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#1
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05-31-2014, 01:41 AM
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 ★The Queen★ Poster Rank:67 Female Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 23,498
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The Worst 10 Cities for Walking
An advocacy group's Pedestrian Danger Index ranks cities and states. Wide streets and old people are a deadly mix. By QuinStreet 2:30 PM This post comes from Des Toups at partner site Insurance.com. Pedestrians crossing your wide, sun baked streets are more likely to be struck and killed by a car than anywhere else in the country, according to the newly released 2014 edition of, "Dangerous by Design." The advocacy group, Smart Growth America, calculated the Pedestrian Danger Index for 51 major metro areas and for each state. Places where many people walk have more fatalities, so the index adjusts the number killed by the percentage of residents who walk to work, according to Census data. Florida is the riskiest state for pedestrians, and the four deadliest cities for pedestrians lie within its borders: Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Jacksonville and Miami. Rounding out the worst 10 cities are Memphis; Birmingham, Alabama; Houston; Atlanta; Phoenix; and Charlotte, North Carolina. The 10 most dangerous states are: Florida Alabama Louisiana South Carolina Georgia Delaware Mississippi Arizona North Carolina Texas For the complete rankings of cities and states, see "The deadliest places for pedestrians," (below). About 4,700 pedestrians are killed each year in the U.S., according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. While the total number of auto related fatalities has fallen by a third since 2003, Smart Growth America notes, the number of pedestrian fatalities has risen in the five most recent years for which data are available. "We are allowing an epidemic of pedestrian fatalities, brought on by streets designed for speed and not safety, to take nearly 5,000 lives a year," says Roger Millar, director of the National Complete Streets Coalition at Smart Growth America. Given Sun Belt states' rankings, it's not surprising that older Americans are the most vulnerable. Pedestrians age 65 and over make up 12.6 percent of the population and almost 21 percent of pedestrian fatalities. Children under 16 face the lowest risk, something Smart Growth America attributes at least in part to declining physical activity. Fatalities in that age group have fallen by 70 percent since 1984. How to Make Streets Safer The group backs a slate of funding and policy changes for federally funded roads that, at street level, result in the kinds of changes you might expect, such as lower speed limits and bike lanes, but also could include: Extended curbs to shorten crossing distances Pedestrian countdown signals Refuge islands on wider streets Midblock crossings Improved lighting Florida, for its part, has adopted a statewide bicyclist and pedestrian safety plan since the first Dangerous by Design report singled it out as the most hazardous state in America in 2011. Orlando, for example, aggressively pursued drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians, issuing more than 4,600 tickets and warnings from June, 2012, to June, 2013. A conviction brings a $164 fine – and three points on the driver’s motor vehicle record, which could lead to an increase in car insurance rates as well. The city says the percentage of drivers who yield at crosswalks has risen from 12 percent to 48 percent. An additional 67,000 pedestrians are injured in a typical year, NHTSA data show. Severe injury is very likely; 36 percent of pedestrians admitted to hospitals from 2008 to 2010 suffered a traumatic brain injury, says the New York State Department of Health. On average, their treatment cost $48,000. A police officer directs a pedestrian in Charlotte, NC © STAN HONDA/AFP/GettyImages  · |
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#2
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05-31-2014, 01:51 AM
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| ★The Queen★ Poster Rank:67 Female Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 23,498
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Re: The Worst 10 Cities for Walking
By Des Toups May 27, 2014 Pedestrians in Crosswalk The newest edition of, “Dangerous by Design,” puts a spotlight on cities where pedestrians face the most danger. Smart Growth America calculates a Pedestrian Danger Index for major cities and for each state, plotting the death rate per 100,000 against the percentage of the population that walks to work, according to Census data. Florida is the riskiest state for pedestrians, and Orlando is the riskiest city by a wide margin. As a driver, your liability insurance policy will pay for the costs of treating anyone you injure; in most states, it’s not enough to cover a typical injury bill. Most experts recommend that anyone with assets or a home buy at least 100/300/50 coverage – that is, $100,000 worth of bodily injury liability, (up to $300,000 per accident), and $50,000 in property damage liability. In most states the legal requirements are much lower. If, as a pedestrian, you are hit by a driver who has no insurance or not enough of it, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage could cover your hospital bills. The deadliest Cities for Pedestrians: Rank Metropolitan area Deaths* Danger Index 1 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL 583 244.3 2 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 874 190.1 3 Jacksonville, FL 359 182.7 4 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 1,539 145.3 5 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 239 131.3 6 Birmingham-Hoover, AL 148 125.6 7 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 1,034 119.6 8 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 