Much of it might indeed be downtown, JSO Chief Cook's territory when all of this was being discussed. She told the group that downtown accounts for an overwhelming number of injury accidents, vehicle v pedestrian, but not deaths. Deaths are scattered all about town but as I recall Beach, Atlantic, Dunn, Lem Turner, University, 103Rd accounted for more than their share. This is a very serious problem, depending on which week you pull numbers from, we consistently rank number 2-4 in the nation in vehicle v pedestrian fatalities.
The fault for this is pretty well divided between:
Lack of driver education and awareness
Lack of marked crosswalks either painted or with signage.
Lack of lit crosswalks either street lighting or L.E.D. in pavement lighting
Lack of flashing warnings on blind crosswalks or occupied crosswalks
Lack of traffic controlled crosswalks either full signaled time controlled crossings or on demand pedestrian activated
Right or left turns on red in downtown without a pedestrian delay.
Bus stops that straddle the street without crosswalks
Mid-Block bus stops
Uncovered bus stops where the stop is busy and shelter is a long way off forcing people to run for cover in bad weather
Freeway-like speeds on many arterial roadways even in congested business areas.
Sparse use of 'Speed Tables' (as opposed to speed bumps or humps)
Lack of enforcement of bicycle rules of the road (running lights and stops)
