The Planning Profession and Pedestrian Safety: Lessons From Orlando

Abstract

The planning profession's traditional focus on pedestrian safety in neighborhoods has led to institutional neglect of pedestrian safety along urban arterial roads. To determine whether such neglect has had serious consequences, we present a case analysis of pedestrian-auto crashes in Orange County, Florida. Orange County's major city, Orlando, is typical of post-World War II development throughout the United States, and findings from that area may be taken as representative. Drawing on law enforcement information on pedestrian- motor vehicle collisions, the case analysis relates the geographic distribution of pedestrian/auto crashes to different types of streetscapes and the alcohol impairment status of pedestrians. The analysis implicates those segments of arterial roadways that are lined with strip commercial activities as an important factor in pedestrian injuries and deaths. The problems are worsened where strip commercial activities include establish ments selling or serving alcohol. We conclude by calling for a reevaluation of planning practice that designates urban arterials as traffic-moving facilities and nothing else.