In a typical year in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties,\ndrivers hit more than 1,000 pedestrians. About 100 of them die. Those numbers\ninclude walkers and runners, not cyclists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pedestrians are involved in fewer than 3% of traffic crashes\non local roads, but they account for nearly a third of all fatalities. It\u2019s a\nstark reminder that pedestrians stand little chance when things go wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victims can be anyone \u2014 young and old, tourist and\nlocal, well off and less so. They can be someone you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nineteen-year-old Isaiah Edward Baker Castellano enjoyed\nskateboarding; he died after a crane truck ran a red light and struck him on\nPinellas\u2019 Gulf to Bay Boulevard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nazire Blloshmi, 79, was killed while walking with a friend\nin Dunedin at what the mayor later described as a \u201cfunky intersection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A small SUV driver struck and killed Jeffrey Wilson, a\n54-year-old physical educationteacher, as he strolled with his wife in\ndowntown St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All three of those victims were using crosswalks or the\nsidewalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeffrey Wilson, shown in this photo posted on the Freedom\nElementary School Facebook page, was critically injured when he was hit by a\ncar in downtown St. Petersburg, police said. [ Freedom Elementary\nSchool ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether legally at fault or not, the drivers have to live\nwith the fatal crash for the rest of their lives. Think about that the next\ntime you\u2019re tempted to send a text from behind the wheel or speed up to make a\nwaning yellow light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, it can be hard as a driver to relate to some of the\ncrashes. In Tampa a few years ago, a teenager sped at 100 mph on Bayshore\nBoulevard and slammed into a mother and her baby daughter, killing both. But\nmost pedestrians are killed in more mundane ways. A moment of inattention.\nDriving too fast. Easy mistakes to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many drivers either don\u2019t know the laws about yielding to\npedestrians or don\u2019t care. People who would never run a red light routinely\nfail to give way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Others aren\u2019t paying\nattention. Instead, they fiddle with their phones or take a bite of a sandwich,\ndistracted just enough at just the wrong time to leave a pedestrian battered\nand broken on the asphalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine the outcry if the Tampa Bay area were the murder\ncapital of the country instead of one of the deadliest for pedestrians. The\nresponse would be immense, from more policing to new policies. The community\nwould insist on swift and effective action. But in some years, Tampa Bay area\nmurders barely outnumber pedestrian deaths. Whether killed by a bullet or a\nbumper, the person is still dead \u2014 due to a violent act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cars crashing into cars is bad enough, but it\u2019s so much\nworse when a car hits a person. Just ask Ferguson. Ten years later, her\nnear-death experience still prowls her memories. \u201cI would close my eyes and see\nthe car coming at me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s the problem?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To understand the depth of this problem and to probe for\nsolutions, weanalyzed pedestrian deaths, talked to victims and their\nloved ones, consulted with experts and sought out officials who have found\nanswers, including a city that ranked even worse than the Tampa Bay area for\npedestrian deaths but did something about it. The carnage is not inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making pedestrians safer will take changes in driver\nbehavior, in road and vehicle design, and in how Tampa Bay law enforcement\nagencies educate the public and enforce the rules about crosswalks, yielding\nthe right of way, distracted driving and speeding. Experts call them the four\nE\u2019s: education, engineering, enforcement and evaluation. To work, they should\nbe done together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Signs mark a defunct pedestrian crossing on E Fletcher Ave.\nnear N 15th St. in Tampa. