Pedestrian Fatality Emergency
An interesting and important report by the advocacy groups Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Partnership has caught my attention and I thought I might share it with you. Titled “Dangerous By Design” the report addresses the high rate of pedestrian deaths in the United States.
According to the report, in the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans, including 3,906 children under 16 have been killed this decade alone. This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet going down roughly every month, yet it receives nothing like the kind of attention that would surely follow such a disaster.
Children, the elderly, and ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in this figure, but people of all ages and all walks of life have been struck down in the simple act of walking. These deaths typically are labeled “accidents,” and attributed to error on the part of motorist or pedestrian. In fact, however, an overwhelming proportion share a similar factor: They occurred along roadways that were dangerous by design, streets that were engineered for speeding cars and made little or no provision for people on foot, in wheelchairs or on a bicycle.
According to the report the ten most dangerous metropolitan areas for pedestrians are:
1. Orlando
2. Tampa-St. Petersburg
3. Miami-Fort Lauderdale
4. Jacksonville
5. Memphis
6. Raleigh, N.C.
7. Louisville
8. Houston
9. Birmingham, Ala.
10. Atlanta
The Tennessee numbers are equally troubling, with Memphis leading the pack with 47 fatalities in 2007-2008, making up 11.40% of total traffic deaths, closely followed by Johnson City with 11.10% of the total. Nashville, with 32 deaths, came in at 7.00% of the total traffic fatalities. In Nashville, where pedestrian accidents have been on the rise over the last several years, Mayor Karl Dean has seen the problem and taken action by naming a special coordinatior to make the city more walkable. The Dean Administration designated $5.2 million for sidewalks and $900,000 for bike paths.
It’s up to all of us to practice driving safety and learn to share the roads so that we can have a safe and secure place to raise our children and make our elderly citizens safe in their golden years.
If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville pedestrian accident contact the experienced Nashville accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates
Share The Road
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