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Florida most dangerous state for pedestrians

Pedestrians in Florida are more likely to be struck by vehicles than elsewhere in the United States, according to a report from Smart Growth America, a national group that advocates for smart development.

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Called "Dangerous by Design," the analysis lists nine Florida metro regions in its list of top 20 most dangerous areas for pedestrians — with the top seven on the list all in Florida.
The Cape Coral-Fort Myers region is No. 1 on the list, followed by Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach region ranked No. 11.
It's the fourth time the group has published the report — and Florida has topped the list each time.
Smart Growth America uses information on how many people walk to work and pedestrian death data to calculate a Pedestrian Danger Index, which it uses to rank more than 100 metro areas and each state. For its 2016 report, it looks at the 10 years from 2005 from 2015. During that span, there were 5,142 pedestrians killed in Florida.
The report also found that a disproportionate number of older adults and people of color are the victims of fatal pedestrian crashes. While U.S. Census estimates indicate about 35 percent of the population is non-white, more than 46 percent of pedestrian deaths are non-white. And people aged 65 or older are 50 percent more likely to be struck by a vehicle and killed while walking, the report found.
"Even after controlling for the relative amounts of walking among these populations, risks continue to be higher for some people of color and older adults — indicating that these people most likely face disproportionately unsafe conditions for walking," the report states.