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Florida is in the news again, but not for the good reasons this time. A recent study has shown that pedestrians in Florida are at risk of experiencing wrongful deaths from car accidents. In fact, the state ranks highest in such cases amongst all other states in the US. Incredibly, pedestrians in Parkland, Pembroke Pines, and Fort Lauderdale stand a greater chance to experience a wrongful death from car accidents than pedestrians in larger cities like New York or Boston.

Though sometimes, actions and behaviors such as crossing outside a marked crosswalk, being intoxicated, and being distracted by their phones can like cause pedestrians to dies in a car accident, it is, however, sad to know that the roadways themselves can lead pedestrians to their early graves. Such cases often demand the services of a personal injury attorney in Florida.

One of the major causes of pedestrian accidents in Florida is those older roadways that were initially not constructed for active populations. More specifically are those roadways designed without pedestrian-friendly crosswalks and sidewalks. Pedestrians basically share these roadways with automobile vehicles driving at relatively highway speeds.

In some cases, a crosswalk may be located some distance away (about 1000 feet). So, anyone using to access a crosswalk on these roadways will have to a walk a significant distance before crossing them. But rather than walking that far to access a crosswalk, most pedestrians would prefer to cross without them.

Before now, roadways used to be built without adjoining sidewalks. This happened many years ago when agriculture was the mainstay in most westerly cities. Basically, they were not originally built for active traffic as is the case today. More often than not, many residents in these cities are confronted with unsafe roadway conditions particularly now that the population growth is tending towards the suburbs.

However, some safety measures are already being put in place by the Florida Department of Transportation which has already started taking active steps to address these problems. They are taking efforts to significantly minimize driver speeds on outdated roadways by planting trees near the roadways and making narrower car lanes.

In a bid to reduce cases of pedestrians getting involved in car accidents while crossing roadways, some concerned cities are taking great steps to ensure adequate pedestrian safety on the roadways while crossing. Basically, they try to limit the width of residential streets by 25fts which in turn helps to provide a greater opportunity for pedestrians to cross thereby helping them avoid traffic.

Some of these pedestrian-centric cities are now providing pedestrians with an ample opportunity to cross even before vehicles make attempt to drive. They do this by re-timing crosswalk signals and minimizing drivers’ ability to make fast turns at intersections.

If you are your loved one have been recently involved in a Florida car accident due to bad roads, feel free to contact a personal injury attorney in Florida, as you can be liable to be compensated.