Everyone has a responsibility to prevent pedestrian accidents in Hollywood and South Florida. Obviously, motorists have a big responsibility to prevent pedestrian crashes. However, pedestrians, too, can take steps to stay safer.
Perhaps you like to walk around your Hollywood neighborhood for exercise. Or, maybe you simply walk in the beautiful South Florida sunshine to run errands. No matter what your reason for heading out on foot, make sure you do so safely:
According to statistics, pedestrians in wheelchairs were 36% more likely to be in fatal pedestrian accidents when compared with other groups, with men in wheelchairs having especially high rates of serious injury and fatalities.
Researchers who came up with the data did not offer reasons as to why wheelchair pedestrians may be at risk in this way, but there are a few possibilities:
Although pedestrian fatalities declined 4% in Florida last year, the state still sees more pedestrian accidents and fatalities than much of the country. And Broward County has the second-largest number of pedestrian fatalities in Florida.
Obviously, more needs to be done to prevent pedestrian accidents in Broward County, Hollywood, and across southern Florida. According to authorities and safety experts, everyone has a role to play in preventing these types of collisions:
Florida has the unfortunate distinction of having a higher-than-average rate of fatal accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists. In the past few years, the state has gotten serious about making the roads safer for all users – including those on foot and on bikes – but progress will not happen overnight.
In the meantime, pedestrians and motorists both have a responsibility to prevent pedestrian accidents in Hollywood and across Florida. When walking, you can stay safer with these safety tips in mind:
Your children are learning all sorts of useful things in school, but as a parent you are still your children’s most important teacher. One important thing you can teach your child is how to navigate traffic safely. Unfortunately, pedestrian accidents in Hollywood, Miami, and the rest of Southern Florida are an especially big risk for children. Children may act impulsively, may be harder to spot, and may not have the skills needed to cross streets safely.
As a parent, there are several things you can do to help your children:
If your child will be biking or walking to school this year, this is a good time of year to review your plan to avoid pedestrian accidents. Biking or walking to school gives your child the chance to exercise, get fresh air, and spend time with friends. However, it can also put them at an increased risk of pedestrian and traffic accidents. Each year, children are injured in pedestrian accidents in Hollywood and other South Florida communities, but there are ways to prevent these tragedies.
Here’s how to keep your child safe all school year long:
Now that the fall season is back, the morning commute just got a little bit more complicated. With parents dropping their children off at school and picking them up after classes and children headed to and from school on bicycles or on foot, the morning commute is likely to get more busy – and that can mean more dangerous.
Unfortunately, younger children don’t always look out for cars or obey the rules of the road as pedestrians. That means that you as a drive in Hollywood or Florida need to look out to make sure you don’t cause a pedestrian accident. How can you adjust your driving so that your morning commute is a little less chaotic? There are a few things you can do:
Traffic lights are an important part of street design and they are created to control traffic flow while preventing motor vehicle collisions. Given accident rates in general and the number of intersection collisions in Hollywood and other cities, however, many experts feel that more can be done to make streets and traffic lights safer. One of those potential solutions is “smart” traffic lights.
Smart virtual traffic lights developed by scientists promise to reduce collisions, red light violations, and congestion. The lights work by allowing cars to communicate with each other and with traffic light systems. If two or more cars are approaching an intersection, the system would make the lights turn green for the car or cars with the right of way and red for everyone else. If there is only one car approaching the intersection, the traffic lights would allow that car to drive right through on a green light.
Police pursuits often make the news and while they may look dramatic, they are extremely dangerous for people nearby. Each year, these chases lead to car collisions in Miami and other cities. While police pursuits may be important in order to stop criminals, they can also be a huge danger for everyone on the road.
One 2004 study examined crashes involving police vehicles between 1994 and 2002. Researchers gathered data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and found that there were 2654 fatal police-pursuit-related collisions during the time frame, with about 3146 fatalities. About 1088 of these fatalities involved people who were not in the vehicle being pursued by police. According to researchers, most of the drivers fleeing from police had prior convictions and most of the chases occurred on local roads and at night. Most of the fatalities involved high speeds. Traffic-related deaths were the most common cause of police activity related fatalities.
Florida cities have been ranked among the worst in the nation for pedestrians and bicyclists, and three years ago the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) responded with studies into road safety as well as potential design changes to make streets safer for all users. One of the changes Florida DOT is considering making is narrowing lanes. According to some experts, narrower lanes encourage drivers to slow down, which makes streets safer for pedestrians and bikers. In Miami Beach, Alton Road is one of the roads that is being redesigned with narrower lanes.
Traffic accidents in Miami Beach and other cities can occur due to busy downtown cores and due to suburban street design, which is often created for cars rather than pedestrians. One problem is that downtown urban streets are often designed with the same features as highways, which just encourage drivers to go faster. Part of the reason is because much of Florida was developed during the boom in the first few decades of the 20th century. At the time, there was less of a focus on walking and bicycling and more of a focus on making streets accessible to cars. Some communities were built largely for car traffic, with less thought to other forms of traffic.
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