VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County has been named the deadliest in the country for pedestrians by a nonprofit that studies accidents across the U.S.
That ranking is based on 2022′s numbers and this year FDOT’s data shows the problem is even worse with 22 pedestrians killed so far. Now, the county is bringing in a new program to get drivers’ attentions.
Even on the flashing crosswalks that alert drivers, many of those who often walk around the county told News 6 they feel it’s a risk.
“They may hit you,” Walter Gastiger said. ”Even when you push the button over there, some people are just ignorant.”
With downtowns like DeLand’s and Beach Street in Daytona Beach growing, and a new SunRail station that has a bicycle welcoming area, Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower said it’s time to make Volusia safer.
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“Part of the government’s responsibility is if people are actually going to come and use the downtown is to make sure they are safe,” Brower said.
The council just voted to bring in a safety program by Bike/Walk Central Florida.
“When our program started, our crosswalks only had 17% of drivers yielding to them and right now that’s over 50%,” the nonprofit’s program manager Vince Dyersaid.
The nonprofit is already working in Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties. It focuses on tactics to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.
“Through education, enforcement efforts, and through engineer recommendations that help make crosswalks safer,” Dyer said.
Dyer said they will hold educational programs around the program. They will also start by picking about a dozen crosswalks in Volusia that have had reported incidents and assign monitors to them. Those monitors will cross the walk 60 times at different times in one day and collect data on what drivers do as they try to cross.
“We’ll do that about every other month so six times per year to get an average throughout the year of how often drivers yield to pedestrians at those crosswalks,” Dyer said.
He said they’ll then make their recommendations for engineering safety changes needed.
They’ll also work with the sheriff’s office to beef up enforcement.
“We’ll do it for two years and then the county will reevaluate to see if we want to fund it ourselves. FDOT is doing the funding to begin with,” Brower said.
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