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of this is already happening, but it\u2019s not enough. The\nnumber of maimed and dead pedestrians makes that clear. Drivers need to know\nthe rules of the road, and governments must ensure they\u2019re followed. The most\nbasic one: Drivers yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, whether it\u2019s marked or\nnot. That\u2019s the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roads should be designed for safety, not speed. Whatever the\nspeed limit says, a straight, wide road like Dale Mabry in Tampa encourages\ndrivers to speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surprisingly, well-designed streets with lower speed limits\ndon\u2019t have to lengthen a driver\u2019s commute. Driving faster doesn\u2019t always get\nyou there faster. More on that later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tampa Bay’s worst roads for walkers <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s where drivers have killed the most pedestrians since\n2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each dot shows the site of at least one crash that killed a\npedestrian from 2008 through 2022. Highlighted areas are those with the most\ncrash locations within a 1-kilometer circle. Includes crashes in Hillsborough,\nPinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety\nAdministration Fatality Analysis Reporting System <\/p>\n\n\n\n LANGSTON TAYLOR | Times <\/p>\n\n\n\n If police crack down on traffic violators, the number of\ncrashes, injuries and fatalities will drop. And, as we\u2019ll explain below, that\ndoesn\u2019t always mean police officers pulling over speeders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The challenge in making streets safer isn\u2019t just technical;\nit\u2019s cultural and psychological. Driving can make even calm people angry. That\nproblem is amplified here because Tampa Bay is so car-centric. That won\u2019t\nchange, not anytime soon. But attitudes toward pedestrians can \u2014 and should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A recent run-in at a local intersection illustrates Tampa\nBay\u2019s challenge. At a four-way stop at the Snell Isle Bridge in St. Petersburg,\none car zoomed through to turn right without stopping. Then two other drivers,\nboth trying to turn left, entered the intersection at the same time, blocking\none another in the middle. One honked at the other, and the other flipped him\noff. Neither moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both claimed the right of way, yelling at each other but\nliterally getting nowhere. One of us watched this unfold and noted the irony;\nnone of the three cars had even considered stopping for a pedestrian in the\ncrosswalk, which is the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amy Cohen became a pedestrian safety advocate after her son\nSammy was hit and killed. [ Families for Safe Streets ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n It isn\u2019t like that elsewhere. We\u2019ve seen it with our own\neyes. In Hawaii, drivers more often yielded to pedestrians in a crosswalk,\nsometimes nowhere near a traffic light \u2014 even on a coastal highway. In\nVancouver, Canada, drivers routinely stopped for pedestrians \u2014 on wide straight\nroads, on residential streets, in busy parks, in an alley behind an office\ntower, even for a visitor from Florida who once turned around mid-intersection\nafter realizing he was headed in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, it\u2019s the law, but it\u2019s the law here, too. The\ndifference is that places like Hawaii and Vancouver have more of a culture of\nwatching out for pedestrians \u2014 and significantly lower pedestrian fatality\nrates. Tampa Bay does not, but it could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When an official with the safety organization Vision Zero\nHillsborough rented a car in Portland, Oregon, her nephew reminded her to yield\nto pedestrians \u2014 because that\u2019s the law. It\u2019s so top of mind there, she told\nus, that people tell visitors about it. Even though the law is the same in\nFlorida, it\u2019s hard to imagine that a Floridian would volunteer that safety\ntidbit to a visitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can work toward that day, starting now. We need to know\nand follow the law, and police need to enforce it. When drivers start seeing\nother drivers following the law, slowing down and yielding to pedestrians, more\nof them will, too. The culture will improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Distracted driving, texting behind the wheel, speeding and\nignoring rules of the road are often viewed as inevitable, something that can\u2019t\nchange. But we can make driving and walking safer in Tampa Bay. There was a\ntime when few people wore seatbelts and drunken driving was no big deal. That\nchanged. So can this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed kills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We all know speeding is a problem in Tampa Bay, but here\u2019s\nhow bad: Two years ago, researchers found that nearly every driver sped through\na school zone near Hillsborough\u2019s Bloomingdale High School. Of the 7,310\nvehicles tracked, 7,171 went at least 10 miles over the limit, according to the\ndata collected by Blue Line Solutions, a traffic safety company founded by\nveteran law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s ridiculous that nearly all drivers were going so much\nover the 20 mph speed limit \u2014 and in a well-marked school zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Higher speeds increase odds that a crash will maim or kill.