Crossing the street in Greater Miami shouldn’t be a death-defying act
It’s not your imagination. You really do take your life in your hands when you cross the street around here. According to a report by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach area is among the top 20 most dangerous metropolitan areas for pedestrians in the country, ranking No. 14. (The Daytona Beach area is No. 1, though that’s not much comfort.)
And the state of Florida, overall, is considered the second most dangerous state for pedestrians in the nation, after New Mexico.
It’s not hard to believe this study makes a valid point. Anyone who’s recently tried to cross Biscayne Boulevard or any other major thoroughfare in Greater Miami can tell you about drivers gunning through red lights and a cars-are-king mentality.
But what do we do about it? As the Miami Herald reported,
Gov. Ron DeSantis apparently knows to keep silent on Hillsdale College from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s recent connection with that college.
Lee failed to support and defend Tennessee teachers when Larry Arnn, president of Michigan’s conservative Hillsdale College, remarked at a private reception in Tennessee that, “Teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”
Arnn also said that, “You don’t have to be an expert to educate a child, because basically anybody can do it.”
Lee announced his intention to partner with Hillsdale College earlier this year and planned to bring 50 Hillsdale-sponsored charter schools to the state.
Lee said that the college is a “standard bearer in quality curriculum and the responsibility of preserving American liberty.”
Regardless of Lee’s perspective, Tennessee the authors of Dangerous By Design 2022 have some ideas, focused on road design. The report says much of the blame for our perilous state of affairs is that many of the nation’s streets were built “primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of keeping everyone safe.”
More sidewalks, protected bike lanes, clearly marked crosswalks and a transportation system that allows non-drivers to get from place to place easily would all help. So would slowing down traffic.
GIVE US WALKABILITY
That may be considered heresy in this traffic-choked area — Slow it down even more? Is that possible? — but we’re not talking about changing the speed limit on Interstate 95.
A sustainable downtown, though, needs to be walkable. Also, it needs to be enjoyable to walk — we don’t think that’s too much to ask. We’re glad to note that there are measures under way in Miami-Dade County to
State Rep. Mark White, who is chair of the House Education Administration Committee and a supporter of charter schools, says he will not support an alliance with Hillsdale College moving forward.
Once again, DeSantis is playing to his hopefully shrinking base at the expense of Florida’s students and educators.
– Irene Warner,
Miami
GLITZ IS GONE
After reading the obituary of Ivana Trump, I am disappointed that no charitable endeavors, achievements, or successes were noted.
Instead of finding the offer by her ex-husband to be ambassador to the Czech Republic an honor, she saw it as a limit to her jet-setting lifestyle.
Doesn’t seem like she gave a bone in her body for anyone outside her clan.
That is sad.
– Lori Thomas,
Coral Gables
PRISON CRUELTY
If holding anyone accountable for rapes and other acts of cruelty in Florida’s prisons is hard,
Opinion content from syndicated sources may be trimmed from the original length to fit available space. it’s because the assaults are committed away from cameras. Get more cameras.
SOCIETY RUN AMOK
Something is wrong here. We are a large country with a large population, yet we are told by a small number of elected officials — mostly men — what all the women in the country can and cannot do with their bodies.
These officials are not doctors and they have no medical background, but that doesn’t matter. They still dictate the law.
Roe v. Wade needs to be overturned to save women’s lives. There is so much more involved with pregnancy. Sometimes, it requires life-or-death decisions, yet the law still says no to necessary abortions.
Roe v. Wade needs to be reinstated.
INJURED WILDLIFE
Most of us encounter injured wild animals from time to time and wonder if there is anything we can do to help.
BOB MCFARLIN
address some of these issues.
When it comes to car-first road design, being a Sun Belt state hasn’t helped. Places like Florida grew after World War II, in the age of the car. Many cities didn’t have established, walkable centers, so highways took precedence. And we never looked back.
The pandemic also is playing a role. Examining five years of data, the report found that more people were hit and killed in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than in previous years. Despite less traffic on the roads, people drove faster.
NOT A SPEEDWAY
As anyone who drove the Palmetto during that first year of the pandemic can attest, when Miamians spot an open roadway, they see it as permission to make their “Fast & Furious” dreams come true.
