On Wide Florida Roads, Running for Dear Life

[SecularMotion]

ORLANDO, Fla. — As any pedestrian in Florida knows, walking in this car-obsessed state can be as tranquil as golfing in a lightning storm. Sidewalks are viewed as perks, not necessities. Crosswalks are disliked and dishonored. And many drivers maniacally speed up when they see someone crossing the street.

Then there are the long, ever widening arterial roads — those major thoroughfares lined with strip malls built to move cars in and out of sprawling suburbs.

It is no wonder that four Florida metropolitan areas, led by the Orlando region, ranked as the most dangerous places to walk in the country, according to a recent survey by Transportation for America, a nonprofit safety advocacy organization.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/us/16pedestrians.html

[CanonRay]

1. Paradise Lost

that's Florida to me.

[tsuki]

5. Me too.

[RockaFowler]

2. There are hardly any sidewalks in St Lucie County

They had to wait to put them in when at least 5 kids were hit on the way to school. No bike paths either. I'm not sure why they think the cars are the only transporation.

[Dappleganger]

3. It's the republican version of population control.

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. Nevermind walking, the orlando area is the most dangerous place to drive.

Really horrible traffic and the worst drivers.
There are traffic lights everywhere you look and you can never make any of them. People get so impatient because it takes forever to get anywhere. The drivers are maniacal.
You can't live there for even 3 months without getting in a wreck.

So yeah, I can easily see it as being a dangerous place to walk but it's also terrifying to drive there and there's an increasingly large number of bad cops abusing their power and breaking laws.

And it's a teabagger's heaven because they're toll roads everywhere you look.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Worst accident I've ever driven past was in Orlando.

We were on one side of a concrete median on interstate 4, looking at a couple through their shattered windshield on the other side--they were both unconscious and had bloody faces. Several other wrecked cars. My husband thought maybe we should help, but I thought it would be too dangerous and snarl emergency vehicles to try to park and climb over the median.

[Shagbark Hickory]

9. I lived there very briefly...

I made a point to never drive above 35mph because first of all, you are going to get stuck at every red light and second because people just pull out in front of you.

So one evening I was going home from dinner on a typical 6 lane road, tooting along at a sane 35mph while cars zoomed around me at much higher speeds. A car decides it will pull out of a subdivision and turn left across 3 lanes without waiting for traffic to clear.

I had plenty of time to stop because I wasn't going that fast, but the other cars that were going twice the speed had broadsided the car that pulled out. Just as I reach for the door handle to see if anyone needs help, some body going 60+ in a 45 zone approaching an obvious pileup of wrecked cars slams into my ass. A few seconds later and I would have been standing outside while the impact happened and I wouldn't be typing this message here today.

[Greybnk48]

6. I didn't realize this until I read the Dexter series of books

where it is mentioned quite often. Dexter finds the murderous tendencies of Florida drivers soothing. LOL!

[BNJMN]

8. The List:

Most Dangerous Metro Areas

Orlando-Kissimmee, FL
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

http://t4america.org/resources/dangerousbydesign2011/




They're also some of the most dangerous places to exist in.

[Shagbark Hickory]

10. Once again, Floreeduh solidly takes the cake.

Can't make the case that sidewalks have anything to do with it as Miami and Fort LottyDotty have sidewalks on every road.

[Lint Head]

11. Florida is a dangerous yet beautiful state. It's ironic that seniors on Social Security

retire to a state that is run by right wing nut fascists that want to destroy S.S. and Medicare.