\nA pedestrian hit at 32 mph has a 1 in 4 chance of dying, according to a report\nfrom AAA. At 42 mph, half the pedestrians can expect to die. Those are routine\nspeeds on many of our roads. Forty-two mph may not even feel fast to a driver\ncocooned in a car, but that extra 10 mph is all that separates life and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of Jaime Ferguson out on her Bayshore run. She was\nyoung and fit and \u2014 by the raw realities of physics \u2014 lucky to live. Still,\nwhen she landed after being launched into the air, she saw people standing over\nher. \u201cHoly shit, did I just get hit by a car?\u201d she remembers thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paramedics had to cut her out of her clothes. She was unable\nto work for almost three months. It was a year before she could run without\npain. \u201cI will always have back injuries,\u201d she said. For years after she was\nhit, she wouldn\u2019t run through that intersection. When she finally did, she\ncried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jaime Ferguson, 44, stands at the fateful crosswalk on\nTampa\u2019s Bayshore Boulevard with her golden retriever, Blitz. This is where she\nsustained serious injuries \u2014a broken leg, skull fracture, and concussion\u2014 after\nbeing struck by a vehicle that ran a red light at the crossing in 2014. [ DOUGLAS\nR. CLIFFORD | Times ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t help that 6 in 10 vehicles on Florida\u2019s roads are\ntrucks or SUVs. Their higher hoods create blind spots where drivers don\u2019t see\npedestrians. When they hit them, they tend to run them over rather than\nsnowplow them onto the hood, lowering the pedestrians\u2019 chances of surviving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as drivers go faster and drive heavier vehicles,\nthey\u2019re paying less attention, distracted by their smartphones. It\u2019s illegal to\ntext and drive in Florida, but officers issue only about 17\ntexting-while-driving tickets a day across the state, according to data from\nthe Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The law is riddled\nwith exceptions and hard to enforce. A driver can simply claim he was doing\nsomething other than texting while holding his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, the Florida Legislature considered a bill to\nallow only hands-free phone use while driving, with a few exceptions. Studies\nshow that any use of smartphones while driving is a distraction, but a\nhands-free law would have made law enforcement simpler and our roads safer. But\nthe bill failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our state leaders should try again this year, and this time,\nthey should pass the bill. The state has to muster the political will to\ncurtail the violence. And that\u2019s what it is: violence. People are dying. The\nlucky ones are left with permanent injuries. Cracking down on distracted\ndriving must be a priority. It\u2019s well beyond time for state leaders to start\nleading on this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leverage technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To save lives, law enforcement and our elected officials\nshould embrace a proven tool: speed cameras. They make the roads safer for\neveryone: drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed cameras are neither new nor rare. First deployed more\nthan 30 years ago, at least 200 U.S. communities use them today, according to\nthe National Conference of State Legislatures. They work by combining a sensor\nand a camera to record speeding cars. Law enforcement can calibrate the cameras\nto measure a particular speed. The camera records violators, which triggers\nfines for the registered owners<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed kills, and recent studies show speed cameras have a\nlong, successful record of slowing speeders down. Speed cameras reduced crashes\nby as much as 39% and fatalities by up to 68%, according to a study of data\nfrom thousands ofspeed camera sites in England, Scotland and Wales. In\nNew York City, zones with speed cameras saw fatalities fall by 55%, according\nto a report from the National Association of City Transportation Officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A speed camera monitors traffic at a school zone on W. Lutz\nLake Fern Road near McKitrick Elementary School, Martinez Middle School and\nSteinbrenner High School in Lutz. The cameras are on during arrival and\ndismissal times to curb speeding in school zones. