Florida
ranked most dangerous state in nation
for number of preventable pedestrian deaths
for number of preventable pedestrian deaths
Despite improvements, Lee still leads
SW Florida in pedestrian danger
Fort
Myers, FL --Florida
continues to be the most dangerous state in the nation for pedestrians, and Lee
County's numbers are among the worst for Southwest Florida, according to a new
report released by the National
Complete Streets Coalition. From 2003-2012, 5,189 people were
killed while walking in Florida, with 163 of those in Lee County.
The report, “Dangerous By Design 2014,” ranks America's
major metropolitan areas according to a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) that
assesses how safe pedestrians are while walking. The top four deadliest major
metropolitan areas in the country for pedestrians are in Florida – Orlando,
Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami. The report also found that the majority of those
deaths likely could have been prevented with safer street design.
While the Cape
Coral/Fort Myers metro area is not among the 51 largest metro areas that were
ranked by PDI, the report presents data on pedestrian fatalities in every U.S.
metro area and every county, including Lee County. According to the report, Lee
County's pedestrian fatality rate was 78% higher than the national average
during the decade of 2003-2012. Lee County's rate was 2.77 pedestrian
fatalities per 100,000 people, compared to 1.56 nationwide and 2.83 for Florida
overall. In Lee County there were 163 pedestrian deaths during the last decade,
comprising 16.9% of all traffic fatalities -- 37% higher than the national
average (12.3%), but slightly below the Florida average of 17.7%.
The report looks
at the annual pedestrian death rate (per 100,000 people) for the past five
years (2008-12) in the 20 metro areas in Florida, including the Cape Coral-Fort
Myers area, and shows that our area ranked in the bottom 20% of Florida metro
areas for pedestrian death rate (ranked 18th out of 20). This is a major
improvement over the 2011 report, when our metro area ranked 5th out of 20 when
ranked by fatality rate. A key difference is that the data set eliminates the
period of 2005-2007, which saw record high pedestrian fatalities in Lee County.
In terms of Lee
County's ranking compared to all 67 Florida counties, Lee County's pedestrian
fatality rate for the 10-year data period covered (2003-2012) ranked 31 out of
67 counties, above both the state and federal averages and highest of Southwest
Florida’s coastal counties. This is a significant improvement over the 2011
report, when Lee County ranked 17th out of 67 counties.
While Lee County's
relative rankings within the state have improved, it's important to remember
that our pedestrian fatality rates and percent of all traffic deaths that are
pedestrians far exceed the national averages.
Compared to the 2011
“Dangerous by Design” (which used 2000-2009 data), Lee County's performance
made moderate improvements relative to both national and Florida numbers (see
attached table). This is tempered by the knowledge that the county’s
performance worsened in 2013, when Lee County had a record 24 pedestrian
fatalities--the highest since 2005 (which saw a record 32 fatalities).
While the
“Dangerous by Design” report only focused on pedestrian fatalities, bicycle
fatalities are also of great concern -- and in fact, Lee County's performance
relative to both the nation and Florida is far worse than our pedestrian
record. During the same period (2003-2012), bicycle fatalities represented 4%
of all traffic fatalities in Lee County -- double the national average and
one-third higher than the Florida average. The bicycle fatality rate was 0.66
per 100,000 population -- three times the national average and 53% higher than
Florida's average.
The majority of
pedestrian deaths occur on roadways that are dangerous by design -- engineered
for speeding traffic with little to no provision for the safety of people
walking, biking or using public transit. As the report points out, Florida grew
in the post-war period, mostly through rapid spread of low-density
neighborhoods that rely on wider streets with higher speeds to connect homes,
shops and schools -- roads that tend to be more dangerous for people walking. Seventy-three
percent of pedestrian deaths in Florida were on roads where the posted speed
limit was 40 mph or greater (compared to 61.3% nationally). In Lee County, the
percent was even greater -- 81.8%.
 |
| A "dangerous by design" road in Tice |
Pedestrian safety
is often perceived as a strictly local issue but, for decades federal dollars
have been invested in thousands of miles of state and local roads in the heart
of communities. In fact, 68 percent of all pedestrian fatalities over the past
decade occurred on federal-aid roads--roads that follow federal guidelines and
are eligible to receive federal funds.
"Older
adults have the greatest fatality rate of any group," said AARP Florida
State Director Jeff Johnson. "Although Florida has made strides to address
pedestrian fatalities in the last few years, there is clearly much more work to
be done to make Florida streets and highways safer for all pedestrians,”
Johnson said. “AARP stands ready to work with Florida state, county, city and
advocacy groups to make our streets safer for all.”
The “Dangerous by
Design” report includes recommendations for federal, state, and local officials
to help communities save lives and improve the safety and comfort for everyone
who uses the roadways. Since the last report in 2011, Lee County has undertaken
some of these recommendations. First, the county's adoption of a complete
streets policy and implementation plan in 2009 serves as the critical long term
framework for making our streets safer for all users. In 2011, the Lee County
MPO adopted its first ever countywide bicycle and pedestrian master plan,
followed by a countywide bicycle and pedestrian safety action plan in 2013. This
action plan includes many improvements highlighted in the national report. The plan
also takes a collaborative approach, bringing together transportation, public
health, law enforcement agencies and advocates to work on these problems.