Here’s the main point, though. These are, for the most part, preventable deaths. European nations, with affluence comparable to this country, reduced pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates in the past 10 years, while U.S. rates are up, the Herald story notes.
Kurt Kaminer, a spokesman for the University of Miami’s UHealth WalkSafe and BikeSafe programs, told the Herald that South Florida’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” approach to driving may be starting to wane.
He said that after two cyclists were struck and killed in the
– Ira Licht,
Miami
– Phyllis Koplin, Pembroke Pines
There is. The Pelican Harbor Seabird Station is a local resource that helps injured animals.
If, like me, you feel compassion for the animals who have to deal with the ever-encroaching humanity into their environment, consider donating to this local organizational gem.
– Sid Kaskey, South Miami
TRUE COLORS
drop lane of the Rickenbacker Causeway on May 15, “The county, Mayor [Daniella] Levine Cava and transportation and public works director [Eulois] Cleckley fixed that drop-lane problem in one day, and I’m optimistic they’re committed to the transformation that’s overdue.”
Levine Cava, whose husband was injured in a bicycle accident on the causeway in 2018, has long pushed for safer roadways, starting back when she was a commissioner. The county’s Vision Zero plan is continuing to tackle the issue by identifying dangerous intersections and improving them with signals, barriers and adjusting the timing of lights, for example.
The county is also developing a transportation master plan that will include pedestrians,
With his latest move to block funds for fighting climate change, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has finally earned the moniker, “DINO” — Democrat in Name Only.
– Michael Bone, Pembroke Pines
PARDON THE SWAMP
If Trump loyalists are so adamant that they have done, and continue to do, the right thing, why do they require a pardon? Doesn’t that imply a recognition of personal wrongdoing and an intention not to repeat it?
As to election fraud, are we to believe that the long-standing, well-respected American standards and practices for carrying out local elections
MONICA R. RICHARDSON
suddenly collapsed in 2020?
How is any of this possible when we were assured that the swamp would be drained?
– Sonja I. Pantry,
Miramar
EYE ON HAITI
The astute and cleareyed reporting by the Herald’s Jacqueline Charles shone again in the story “Luck and God: How Haitians survive gang violence, kidnapping in their nation’s capitol.” She has also done remarkable reporting on the gang violence in Port-au-Prince.
Considering not only the danger involved in doing her job, she is a beacon of truth for a country that needs more advocacy from the United States.
– Candice Russell,
Plantation
WHAT A FARCE
The author of the July 14 letter “Having a choice” made reference to “adults choose their own fate.”
Exactly. As adults, we choose what we think is best for our bodies.
The writer reminds me of the individuals who
DANA BANKER
and bikes and other transit modes. And it is building a “micromobility network” — with the first one located downtown — essentially adding protected bike lanes to help with short commutes but with the added bonus of narrowing and slowing roads a little, so pedestrians are safer.
HOPE ON THE HORIZON
Kaminer sounded an optimistic note. People now see “the necessity and the appeal of safe streets, safe mobility options, safe commutes and safe recreation, and they are asking for change,” he said” “They want pedestrians, cyclists, public transportation users — human beings — prioritized over cars.”
Prioritize people over cars — or at least put them on equal footing. It’s time.
‘‘ I WOULD EAT HEALTHY, BUT THEN I REMEMBER THAT TIME EVE ATE AN APPLE AND DOOMED ALL OF HUMANITY. SO, I DON’T KNOW, BETTER NOT RISK IT.
protest mask-wearing by wearing a paper mask around their mouths.
No doubt they are not assisting the mothers of these unwanted pregnancies with monetary support for their medical care.
They surely aren’t helping to foster or adopt these unwanted children.
– Marie Sanchez,
Miami
POWER SURGE
What is Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Public Service Commission doing about recent changes that have produced for Florida the highest electric rates in the country?
My June 2022 electric bill, for using zero kilowatt hours, was $39.09.
According to the federal Energy Information Administration, the average price per kilowatt hour in the United States for March 2022 was 14.44 cents.
More than 75% of Florida households use electricity as their only source of energy.
DeSantis must do something about this ripoff.
– Gerard Londergan,
Crescent City