Detroit is the nation's 12th most dangerous area for pedestrians
Editorial: Watch your steps -- Without policy changes, expect more pedestrian fatalities
Walking is as hazardous as it is healthy in many U.S. cities, including Detroit. A new report by the nonprofit Transportation for America, "Dangerous by Design 2011," ranks Detroit as the nation's 12th most dangerous area for pedestrians. Nationwide, more than 47,700 pedestrians died in traffic accidents between 2000 and 2009, and poorly designed roads caused most of those deaths.
Making roadways safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, and developing a more balanced transportation system, will take changes in federal, state and local policies. Roughly 12% of all traffic-related deaths are pedestrians, but only 1.5% of federal transportation dollars go toward making roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Pedestrian safety is more than a local issue, with two-thirds of all pedestrian fatalities occurring on federal-aid roads. The next six-year transportation bill must increase spending on pedestrian safety, maintain dedicated funding programs such as Safe Routes to School, and adopt complete streets policies that reward states that build or retrofit roads to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists.
Most deaths and injuries occur on roads that encourage speeding but do not provide sufficient sidewalks, crosswalks, signals and other protections, the report found. "Dangerous by Design" used 10 years of data to assess how safe people are while walking. The most unsafe areas -- Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa -- are all in Florida. Rounding out the top 10 are San Bernardino, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Memphis, Tenn.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, Texas.
Still, more cities understand that today's transportation, energy, environmental and health needs require different designs. They're building bike lanes, sponsoring bicycle and pedestrian safety education, and using technology to make streets safer for walking. In St. Petersburg, Fla., for example, the city installed hundreds of countdown pedestrian signals and became the first U.S. community to use a technology called the Enhancer, a rapid-flashing beacon that alerts drivers to oncoming pedestrians.
Continued at: http://www.freep.com/article/2011053...5/1068/opinion