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD |\nTimes ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Montgomery County, Maryland, speed cameras reduced the\nnumber of drivers going more than 10 mph over the limit on residential streets\nby 70% compared with a similar community that didn\u2019t have them, a study in the\njournal Traffic Injury Prevention showed. Even better, the percentage of\ndrivers exceeding the limit by at least 10 mph declined by more than one-thirdon streets that didn\u2019t even have cameras \u2014 just warning signs that they\nmight be in use. Awareness works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed cameras changed conditions in Albuquerque, New Mexico,\nwhich consistently ranks worse than Tampa Bay for pedestrian safety, according\nto the advocacy group Smart Growth America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Police officers there saw a clear correlation between fewer\ntraffic citations and more deaths, so they reversed course. Albuquerque set up\nspeed cameras two years ago, leading to nearly a quarter-million citations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe simply had to do more about speeding,\u201d said Mayor Tim\nKeller. \u201cWe said, fundamentally, we\u2019ve got to change our behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Albuquerque still struggles with too many pedestrian\ndeaths, speed cameras have been \u201ca huge tool to help slow down our drivers,\u201d\nsaid Police Lt. Chris Patterson. Albuquerque officials note that a 10%\nreduction in speed can reduce the number of significant crashes by 19% and can\nreduce the number of fatal car crashes by a third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cameras also have been a force multiplier. While the\ncameras catch speeders, police can focus on other ways of keeping neighborhoods\nsafe, including responding to 911 calls and dealing with violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt would take more than 100 officers to staff the 17\nintersections (that have speed cameras) 24\/7,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cAnd officers\nwould only be able to stop one driver at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one enjoys a speeding ticket. But you know what\u2019s worse?\nVisiting a loved one at the hospital. Or the morgue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Law and order<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed cameras are quick to deploy, can pay for themselves\nand, most importantly, can buy time and save lives, while other solutions that\ntake far longer \u2014 designing safer roads, for instance \u2014 are engineered and\nbuilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By setting the cameras at a reasonable speed, they avoid the\n\u201cgotcha\u201d of fining drivers for slipping a bit above the speed limit. In slower\nspeed zones, a buffer of 5 mph would be fair. On faster roads, 8 mph or 10 mph\ncould be more appropriate. Some cities go so far as to post signs warning\ndrivers of the presence of a speed camera \u2014 alerting them to follow the law.\nFor believers in law and order, it\u2019s hard to argue against the logic; the\ncameras reinforce rules in a reasonable way to make streets safer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron\nDeSantis appear to agree \u2014 at least a little. In 2023, lawmakers passed a bill\nto allow speed cameras in school zones. In discussing it, they underscored that\nspeed cameras are a great tool to protect children. While the law helps, far\nmore Tampa Bay pedestrians are killed outside of school zones. They deserve\nprotection, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who argue that speed cameras are too much like Big\nBrother should remember how many cameras are already out there. Ring doorbells.\nATMs. Cameras on bridges and roads that record traffic information. It\u2019s a\nsmall step to allow them to make our roads safer and to force drivers to pay\nattention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another advantage: Speed cameras don\u2019t discriminate by race\nor ethnicity. By taking a photo of only the license plate, the camera doesn\u2019t\nknow who the driver is, which eases fears of discrimination and \u201cdriving while\nBlack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A group of Martinez Middle School students walk past a speed\ncamera on W. Lutz Lake Fern Road while walking to school in Lutz. [ DOUGLAS\nR. CLIFFORD | Times ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cities can address concerns about targeting poorer or\nminority neighborhoods by continually analyzing crash and speed data to ensure\na camera is needed at a location. The camera can be removed once drivers adhere\nto speed limits and crashes have significantly decreased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The incentive should be to reduce speeds and make roads\nsafer. To that end, contractors hired to install and operate speed camera\nsystems should not earn more money based on handing out a higher number of\ncitations. Success should be measured by the system making less <\/em>money\nover time as drivers obey the speed limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What to do with the profits from issuing the tickets? Three\nideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The point is to protect people, not to impoverish them. And\nremember, the cameras only catch drivers who speed excessively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Better by design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Zero pedestrian deaths should be our goal. Speed cameras\nwill move us in the right direction, but they are only one tool. Another vital\ncomponent is better roads. The deaths will continue without roads designed with\neveryone\u2019s safety in mind \u2014 not just for getting cars somewhere as fast