- May 2, 2024
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Local streets are getting safer, but there is still work to do.
In 2019, the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro area was ranked the second most dangerous one in the United States in the Dangerous by Design report by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition, a result of the 212 pedestrian traffic-related deaths documented from 2008-2017. Smart Growth America's latest report shows improvement, with the local metro area falling to the fifth most dangerous, with 235 pedestrians killed by vehicles from 2010-2019.
According to a press release by the organization, the number of people struck and killed while walking has gone up 45% in a decade nationwide. The organization also found that people of color, older adults and people walking in low-income neighborhoods were killed at a higher rate. Smart Growth America reports that 2016-2019 are the four most deadly years for pedestrian deaths since 1990 in the U.S., with 53,435 people killed.
“Our current approach to safety should be judged on the merits; and by any measure, it has been a complete failure,” said Beth Osborne, transportation director for Smart Growth America in the press release. “While transportation agencies have done much to avoid doing so, we urgently need to change the way we design and build roads to prioritize safety, not speed, as we currently do. In fact, the obsession with keeping traffic moving and avoiding delay at all costs in hopes of saving drivers mere seconds creates the very dangers highlighted in this report."
One thing to keep in mind when looking at the report, said Ormond Beach City Engineer Shawn Finley, is that the pedestrian danger index used to calculate the rankings is based on pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people, a number which is then divided by the percentage of trips to work made walking, a calculation taken from the U.S. Census "Means of Transportation to Work" data.
That's a reason why many of the states in the Sun Belt ranked higher in the report, Finley said. But while the city may be fighting the formula itself from the start, Finley said it doesn't mean they shouldn't be fighting to make roads safer.
“I think we’re making the right steps after reading it, but we certainly have in Ormond and other areas, a long way to go," Finley said.
The Dangerous by Design report advocates for the safer design of roads, such as narrow travel lanes that slow traffic, as well as signalized crosswalks.
That's one of the recommendations the city of Ormond Beach has been working with the Florida Department of Transportation to implement. In recent years, signalized crosswalks have been added in front of the Grind Gastropub in the downtown as well as in front of Andy Romano Beachfront Park off A1A.
Other improvements coming soon include improved lighting to add visibility, and more crosswalks on A1A, a project FDOT is currently reworking to address concerns raised by citizens and elected officials.
City staff is also working to make sure that when new facilities are built, safe access is also accounted for.
“We don’t want to build a parking lot that doesn’t give people good access to where they want to go from that parking lot," Finley said.
Mayor Bill Partington, who serves on the executive committee and the board for the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, said the report is sure to be a topic of discussion. Florida continues to be at the top of the list for most dangerous states for pedestrians.
Here in Ormond Beach, Partington said he's amazed at the speed he sees people driving while on major thoroughfares. Going 55-65 mph on the Granada Bridge is too fast, he said.
“There’s no place that you have to be that is so important that it’s worth somebody’s life to get there," Partington said.
City staff is doing their best to slow traffic, Partington said, and as a commission, all they can do is set policies to facilitate this. However, the mayor said solving the pedestrian fatality issue will also take personal responsibility on both the drivers and pedestrians to obey traffic laws.
“If folks can do that and just pay a little more attention, it’ll make it that much safer," Partington said.
Not everyone agrees with the data presented in the Dangerous by Design report. In a statement from FDOT Secretary Kevin Thibault, he stated that the select data points ultimately result in an "inaccurate portrayal of the safety conditions across Florida’s transportation system."
"In addition, the report compares states and metropolitan areas across the nation, but does not take into account important geographic and demographic nuances, resulting in a one size fits all methodology for the assessment," Thibault said. "Safety is at the root of all we do, and I am proud that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently recognized Florida’s robust pedestrian and bicycle safety program as a national gold standard program.
In fall of 2011, FDOT implemented a Bicycle Pedestrian Focused Initiative that aims to reduce traffic crashes that result in serious and fatal pedestrian and bicyclist injuries. The state has also adopted a Complete Streets Policy in 2014, that supports pedestrian and bicycle safety. FDOT pointed to the Governors Highway Safety Association's Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State report as a more accurate portrayal of pedestrian safety in Florida. The report is released annually, and Florida ranks second in pedestrian fatalities by state, with California topping the list.
"Achieving our target of zero fatalities is a collaborative duty and, in conjunction with our safety partners, FDOT will continue to design and build a transportation system that meets the unique needs of all Floridians," Thibault said.
It's never good to see your city in a list like Dangerous by Design's, said Finley. But it is a way to kickstart conversations on traffic safety. While the local metro area has fallen in rank, it's not a victory yet, he explained.
“It’s certainly not something that happened overnight," he said. "It’s not something that we’re going to fix overnight, but I think as long as we keep working toward it, it’s only a matter of time before we see our name off that list.”
