[August 10, 2011] Bay County deadliest metro area in state for pedestrians, bicyclists Tweet Aug 07, 2011 (The News Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- PANAMA CITY BEACH -- The July deaths of 22-year-old Marija Kostova by a hit-and-run driver and 62-year-old Paul Lindsay were the latest examples of a trend that has been around for at least a decade. Now a national study of pedestrian deaths ranks Bay County as the deadliest metro area in an especially deadly state to walk or bicycle. Transportation for America, a national coalition attempting to raise awareness of transportation issues and advocating safe street design, released a study called Dangerous by Design, which ranks metro areas nationwide in terms of pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people living there. Read the report The study also ranks each state according to its Pedestrian Danger Index. Over the course of a decade, 5,163 people were killed walking in Florida, enough for Florida to rank as the most dangerous state in the country. "An overwhelming proportion of these deaths share a common thread: they occurred along 'arterial' roadways that were dangerous by design, streets engineered for speeding cars with little or no provision for people on foot, in wheelchairs or on bicycles," the study says. Between 2000 and 2009, 64 people were killed by motorists while walking or bicycling in the Panama City metro area, according the report. That's a rate of four deaths for every 100,000 residents, a rate higher than any other metro area in Florida. County officials admitted they're dealing with too many pedestrian deaths. Keith Bryant, traffic engineering manager for Bay County, said the numbers don't factor in the amount of visitors the county gets. The population swells during tourist season, but the study doesn't take visitors into account, Bryant noted. "Bay County has millions of tourists that walk...and that skews those numbers," Bryant said. The county has been making improvements to the options available to pedestrians and bicyclists in the areas where county officials believe they will be utilized the most, Bryant said. Sidewalks near schools have received priority because of the need to keep children from walking to school on busy streets. "We've been working constantly -- the county has -- over the last couple years to improve bicycle-pedestrian safety," Bryant said. "You know these facilities will be used if you build them." The Transportation Planning Organization has been working to address to safety concerns with an "ongoing effort" to improve the area's network of sidewalks, said TPO coordinator and senior planner Bob Baronti. "Obviously safety is the number one priority for the TPO board," Baronti said. Raising awareness for both drivers and pedestrians is a crucial step toward addressing the problem, Baronti said. Deputy Timothy A. Bowen with the Bay County Sheriff's Office said these are "major issues," and he had several ideas to improve pedestrian safety. Some of them have already been implemented, such as including bike lanes on some streets. "It's good because it means that our road planners see the problem and they're listening to the public," he said. But some of Bowen's suggestions, such as a path along Back Beach Road similar to the path along State 79, are expensive at a time when money is tight. "If we could do something like that along Back Beach, I really think it would have a great impact on this issue, but again funding is an issue," Bowen said. "It just makes good sense to do that." Bowen's eyes were opened to the dangers faced by non-motorists when he was a cycling instructor in Tampa. He now teaches pedestrian and bicycle safety to school children and he provides them with flashing LED wristbands and reflective vests. Visibility is a common factor in many deaths, said Sgt. Jason Britt, who oversees traffic homicide investigations in 10 northwest Florida counties, including Bay County, for the Florida Highway Patrol. Victims frequently wore dark-colored clothing and walked in poorly lit areas. "A lot of these fatalities occur during nighttime hours, so visibility is reduced even more," Britt said. There are other commonalities. Drug and alcohol use by either the driver or pedestrian or both is a factor in most of the traffic fatalities the FHP investigates, Britt said. Many of the people who are killed are people who are forced, for one reason or another, to walk or ride a bike. Some are transients or have no driver's licenses. The Transportation for America study advocates federal spending and oversight to improve pedestrian safety, and recommends that Congress hold states accountable for creating pedestrian friendly communities. "Making places more walkable not only improves their safety and encourages physical activity, but it also helps restore local tax base and boosts local economies," the study says. To see more of The News Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsherald.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]