The National Complete Streets Coalition compiled a report titled Dangerous by Design which used a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) to rank the deadliest places in America for pedestrian traffic. Six of the ten top cities are in the south and Houston lands number 7 on that list!
Here are the cities in order:
- Orlando, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Jacksonville, FL
- Miami, FL
- Memphis, TN
- Birmingham, AL
- Houston, TX
- Atlanta, GA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Charlotte, NC
This Pedestrian Index is calculated by taking five years of data available on pedestrian fatalities and number of commuters that walk to work each day. Between 2003 and 2012, the report states that over 47,000 people nationwide were hit by motor vehicles and died while walking. That is over 16 times the death rate of Americans dying by natural disasters! In addition to that startling fact, over 676,000 people were injured which means that someone is hit my a car or truck every 8 minutes.
The report indicates that the elderly (adults age 65 and over) are disproportionately more at risk. Although they only represent nearly 13% of the total population of the United States, they account for 21% of pedestrian fatalities.
View the full report here: Dangerous by Design 2014
