- America’s streets are a deadly place for pedestrians, with nearly 6,000 being killed by cars in the most recent year of available statistics.
- The National Complete Streets Coalition broke down the government data to see which metro areas were most affected.
Nearly 6,000 pedestrians were killed by drivers in the United States in 2016, a number that’s been constantly increasing for years, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
And while tech innovations like self-driving cars are set to help reduce that number, the yearly deaths are still largely preventable, street safety advocates say.
The National Complete Streets Coalition broke down the government data to identify which metro areas were the deadliest for walking as part of its Dangerous by Design report, published in January.
“Many places still lack the most basic safe infrastructure for walking,” Emiko Atherton, the group’s founder, said in a press release.
"For example, crosswalks, if they do exist at all, are often spaced so far apart as to be impractical, or don't provide enough time for older adults to safely cross. Unnecessarily wide lanes encourage high speeds-a major factor in the likelihood of surviving a collision-and many streets are designed with wide turning lanes that allow cars to make right turns through crosswalks at high speeds."
Not surprisingly, many car-centric cities in states like Florida and California top the list, with most of the top 20 centered in the southern part of the country. Detroit, the crown jewel of the American automotive industry, also makes the list.
Here are the twenty deadliest cities for walking in America:
20. Augusta, Georgia
19. Little Rock, Arkansas
18. Detroit, Michigan
17. Albuquerque, New Mexico
16. McAllen, Texas
15. Greenville, South Carolina
14. Miami, Florida
13. Birmingham, Alabama
12. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
11. Memphis, Tennessee
10. Jackson, Mississippi
9. Tampa, Florida
8. Cape Coral - Fort Myers, Florida
7. Bakersfield, California
6. Jacksonville, Florida
5. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida
4. Sarasota, Florida
3. Palm Bay, Florida
2. Daytona Beach, Florida
1. Orlando, Florida
