TAMPA, Fla. — To Emily Hinsdale, statistics don’t necessarily capture the scope of a now-common tragedy along Florida roadways: pedestrian fatalities. While statistics measure numbers and percentages, they don’t capture the immeasurable heartbreak the incidents cause Sunshine State families.
“I think numbers are less scary than when you realize how many people that you start to know that have been involved in incidents like this — whether it’s somebody that you know who was killed or somebody you know has lost somebody they loved,” said Hinsdale.
Hinsdale is a board member with Walk Bike Tampa, a “citizens-based advocacy group focused on promoting safe, connected routes for cyclists and pedestrians throughout the city.”
While Hinsdale said stats don’t capture the scope of human tragedy pedestrian fatalities are causing the state, they do give her group a renewed sense of purpose.
According to a recent report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, pedestrian fatalities are becoming more common in the United States and Florida.
The report crunched numbers from just the first half of 2021 and found a roughly 31% increase in pedestrian fatalities in Florida. Altogether, the state saw 444 pedestrian deaths in that time frame, which was the second-highest count in the country behind California. Florida did, however, see the greatest difference in deaths between that period in 2020 and 2021.
“It is a bad year all around, and sadly, one of our worst in history,” said Hinsdale. “Speeding went up in 2021. Fatalities went up in 2021. We are hoping that seeing these numbers will help more people understand how massive a problem this is and stimulate more interest in finding solutions.”
Hinsdale and Walk Bike Tampa are focused on solutions, and she says there are plenty that work, including better infrastructure like more sidewalks and bike lanes, re-designed crosswalks and streets, and reduced speeds.
How can you play a part in spreading those solutions? Hinsdale says better advocacy is key.
“We can keep asking each other to ‘Please drive more slowly,’ and ‘Please be more careful,’ but there’s not a lot of evidence showing that that has made much difference, so we need to invest in infrastructure. And what can we do as a culture? We can support those investments,” she said.
Find more resources from Walk Bike Tampa at this link.
