Daytona Area 2nd Deadliest In Nation For Pedestrians

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Daytona Beach, FL - A recent report identifies the Daytona Beach area as one of the deadliest metropolitan areas for pedestrians.

In fact, the report from Smart Growth America shows that Florida cities took eight spots out of the top 10 deadliest cities for pedestrians, with the Daytona Beach metropolitan area (which includes Daytona Beach, Deltona and Ormond Beach) ranking at number two.

Data for this report was collected between 2008 and 2017, using the number of people struck and killed by drivers nationwide while walking. Their data shows that throughout that period, deaths increased by 35%, even as overall traffic fatalities have been trending downwards.

"Cities like Daytona really epitomize post World War II suburban land use and transportation design," says Emiko Atherton, director of the National Complete Street Coalition. "And what I mean by that is big wide streets, long roads and these 'mega blocks' with few places to cross."

Atherton says it's the combination of high speeds and big "suburban type development" that creates what she calls the "recipe for death."

Her data shows that between 2008 and 2017, Daytona Beach had 212 deaths which resulted in 3.45 people killed per 100,000 annually in that period.

One way to fix the problem, according to Atherton, goes all the way to the state level.

Atherton says that the state's department of transportation, in this case being FDOT, needs to follow through on its promise to build "complete streets."

"This is what we consider streets built for people, not just for cars," Atherton explained.

She says this means streets that are safe for cars as well as anyone else that might be using the road such as bicyclists and walkers on the side of the road.

Another fix that Atherton mentioned was utilizing a marked crosswalk placed in the middle of the road that uses pedestrian signals to make cars stop so people may cross safely. These signals are not part of the usual timed systems found at intersections.

One such example of this system can be found in Ormond Beach on Granada between Beach Street and Ridgewood Avenue by City Hall, where bright orange flashing lights indicate cars to stop so pedestrians may cross.

The other Florida metro areas that made it to the list include Palm Bay/Melbourne, Sarasota, Lakeland/Winter Haven, Jacksonville, Cape Coral/Fort Myers as well as the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater area.

Orlando/Kissimmee/Sanford topped the list in first place.