DIE PEDESTRIANS!
Florida Leads in Mowing Down Pedestrians
South, West Most Hazardous for Pedestrians
Cities in the South and West are the most dangerous for pedestrians, with four in Florida earning the dubious distinction of being the deadliest of all.A private study released Thursday concluded that sprawling, newer cities in the South and West tend to be built with wide, high-speed roads that are especially dangerous for walking.
“So much of our transportation system is designed for cars and only cars,” said Anne Canby, president of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, which issued the report. The group advocates balanced transportation.
The report found that the 9,746 walkers who died in 2002-2003 were more likely to be killed on busy streets without crosswalks. Nearly 40 percent died where crosswalks weren’t available.
“Wide roads, speeding traffic and a lack of crosswalks or sidewalks can make walking a deadly activity,” the report said. “There simply are not enough pedestrian facilities.”
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All right, one of the world’s largest tourist destination and we’re mowing down pedestrians like it was going out of style. Yoo! Hmm, makes me worried about walking around so much.
Having spent most of my youth growing up in Florida I can assert with 100% positivity that this has NOTHING at all to do with the massive amounts of old, blind, retirees driving around in giant cars. Nothing at all.
The large Northern cities were developed long ago, before suburbs. Suburbs came later and with them urban sprawl, among other things. Younger cities, primarily in the South, are now being developed on the cheap and with the automobile in mind. Thus, everything is spread much further apart than in most major Northern cities. This increases the reliances on cars and spreads resources for things such as sidewalks, curbs, etc. more thin. It’s a way of life that’s unfortunately not likely to change any time soon if at all.