vehicle traffic.

Florida Pedestrian Accident Deaths an Urgent Concern

Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 19:53:50 GMT

The Florida pedestrian accident death of a 16-year-old on Palm Coast has prompted residents in the community to advocate for increased street and traffic lights and sidewalks on the stretch of road where it happened.

The are in which the teen was walking on the night she was killed is not lighted and has no sidewalks, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The Palm Coast Observer reported the driver who struck her said he couldn’t see her due to her dark clothing. However, that this fact alone does not mean she is responsible for the crash, nor does it means her family is barred from pursuing litigation. These kinds of cases should be weighed by an experienced injury lawyer.

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its updated numbers on pedestrian accidents nationally. The results were not encouraging.more

In 2015, the most recent year for which national data is available, there were 5,376 pedestrian accident fatalities. This marked a 9.5 percent increase in the number of pedestrian deaths in just a single year. That’s the highest number since 1996.

On average, a pedestrian was killed every hour-and-a-half in this country and one was injured every 7.5 minutes.

Florida is an especially dangerous place for people on foot – and has been for some time. of the 2,939 people killed in traffic accidents, 628 were pedestrians. That was third only to California (732) and Texas (537), which both have populations that dwarf Florida’s – Texas has 7 million more people and California has 20 million more.

When it came to cities that had a high rate of pedestrian accident deaths, those with a population of 500,000 or higher, Jacksonville had one of the highest rates, with 4.31 per 100,000 population.

One in every five pedestrians killed were children 14 and younger. The 16-year-old Matanzas High School student killed in Palm Coast was walking on an area of road where a multi-use path for pedestrians and bicyclists is planned. Although the Florida Department of Transportation has approved a grant that will fund it and the city is about a third of the way complete designing it, ground likely won’t be broken for several more months at least.

Just two weeks before the fatal crash, residents had informed city leaders of the dangers along the road and of the pressing need for sidewalks. One resident responding to a citizen survey said residents there feel “forgotten.”

Now, after the teen’s death, they note that while sidewalks and multi-use paths may take time, street lights are easier and faster – and likely should have been installed a long time ago. The city had originally implemented a continuous street light program, but city council slashed that during the recession and never re-funded it.

Issues like this aren’t isolated to Palm Coast.

According to the most recent annual Dangerous by Design report, eight of the top 10 most dangerous metro regions for pedestrians are in Florida. The 11th is Miami-Fort Lauderdale – West Palm Beach.

The number of pedestrian accident fatalities in Florida has been steadily climbing over the last 10 years. Victims are more likely to be older, poorer and minorities, the study found.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Residents push for more street lights after teenager is struck and killed walking after dark, March 14, 2017, By Jonathan Simmons, Palm Coast Observer

More Blog Entries:

Poor Road Design, Inadequate Signage Blamed in Car Accident, Feb. 19, 2017, Fort Lauderdale Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Blog

Florida Most Dangerous Place for Pedestrians, Analysis Shows

Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys — Sat, 21 Jan 2017 15:40:04 GMT

Pedestrians aren’t safe in Florida. In fact, this state – and the Southern part of it in particular – is the most dangerous place in America for people to venture out on foot.

That’s according to a new study, Dangerous by Design 2016, conducted by SmartGrowth America, in concert with the National Complete Streets Coalition. In fact, eight of the ten most dangerous metro areas to walk in the nation are in Florida. Those regions in the top 10 are:

Fort Myers
Palm Bay/ Melbourne
Orlando
Jacksonville
Daytona Beach
Lakeland/ Winter Haven
Tampa/ St. Petersburg
North Port/ Sarasota

The Miami/ Fort Lauderdale/ West Palm Beach region was listed at No. 11 nationally. This was out of the 104 largest metro areas in the country.

The statistics were also broken down by state, and of course, Florida was No.1.

The report explains that more 46,100 people have died after being struck by a vehicle while walking between 2005 and 2014. In 2014, which is the most recent year for which information is available, there were 4,884 pedestrians who lost their lives in America. That’s 13 people every single day who were struck and killed by a car while walking. To put that into perspective, you are more likely to be killed as a pedestrian than you are to die in a natural disaster.

As our Fort Lauderdale pedestrian injury lawyers know, every single one of these individuals is someone’s child, parent, spouse, friend, neighbor, co-worker or classmate. These tragedies are occurring everywhere – from small towns to bustling metropolises.

Some troubling details uncovered in the report, specifically with regard to who is most at-risk:

Minorities are vastly over-represented in terms of pedestrians killed. People who are not white make up less than 35 percent of the population, and yet they comprise more than 46 percent of those killed in pedestrian accidents.
People over the age of 65 are also over-represented. In fact, they are 50 percent more likely than those in younger cohorts to be killed by a motor vehicle while walking.
The danger to pedestrians is tied to the median household income and the rate of those without health insurance. Essentially, those people who can least afford to suffer a serious personal injury are most likely to live in areas where it’s very dangerous to walk.

Victims of pedestrian accidents do have legal options, and those should be explored with an experienced injury lawyer. One of the first of those is to file a claim against the driver of the car, as most of these situations stem from negligence by the driver. If the crash was a hit-and-run, pedestrians may be able to file a claim with their own auto insurer (even though they were not driving) under the uninsured/ underinsured motorist coverage provision. There could also in some instances be possible third-party claims, such as dangerous road design or maintenance filed against the public entity responsible for the road or intersection.

As the report notes, streets in America have historically prioritized motor vehicles that move quickly – and only motor vehicles. The failure to take into better consideration the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists and those utilizing public transportation has meant these communities are much more dangerous for these vulnerable road users.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Walking In America Remains Dangerous — Especially In Florida, Jan. 10, 2016, By Laurel Wamsley, NPR

More Blog Entries:

Delray Beach Intersection Won’t Get New Light, Despite Fatal Crash, Dec. 10, 2016, Fort Lauderdale Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Blog