Florida Home to 8 of the 10 Deadliest Cities for Pedestrians

Smart Growth America has released its annual Dangerous by Design report, showing that many older, car-oriented cities are the country's most dangerous.

1 minute read

January 12, 2017, 9:00 AM PST

By Casey Brazeal @northandclark


No Walking

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The Smart Growth America’s National Complete Streets Coalition released their annual report of the most dangerous cities in America for pedestrians. The Dangerous by Design report "…assigns each of the 104 largest cities in the country what’s called a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI),' Alissa Walker writes for Curbed. "This is calculated by comparing the number of residents who walk to work and the rate of pedestrian fatalities." The top ten most dangerous cities are as follows:

  1. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida
  2. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida
  3. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida
  4. Jacksonville, Florida
  5. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida
  6. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida
  7. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
  8. Jackson, Mississippi
  9. Memphis, Tennessee-Mississippi-Arkansas
  10. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida

Sadly, trends in danger to pedestrians nationally are likely to move in the wrong direction. "Although the national figures are not out yet, 2016 saw a record high number of traffic fatalities on U.S. streets. And as our population ages dramatically, cities aren’t planning for seniors, who will be physically unable to drive," Walker reports. 

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