as\npossible. Engineers and city planners know this already, and they are making\nprogress. But they need help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The basics are well known. Except for interstates and\nhighways, we shouldn\u2019t design roads like speedways built just for cars \u2014 with\nwide, open lanes encouraging drivers to floor it no matter what the speed limit\nsays. It\u2019s safer to build roads that cue drivers to slow down, including\nnarrower lanes, crosswalk curbs that jut into the roadway, speed humps,\nlandscaping in the median and crosswalks with red lights instead of flashing\nyellow ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In some cases, removing the parking space closest to an\nintersection can give drivers a better view of someone in the crosswalk. When a\nroad looks too much like an interstate, people drive like they\u2019re on one. It\u2019s\na choice between speed and safety, and too often, we choose speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A pair of cars speed through the intersection of Gulf to Bay\nBoulevard at Belcher Road S. in Clearwater. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD |\nTimes ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even when prioritizing safety, drivers don\u2019t have to\nsacrifice as much as they might think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tampa\u2019s Fletcher Avenue, west of the University of South\nFlorida, was redesigned with safety in mind. Engineers added six mid-block\ncrosswalks with signals and islands for pedestrians to take refuge halfway\nacross. They alsoplanted shrubs, poured concrete medians and eliminated\ntwo-way left turn lanes. They put in bicycle lanes and cut the speed limit from\n45 mph to 35 mph. The old Fletcher seemed like a wide-open road. The new one\nfelt narrower, so drivers would naturally slow down regardless of the speed\nlimit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number of car crashes decreased, as did their severity.\nThe rate and severity of pedestrian and bike crashes decreased, too. The\naverage travel time was 21 seconds faster <\/em>in the direction of the\nmorning peak. Traffic was only 31 seconds slower in the direction of the\nafternoon peak. Those are mere seconds lost while Fletcher became safer for\ndrivers, cyclists and pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Revamping an entire city\u2019s street system will take work. But\nit\u2019s doable. Carmel, Indiana, population 103,000, has built more than 140\nmodern roundabouts since 1996, tearing out traffic lights and stop signs. The\ncity north of Indianapolis plans to keep only one traffic light, which happens\nto be the first one ever installed in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roundabouts don\u2019t use stoplights or stop signs, just a\nraised traffic circle and splinter islands that force traffic to slow. When\nengineered well, they can be safer and<\/em> faster. No one can speed up to\ncatch the yellow light \u2014 or run a red \u2014 when neither exists. When crashes\noccur, they are glancing blows rather than one car T-boning another, as too\noften happens at traditional intersections. Injury crashes dropped by nearly\nhalf at Carmel\u2019s roundabout intersections, according to a two-year-old study\nfrom the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research shows that well-designed roundabouts are less\nexpensive to operate than traffic signals. They lower emissions from idling\ncars and eliminate left turns, the most dangerous traffic move at a traditional\nsignaled intersection. They don\u2019t use electricity, so they still function after\nbad storms like Hurricane Milton. They are also safer for pedestrians because\nthe roundabouts force vehicles to slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research shows that roundabouts, like this one at the\nintersection of West Palm Avenue and North Boulevard in Tampa, eliminate left\nturns, the most dangerous traffic move at a traditional signaled intersection. [ LUIS\nSANTANA | Times ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarasota has embraced roundabouts, installing more than a\ndozen and even winning the Innovative Roundabout of the Year award from the\nInstitute of Transportation Engineers in 2021. The Tampa Bay area has many\nalready, too. They take getting used to, but the one at the south side of the\nrelatively new bridge that connects Tierra Verde shows the potential. It can be\na busy stretch of road when Fort DeSoto Park empties at the end of a busy beach\nday. In the past, cars trying to turn left from Madonna Boulevard could wait\nseveral cycles of the old traffic lights before merging onto the Pinellas\nBayway. Now, no one waits for the light because there isn\u2019t one. Traffic, for\nthe most part, flows much more smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to keeping more people alive is to cut down on\ncrashes and ensure that when they occur, speeds are lower. Think of it this\nway: When you get in a crash, would you prefer to need an ambulance or a tow\ntruck? This isn\u2019t an argument for turning every intersection into a roundabout.