Group: For pedestrians, American roads 'dangerous by design'

The safety of a regular group of users of roads is being neglected by policymakers, according to a new report released Tuesday by a group of transportation advocates.

Laws have been passed to make cars safer and to cut down on drunk and distracted driving, but not much has been done to improve the safety of pedestrians that walk alongside cars, Transportation for America said in its new report, "Dangerous by Design."

"The decades-long neglect of pedestrian safety in the design and use of American streets is exacting a heavy toll on our lives," the report said. "In the last decade, from 2000 through 2009, more than 47,700 pedestrians were killed in the United States, the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of passengers crashing roughly every month.

"Despite the magnitude of these avoidable tragedies, little public attention — and even less in public resources — has been committed to reducing pedestrian deaths and injuries in the United States," the report continued. "On the contrary, transportation agencies typically prioritize speeding traffic over the safety of people on foot or other vulnerable road users."

As a result, the report said the number of pedestrian deaths has declined just 14 percent in the last 10 years, compared to a 27 percent drop in fatal car crashes. From 2000 to 2009, 47,000 people walking were killed and another 688,00 were injured.

To change the trend, the group is recommending Congress keep a trust fund for pedestrians and bicyclists it has contemplated eliminating, build more sidewalks and adopt a "nation complete streets policy" that takes in account pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation riders and others. 

Transportation for America ranked the worst cities for "pedestrian danger," measuring the number of deaths from 2000-2009, the average deaths per 100,000 citizens and the percent of workers walking to work. The worst cities were all in Florida; the top four on the inglorious list are Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami. Riverside, Calif., rounded out the top five.

The full Transportation for America report can be read here.