program<\/a>, which aims to make crosswalks safer by improving the driver yield rate, or how often drivers actually yield to pedestrians trying to cross the street.<\/p>\n\u201cPedestrians have the right of way at every single intersection, regardless of whether it’s marked or not,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cAnd so, keeping that in mind: that every time you’re approaching an intersection, to let off the gas just a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program launched in 2012, Dyer said, back when Smart Growth America ranked Orlando the country\u2019s deadliest metro area for pedestrians. Gradually, since then, the pedestrian death rate has been declining.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the result of deliberate data collection, analysis and targeted safety investments, Dyer said. \u201cCrosswalk by crosswalk: making improvements, and then seeing those improvements over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
More drivers are now yielding at crosswalks analyzed by the program over time, Dyer said. Back in 2012, only 17% of drivers in the Orlando metro area were yielding at certain crosswalks. Now, that rate is up to about 50%.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783635736_75_.jpeg\"\/)
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Eric M. Trull<\/p>\n
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Bike\/Walk Central Florida via Flickr<\/p>\n
A car approaches an intersection someone is trying to cross during a \u201cBest Foot Forward\u201d operation in Casselberry in 2023.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s helping?<\/p>\n
The Smart Growth America report is called \u201cDangerous by Design.\u201d According to the group, \u201cstreets are dangerous by design, built to prioritize the speed and convenience of cars over the safety of everyone who uses them.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make streets less dangerous, infrastructure improvements are key, Dyer said. And it doesn\u2019t have to mean redesigning an entire road from scratch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve seen some improvements in the signage and the markings and those low-cost solutions,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cWe’ve seen a lot more beacons being put up: the pedestrian hybrid beacons and the rapid flashing beacons. Which are very effective, as long as they’re pressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing pedestrians can do to keep themselves safer, Dyer said, is to make sure to press the buttons on those beacons; sometimes, the auto-detect methods don\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe roads need to be accommodated, so that way, drivers feel like it’s a place that has a lower speed limit,\u201d Dyer said.<\/p>\n
That might look like actually narrowing road lanes, or adding flexible delineator posts between lanes to get drivers to slow down. New paint striping for roads, plus curb extensions and S-curves can also help.<\/p>\n
![\"Cars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783635738_86_.jpeg\"\/)
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Eric M. Trull<\/p>\n
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Bike\/Walk Central Florida via Flickr<\/p>\n
Cars drive along a road in Winter Park as someone waits to cross during a \u201cBest Foot Forward\u201d operation in 2023.<\/p>\n
Sun Belt problems<\/p>\n
On the global scale, the U.S. remains one of the most dangerous countries for people walking. It\u2019s \u201ca dramatic outlier amongst the rest of the developed world,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n
Florida sits in the country\u2019s southern Sun Belt region, which tends to be more dangerous for pedestrians. Many areas in the region are defined by urban sprawl and roads that weren\u2019t designed to be walkable.<\/p>\n
Another issue in the Sun Belt, Dyer said, is the sun itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s one of the reasons that Florida has been historically high on the list,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cWe do have people walking and biking all year long. And so, being part of that Sun Belt, there’s going to be a lot more opportunity for pedestrian and car interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moving forward, Dyer said the group is focused on working to keep the driver yield rate down. They\u2019ll be out in eleven Florida counties next week, working with law enforcement to monitor how often drivers stop in crosswalks and to raise awareness.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Central Florida, the report ranks Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville as the country\u2019s 11th-deadliest metro for pedestrians. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach is 14th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando experienced one of the largest long-term drops in pedestrian death rates among the country\u2019s largest metros, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-334977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783635735_507_.jpeg\"\/)
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