Walking, even like a man, is dangerous in South Florida
Excerpt: Skyrocketing death rates are highest in the state, where streets are built for speed, and Orlando and Miami are among the deadliest cities.
Nine of the 20 deadliest U.S. cities for pedestrians are in Florida, with Orlando ranked as least safe and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolis ranked No. 14 in the 2019 “Dangerous By Design” report from Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition.
Harrowing data showed that between 2008 and 2017 the number of annual pedestrian deaths in the U.S. increased by 35.7 percent. A total of 49,340 died in that 10-year period. That’s more than 13 people killed per day or one person every hour and 46 minutes.
Bottom Line: Well, that doesn’t exactly make you feel warm and fuzzy now does it? It’s a reminder that as we talk about how dangerous it is to drive in South Florida, with stretches of I-95 often being ranked the most dangerous in the country, those same drivers take exits and drive around the rest of South Florida too. There are several aspects to this story that’re alarming. Starting with that near 36% increase in pedestrian deaths over the past ten years.
The US population grew by 7% over that same ten-year stretch. To put it another way the rate of increase of pedestrian deaths increased by more than 500% over the past decade when you adjust for population growth. Point is it's not just numbers that thankfully haven’t included you. It’s a real and fast-growing problem and lucky us in South Florida, we’re in one of the most dangerous locations. It’ll sound corny to say that we really do need to look twice before crossing the street, but we do. But that’s just part of the conversation given that we likely can’t rely on more responsible drivers in SFL anytime soon or ever (maybe autonomous?)… We’re in one of the most desirable locations in the world for getting out to walk and bike yet many communities rank extremely low for the ability to do so. That’s without a doubt part of the problem. A greater emphasis on sidewalks and bike lanes in more communities should likely be a priority.