In a bid to reduce traffic fatalities and improve safety for all road users, Broward County is implementing a Complete Streets program.
Complete Streets is an initiative of Smart Growth America, a national coalition comprised of policy makers, businesses and citizens across the country. The aim of the Complete Streets project is to make the streets safer for those who use them.
In Broward County and in other communities around the United States, typical Complete Streets traffic safety initiatives call for towns and cities to:
- Reduce the size of wide traffic lanes to create bicycle lanes
- Construct safely-sized medians for pedestrians crossing several lanes of traffic
- Widen and mark existing walking and biking lanes
- Use lane markings to visually slow traffic in high density traffic zones
- Use “all red” crosswalk and traffic light timing to create time when pedestrians can safely cross lanes of traffic in all directions
Such safety improvements are long overdue. Streets designed primarily for vehicle traffic are dangerous for growing numbers of pedestrians and bicyclists. According to Dangerous by Design, a recently released report from Smart Growth American, the most dangerous regions for pedestrians in the United States include:
- Metro Orlando, FL
- Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL
- Jacksonville, FL
- Miami, FL
- Memphis, TN
- Birmingham, AL
- Houston, TX
- Atlanta, GA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Charlotte, NC
In the Orlando area, the pedestrian death index (PDI) between 2003 and 2012 was almost 245 times greater than the national average.
At some point everyone is a pedestrian. Through planning, urban renovation, lawmaking, educational campaigns and other actions, Broward County is moving to make Florida a safer place for all commuters.
If you or a loved one suffers injury in a car or pedestrian accident in Sarasota County, speak with an experienced injury attorney in Bradenton.