South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
Florida has the most pedestrian deaths in the country, ranking it the most dangerous place for pedestrians, according to a pedestrian safety report released by Transportation For America.
The 2011 edition looks back on the 47,000 people killed walking along roadways in the United States. It also looks back on the 688,000 injuries sustained from these pedestrian accidents in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere throughout the country. Now, in an attempt to reduce the risks of these accidents, Dangerous by Design 2011 will examine the information and attempt to form solutions for these preventable deaths.
The new report comes with a number of features. You are able to view fact sheets that are specific to each of the 50 states and you can even look, through interactive pedestrian maps, at the pedestrian fatalities that have occurred in your very own community.
Our Miami personal injury lawyers would like to stress the importance of this report as it illustrates our deadly streets. Florida experienced the most pedestrian deaths during the examined time period, 2000 to 2009. Florida metro areas took the first, second, third and fourth place for having the most dangerous metro areas in the country. We hope the release of this report will help raise awareness about the importance of safe and alert driving.
During the studied years, more than 5,000 people were killed while walking the streets of Florida. These accidents cost the state more than $22 billion. The Sunshine State has a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 182.8, which is what gives our state the number one ranking out of all 50 states.
The areas that saw the most pedestrian fatalities in Florida are:
-Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, 1,555
-Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, 905
-Orlando-Kissimmee, 557
-Jacksonville, 342
-Cape Coral-Fort Myers, 178
Most of these pedestrian accidents happen along arterial roads. These roads are dangerous by design as they fall under federal construction and planning and are meant to accommodate speedy traffic flow. These roadways have little to no safety provisions for on-foot travelers.
The highways-only lobbyists insist that pedestrian safety is a mere luxury, an unnecessary feature, that is the responsibility of local government. Meanwhile, almost 70 percent of these pedestrian deaths occurred on federal-aid roads.
The federal funding that goes toward the safety of pedestrians only makes us less than 1.5 percent of the entire federal transportation outlay. This tiny bit of funding may cease as Congress is currently looking at eliminating it altogether. Shouldn’t we have a say in where our tax dollars go?
If you would like to help increase the safety of our roadways, you are asked to contact Congress to tell them that it is no time to start cutting funding that could keep our pedestrians safe.
The Fort Lauderdale pedestrian accident attorneys at Freeman & Mallard have been successfully and aggressively representing accident victims and their families in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Pierce /Port St. Lucie for years. Call us today to schedule a no-obligation appointment to discuss your case at 1-800-529-2368.
More Blog Entries:
More traffic brings increased risk of pedestrian accidents in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale , South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, January 25, 2011
Early dark increases risk of pedestrian accidents in South Florida, including Port St. Lucie and Fort Lauderdale, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, November 7, 2010
Student safety campaign aims to reduce pedestrian accidents in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach , South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, October 20, 2010