Memphis a Top 5 Most Dangerous Metro Area for Pedestrians

Have you ever tried to scramble across Poplar Avenue? If so you know that it’s like a high wire circus act. I can’t even walk the one mile from my home in Germantown to the Saddle Creek mall because of lack of sidewalks and safe street crossings!

A new rankings list confirms what Memphis personal injury lawyers have known all along – our city makes commuting on foot a death defying stunt that only the brave should attempt.

The rankings by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, place Memphis at number 5 on a list of the most dangerous metro areas, based on a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI). This PDI was calculated by dividing the average pedestrian accident fatality rate between 2007 and 2008, by the percentage of residents walking to work. It was created to compare metropolitan areas across the US, taking into account that in some cities, more people walked daily to work and therefore, there may be a higher rate of pedestrian fatalities. The first four spots on the list were taken by four metropolitan areas in Florida, making that state the most dangerous for pedestrians.

As I drilled down further into Tennessee’s data, I found that while the national PDI is 52.1, Tennessee has a PDI of 71.5. Memphis has a PDI of 137.7 followed by Chattanooga at 78.6, Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin at 70.2, Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol at 54.7 and Knoxville at 54.5.

According to the researchers, most pedestrian accidents occur on arterial roads, or highways that have simply expanded and become more congested over time. Poor design has contributed to these arterial roads becoming pedestrian fatality magnets.

As a Memphis injury lawyer, I know that it’s possible to prevent fatalities simply by making greater investments in pedestrian infrastructure, and using traffic calming techniques that can slow down traffic, and make streets safer for pedestrians. Programs like Complete Streets, which aim to ensure that road construction projects factor in the needs of all users, including pedestrians and bicyclists, can also help reduce pedestrian fatalities.

The researchers are calling for adopting a national Complete Streets policy, expanding the Safe Routes to School program and dedicating a portion of federal transportation funds to pedestrian projects.

Here’s my suggestion:

• For starters, why can’t we put in some pedestrian friendly sidewalks? It would be great if I could walk from my house to local restaurants without have to cross Poplar once to get to a sidewalk and then cross it again to come back to the same side of the street I was on previously, just to make it a few hundred yards.

• Secondly, how about some secondary routes that lead pedestrians to cool and fun areas? A prime example is the southern part of Shelby Farms. The only way for a pedestrian or biker to access the trails there is for them to cross a busy Germantown Parkway bridge. There have been several accidents and injuries from wrecks at that at that very bridge.

A better solution would be to connect Shelby Farms to the Germantown Greenway trails by building a pedestrian bridge over the Wolf River. This would alleviate the problem of pedestrians having to walk on a narrow side of a major 5-lane parkway bridge.

Come on Memphis, Germantown, Collierville and all of Shelby County – let’s start working on solutions for pedestrian safety today!

What do you think? Let me hear your ideas on how to improve pedestrian and biker safety in Memphis and Shelby County.