839 119.4 9 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 840 118.6 10 Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord,NC-SC 254 111.7 11 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 713 111.6 12 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 900 107.5 13 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV 413 102.7 14 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario,CA 889 102.2 15 Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN 210 100.8 16 Raleigh-Cary, NC 165 100.4 17 Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN 200 98.5 18 San Antonio, TX 373 96.9 19 Richmond, VA 167 95.0 20 Oklahoma City, OK 177 87.2 21 Kansas City, MO-KS 228 85.7 22 New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 272 84.9 23 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA 390 81.3 24 Austin-Round Rock, TX 251 78.6 25 Indianapolis-Carmel, IN 199 73.0 26 St. Louis, MO-IL 364 69.7 27 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 2,435 66.9 28 Baltimore-Towson, MD 482 66.4 29 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 576 66.0 30 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 260 65.6 31 Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO 349 58.1 32 Columbus, OH 187 56.3 33 Salt Lake City, UT 132 55.3 34 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 959 44.3 35 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 843 44.1 36 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 186 43.6 37 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 147 43.1 38 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 121 41.6 39 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, MA 198 39.9 40 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 187 39.5 41 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 183 38.8 42 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 142 34.4 43 Rochester, NY 121 34.0 44 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI 1,165 32.9 45 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 250 32.2 46 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 249 32.2 47 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 633 31.4 48 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 3,384 28.4 49 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 375 26.8 50 Pittsburgh, PA 234 25.1 51 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 476 18.7 *Total deaths from 2003 to 2012; Pedestrian Danger Index 2008-2012 Data were gathered for each state as well. The deadliest states for pedestrians Rank State Deaths* Danger Index 1 Florida 5,189 168.6 2 Alabama 723 125.2 3 Louisiana 1,030 116.6 4 South Carolina 1,020 110.4 5 Georgia 1,564 104.0 6 Delaware 194 103.6 7 Mississippi 527 102.6 8 Arizona 1,434 101.2 9 North Carolina 1,683 99.8 10 Texas 4,192 97.5 11 Tennessee 799 88.6 12 New Mexico 504 88.5 13 Nevada 540 85.3 14 Arkansas 403 80.0 15 Maryland 1,067 78.6 16 Oklahoma 513 73.3 17 California 6,798 62.0 18 Missouri 762 59.6 19 Michigan 1,373 59.4 20 Kentucky 539 58.3 21 New Jersey 1,501 53.0 22 Virginia 841 43.6 23 Indiana 640 43.1 24 Ohio 1,012 39.0 25 Utah 279 37.8 26 West Virginia 219 37.1 27 Connecticut 351 35.0 28 Hawaii 262 35.0 29 Colorado 565 34.1 30 Oregon 497 33.0 31 Illinois 1,488 32.3 32 Rhode Island 121 31.1 33 Pennsylvania 1,555 30.0 34 North Dakota 68 28.9 35 Kansas 215 28.7 36 Washington 678 28.5 37 Wisconsin 522 27.1 38 Minnesota 395 24.8 39 New York 3,097 24.5 40 Montana 116 24.2 41 Wyoming 49 23.5 42 Idaho 119 22.3 43 Massachusetts 716 21.9 44 Maine 108 20.4 45 New Hampshire 100 19.0 46 Iowa 221 18.5 47 South Dakota 80 18.4 48 Nebraska 91 16.2 49 District of Columbia 133 14.5 50 Alaska 87 13.9 51 Vermont 45 13.0 *Total deaths from 2003 to 2012; Pedestrian Danger Index 2008-2012  · |
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#3
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05-31-2014, 03:11 AM
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 My Rank: MASTER SERGEANT Poster Rank:499 Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 2,078
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Re: The Worst 10 Cities for Walking
I'd be more worried about getting shot on the way back from the store tbh.  |
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#7
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05-31-2014, 04:39 PM
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 My Rank: FIRST SERGEANT Poster Rank:352 Male (evidently surprisingly) Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 3,524 Mentioned: 16 Post(s) Quoted: 1808 Post(s)
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Re: The Worst 10 Cities for Walking
Atlanta is spot on, but Vegas is super questionable. There are so many pedestrians in Vegas that it would totally skew averages.
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#10
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06-01-2014, 02:21 PM
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 It's all good. Poster Rank:285 Male Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 4,524 Mentioned: 30 Post(s) Quoted: 2353 Post(s)
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Re: The Worst 10 Cities for Walking
Actually, Vegas is pretty grimey and dangerous. The streets are littered with broken beer bottles and trash. The strip is about the only place its okay for you to be walking around at night. I dont see why Raleigh is on the list though. I live in Chapel Hill, NC (20 minutes from Raleigh). I go to Raleigh all the time. There are three gay bars within walking distance of each other there. Its a very walkable city. I walk down the street at all hours of the night with my friends (many of which are typically in drag), and I have never felt unsafe. Actually, its a very friendly city. Just last night three random guys with beards came walking up behind us, joking with us, and then we all toddled off in our own direction. Raleigh is very safe. |