\nIt\u2019s an appeal to be open to ways of making our streets safer. Engineers and\nsafety experts know how to do that. The rest of us need to get on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What we do behind the wheel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All it takes is a momentary lapseto hit a\npedestrian. But too often drivers are doing things behind the wheel that make\nit more likely. Would you jeopardize your own safety by climbing a ladder with\na cup of coffee in one hand and your phone in the other? Then why put\npedestrians (and other drivers) at risk by doing something similar while\ndriving?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roger Robbins has asked that kind of question ever since he\nwas hit in 2009. A driver didn\u2019t see him in a crosswalk. The force blew him out\nof his shoes. He doesn\u2019t know how he survived, and his injuries linger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t jump up like in the movies,\u201d said the now\n79-year-old Sebring resident. \u201cYou never get over it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019d like harsher penalties for law-breaking drivers,\nincluding higher auto insurance costs. He doesn\u2019t think people should be\nallowed to use cellphones behind the wheel. It\u2019s too much of a distraction,\nsomething much of the research supports. The human brain isn\u2019t good at dealing\nwith the complexities of driving while talking to a disembodied voice on the\nother end of a phone call, let alone texting at 50 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA car is a 2,000-pound weapon,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s just as\ndangerous as a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More of us need to accept that fact and make the appropriate\nchanges. Everyone needs to take this plague of pedestrian violence as seriously\nas any other problem that kills and maims people in Tampa Bay. That goes for\nelected officials, drivers and pedestrians. It\u2019s hard for a regular citizen to\nprevent murders, but everyone can help prevent pedestrian deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solomon Muentes, 10, and his mother, Brandy Muentes, 43,\nvisit a memorial for Sam Muentes, Solomon\u2019s father and Brandy\u2019s husband, along\nTampa Road in Palm Harbor. The memorial marks the site where Sam was fatally\nstruck on Jan. 8. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, he was crossing\nTampa Road near U.S. 19 around 6:30 a.m. when a Palm Harbor woman driving\neastbound hit him. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Politicians must work harder to implement changes that\neveryone knows work but aren\u2019t always popular, at least initially. Create\ncoalitions within communities hardest hit by pedestrian crashes. Take potential\nadversaries on field trips to see how some of these improvements make people\nsafer. It will take effort to turn skeptics into believers, but it can be done.\nOur elected officials cannot forget that the status quo isn\u2019t working. In fact,\nit\u2019s killing people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drivers should better understand the risks of distracted\ndriving, speeding or driving at night, when 75% of pedestrian deaths occur.\nDrinking and driving also remains a problem. According to the National Highway\nTraffic Safety Administration, 16% of drivers in fatal pedestrian crashes had a\nblood-alcohol level of 0.08% or higher, the level at which Florida law presumes\na driver is impaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone plays a role in keeping pedestrians safe, including\npedestrians. They sometimes cross in the wrong part of the road or wear\nclothing that makes them hard to see or focus on their phone instead of\ntraffic.But even in cases where a pedestrian is at fault, do they\ndeserve to be maimed or killed? We should acknowledge how vulnerable they are\nand then drive defensively in accordance with that reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tampa Bay can make life safer for pedestrians. It\u2019s not\neasy, but it\u2019s not impossible. How can we say that so confidently? Dozens of\ncomparable cities are already doing a better job than us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minneapolis-St. Paul had about a quarter of the pedestrian\ndeaths over a recent five-year span, even though the two areas have a similar\nnumber of residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Denver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Knoxville,\nTennessee, all kill pedestrians half as often as in Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pedestrian fatality rates in Des Moines, Iowa; Madison,\nWisconsin; and Provo, Utah, were less than a quarter of Tampa Bay\u2019s. We kill\nfour pedestrians per capita for every one killed in those cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 to 1.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do we put up with this, knowing it doesn\u2019t happen\nelsewhere?