"The key now
is for each local jurisdiction and agency leaders to implement the approved action
plan," said Darla Letourneau with BikeWalkLee, a local coalition working
to encourage complete streets in Lee County. "It will take commitment and
sustained leadership to implement this plan, but it is vital to the safety and
quality of life of our citizens that our unacceptably high pedestrian and
bicycle fatalities and injuries be greatly reduced," Letourneau said.
 |
| A model complete street--N. Estero Blvd. in Ft. Myers Beach |
Florida and Lee
County have a long way to go to improve the safety for all road users, but
we're on the right path. We look forward to the day when Florida no longer
holds the dubious distinction as the most dangerous state in the nation for
both pedestrians and bicyclists.
 |
| Find pedestrian fatalities in your area |
Click here for BikeWalkLee's complete package of tables, graphs, and analysis related to the 2014 report.
New: Click here for the NBC-2 News story on 5/20 on the report, with an interview with BWL's Dan Moser.
BOX:
Over the past
decade, Lee County has received millions in funding from the federal
Transportation Alternatives program (and its predecessor programs), which have
supported sidewalk and bike path projects throughout the county that have made
it safer for pedestrians, as well as cyclists. In September 2013, the Lee MPO
was successful in winning a $10.4 million federal TIGER grant for its complete
streets initiative project, which will close gaps in the county's pedestrian
and bicycle infrastructure and improve safety of our roadways. Closely tied to
the TIGER grant is the Lee MPO's Bicycle Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (BPSAP)
adopted in September 2013, aimed at greatly reducing pedestrian and bicycle
fatality and injury crashes through a wide range of recommended activities – from
education, engineering to enforcement. (See Bicycle Pedestrian Safety Action Plan,
p. 8-11 has the 18 specific action items.)
# # #
About
The National Complete Streets Coalition:
The National Complete Streets Coalition, a
program of Smart Growth America, seeks to fundamentally transform the look, feel
and function of the roads and streets in our community, by changing the way
most roads are planned, designed and constructed. Complete Streets policies
direct transportation planners and engineers to consistently plan and design
streets with all users in mind.
About
Smart Growth America:
Smart Growth America is the only national
organization dedicated to researching, advocating for and leading coalitions to
bring better development to more communities nationwide. From providing more
sidewalks to ensuring more homes are built near public transportation or that
productive farms remain a part of our communities, smart growth helps make sure
people across the nation can live in great neighborhoods.
About
BikeWalkLee:
BikeWalkLee is a community
coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee
County—streets that are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and
convenient travel for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and
transit riders of all ages and abilities. For more information, visit www.BikeWalkLee.org, the BikeWalkLee blog
at http://bikewalklee.blogspot.com/,
or find us on Facebook and Twitter.
SIDEBAR:
State steps up for safety
As the national
report highlights, while the federal government can set the tone for national
approach to safety, states have ultimate responsibility for reducing pedestrian
and bicycle fatalities and injuries. The year 2011 was a turning point for
Florida, when the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) decided the state had
to take action to shed its ranking as worst in the nation. In 2011, FDOT
Secretary Ananth Prasad launched a statewide pedestrian and bicycle-focused
initiative, led by FDOT District 1 Secretary Billy Hattaway. This comprehensive
initiative is focused on Florida's top 10 worst regions, which includes Lee
County. For the past two years FDOT has provided additional assistance and
resources to help Lee County in improving pedestrian and bicycle safety.
"Since 2011,
there has been a sea change at the state level, with FDOT taking many steps to improve
policies, procedures, staffing, and its agency's culture, and Lee County is
benefitting from FDOT's leadership,” said Darla Letourneau with BikeWalkLee. “We
are confident that FDOT's initiative will make Florida a safer place to walk
and bike; however, the results in terms of reduced fatalities won't show up
immediately. Roads that are dangerous by design take years to be modified and
improved for pedestrian and bicycle safety, so the task is like turning a
battleship, not a rowboat," said Letourneau.
"We are
especially looking forward to the soon to be released FDOT complete streets
policy and implementation plan and guidance on road diets,
context-sensitive-based pedestrian and bicycle design, mid-block pedestrian
crossings, and promotion of roundabouts. All of these policies and guidelines
will be valuable tools for local agencies working to improve the safety on our
streets," said Letourneau. "We hope that in the future FDOT will also
pursue additional policy changes recommended in report, such as reforms in
evaluating roadway performance to account for the needs of all travelers,
reforms in policy for establishing speed limits to provide local control, and
allowing a wider range of guidelines."
###
Southwest Florida statistics
County
|
Total fatalities 2003-2012
|
Total pedestrian fatalities 2003-2012
|
Percentage of traffic deaths that were pedestrians
2003-2012
|
Annual pedestrian deaths per 100,000 pop.
|
State rank 2003-2012
|
Hendry
|
162
|
14
|
8.60%
|
3.66
|
11
|
State
total
|
29,302
|
5,189
|
17.70%
|
2.83
|
N/A
|
Lee
|
964
|
163
|
16.90%
|
2.77
|
31
|
Charlotte
|
282
|
38
|
13.50%
|
2.4
|
41
|
Collier
|
487
|
53
|
10.90%
|
1.69
|
56
|
Glades
|
60
|
2
|
3.30%
|
1.6
|
58
|
U.S.
total
|
383,489
|
47,025
|
12.30%
|
1.56
|
N/A
|
Source:
“Dangerous by Design 2014,” National Complete
Streets Coalition
To
view the full report, click here: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/dangerous-by-design-2014/dangerous-by-design-2014.pdf
To review the Florida report, which contains
data at metro and county level, click here: www.smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/state-statistics.
Link to interactive map of fatalities: www.smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/map
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