Going to take a walk? These counties are the most dangerous for pedestrians in Florida

Cheryl McCloud, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·4 min read
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A new study has revealed the most dangerous counties for pedestrians in Florida.

Ranking No. 1 was Pinellas County on Florida's west coast, which encompasses the cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

The report was compiled by Injured in Florida — personal injury attorneys — after analyzing data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles between 2019 and 2021.

Florida pedestrians and fatal crashes

Over a three-year period between 2019 and 2021 there were:

  • 2,284: the number of pedestrians involved in fatal collisions

  • 34: state average of pedestrian fatalities

  • 17: the number of counties with higher than the state average of pedestrian fatalities

  • 133: number of pedestrian fatalities in Pinellas County

  • 10,013: the number of pedestrian-related crashes in 2022

  • 765: the number of pedestrian fatalities in 2022

Top 10 most dangerous counties for pedestrians in Florida

  1. Pinellas County

  2. Lafayette County

  3. Orange County

  4. Escambia County

  5. Miami-Dade County

  6. Broward County

  7. Manatee County

  8. Sarasota County

  9. Seminole County

  10. Duval County

Top 3 Florida counties with the most crashes involving pedestrians

Percentage of crashes involving pedestrians:

  1. Pinellas County: 3.1%

  2. Volusia County: 3.0%

  3. Leon County: 2.3%

What are the safest counties in Florida for pedestrians?

The safest counties for pedestrians, ranked by the percentage of crashes involving pedestrian, are:

  1. Holmes County: 0.38%

  2. Baker County: 0.4%

  3. Gilchrist County: 0.6%

  4. Calhoun County: 0.6%

  5. Wakulla County: 0.8%

  6. Gulf County: 0.8%

Florida Highway Patrol offers these walking tips for pedestrians

  • Walk on sidewalks whenever they are available. If one isn’t available, walk facing traffic and as far from traffic as possible.

  • Pay attention and keep alert at all times. Avoid wearing headphones so you can hear traffic and pedestrians around you. Never text or look at your cellphone when crossing the street.

  • Whenever possible, cross streets at crosswalks or intersections, and look for cars in all directions, including those turning. If neither are available, locate a well-lit area where you have the best view of traffic. Wait for a gap in traffic that allows enough time to cross safely and watch for traffic as you cross.

  • Never enter the street from between parked cars. If crossing mid-block cannot be avoided, pedestrians must yield right of way to vehicles on the roadway.

  • Do not cross an intersection diagonally except where and when crossing is authorized by official traffic control devices.

  • Watch for cars entering or exiting driveways or backing up in parking lots.

  • Be visible at all times. Wear bright clothing during the day and wear reflective materials or use a flashlight at night. Never assume a driver sees you. Make eye contact with drivers as they approach to make sure you are seen.

Keeping children safe to and from school

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offered this advice for parents to discuss with their children:

  • Use the sidewalk whenever possible, and if there isn’t a sidewalk, walk on the edge of the street facing traffic.

  • Whenever they are available, use marked crosswalks to cross the street

  • Look left-right-left for vehicles or bikes before crossing the road after getting off the school bus.

  • Make sure you never play, push or shove others when you walk around traffic.

  • Everyone should watch the road, not your phones.

  • Stay at least 10 feet — five giant steps — away from the curb.

  • Always wait until the bus comes to a complete stop and the bus driver signals for you to board.

FHP: Safety tips for motorists to avoid pedestrians

  • Look out for pedestrians everywhere, at all times. Use extra caution when driving in hard-to-see conditions, such as nighttime or bad weather.

  • Slow down and be prepared to stop when turning or otherwise entering a crosswalk. Never pass vehicles stopped at a crosswalk. There may be people crossing that you can’t see.

  • Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and stop well back from the crosswalk to give other vehicles an opportunity to see and stop for the crossing pedestrians.

  • Follow the speed limit, especially around people on the street. Follow slower speed limits in school zones and in neighborhoods where children are present. Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and stop well back from the crosswalk to give other vehicles an opportunity to see the crossing pedestrians so they can stop too.

  • A vehicle approaching a pedestrian legally crossing the street at an intersection must yield or stop to allow the person walking to cross. This applies to bicyclists as well as motor vehicle drivers.

  • If motorists fail to yield, they face a minimum citation of $164 and three points on their driver license. Worse, they can severely injure someone – even taking their life.

  • All sides of the intersection are crosswalks – marked or not, regardless of whether the sidewalk is paved or not. The only exception is where a state or local government has explicitly closed a particular crosswalk, and a sign must be placed at such a crossing to indicate that it is closed.

  • As drivers, you must be prepared to slow or stop at any time – for emergency vehicles, buses, bicyclists, animals, other motorists slowing to turn, and other situations.

  • Be extra cautious when backing up—pedestrians can move into your path.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida pedestrian crashes, fatalities ranks Pinellas deadliest county