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, no two cities are the same. Some have more pedestrians\nor different traffic laws or worse drivers. But those are thin excuseswhen\nsomeone is lying dead on the street. We can do better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jersey City found answers. The city, across the Hudson River\nfrom Lower Manhattan, has more residents than St. Petersburg but fewer than\nTampa. Officials there committed to achieving no deaths at all \u2014 pedestrians or\ndrivers \u2014 on their city-controlled streets. They reached that goal in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even on non-city streets within the city limits, the total\nwas five: one pedestrian death and four vehicle fatalities. For comparison, St.\nPetersburg had 35 fatal crashes on its roads last year. Nine were pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One Jersey City strategy was \u201ctactical urbanism<\/a>\u201d \u2014 literally road-testing quick\ndo-it-yourself fixes with whatever materials are at hand: orange traffic cones,\npaint to mark roads, plastic barrels and planters. If the \u201cfix\u201d fails, it can\nbe quickly removed. If it works, drivers and pedestrians have seen the results\nfirsthand, so there is buy-in to make it permanent. This produced faster\nresults than interminable public hearings where people bicker about what might\nhappen based on drawings on an easel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one example, Jersey City put in two makeshift traffic\nroundabouts for a week. After people saw how they worked as opposed to what\nthey feared might happen, 72% of respondents supported making the traffic\ncircles permanent. That improvised thinking and quick response have helped cut\npedestrian deaths to zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A sidewalk sign marks a defunct island crosswalk on E.\nFletcher Avenue near N. 15th Street in Tampa. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD |\nTimes ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need that sense of urgency in Florida, the second-most\ndangerous state for pedestrians. The Legislature should give local officials\nleeway to tinker more freely on traffic safety to see what works. For example,\nthe state should allow pilot programs with camera-enforced crosswalks. The\ntechnology exists. Florida-based NovoaGlobal makes crosswalk cameras that\ndeploy multi-tracking radar to monitor the vehicles, thermal cameras to monitor\nthe pedestrians in the crosswalk and high-definition cameras and video to\ncapture any violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should embrace technology that nudges us toward safer and\nlaw-abiding driving. We should say yes to new road designs that protect\npedestrians while keeping traffic flowing. We should reward good driving and\nrigorously enforce the laws against those who refuse to comply. We will be much\nlikelier to do the right thing, if only because it will be expensive to keep\nbreaking the law. Change the culture and eventually driving more safely will\nbecome second nature. That\u2019s a win for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If, instead, we do nothing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur kids pay the price for doing business as usual,\u201d said\nAmy Cohen, who became a pedestrian safety advocate after her 12-year-old son\nSammy was hit and killed. \u201cYou\u2019re not supposed to bury your child. There\u2019s not\neven a word for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the decade since Jaime Ferguson nearly died jogging\nacross Bayshore Boulevard, drivers have run over and killed more than 930\npedestrians on Pinellas and Hillsborough roads. They were mothers, fathers,\nsons and daughters. They were teachers and businessmen, social workers and\nfirst responders. Someone loved all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At what point will we all say, \u201cEnough!\u201d? Together, we can\nend this bloodshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n We want to hear from you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Was someone in your family badly injured while walking in\nFlorida or the Tampa Bay area? Have you yourself been hit and injured? We\u2019d\nlike to hear about it. Write to gbrink@tampabay.com<\/a> and use the subject line\n\u201cpedestrian.\u201d Or call 727-893-8406<\/a> and\nleave a message with your name, phone number and a brief description of what\nhappened to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have ideas for making our streets safer for\npedestrians, send us a letter to the editor by going to our letters portal\nat <\/p>\n\n\n\n tampabay.com\/opinion\/submit-letter\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (This is a column written by editors at the Tampa Bay Times, not by me.) Jaime Ferguson should be dead. She was jogging across Tampa\u2019s Bayshore Boulevard in a crosswalk when a truck ran a red light at 45 mph and hit her. The impact tossed her crumpled body 35 feet. She sustained a fractured… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2166,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123\/revisions\/2166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-1.jpeg\")
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