Taking a stroll? Ann Arbor is the safest city in Michigan to do it, while Flint is the most dangerous according to a national report released today.
Overall, the number pedestrians killed each year in Michigan is above the national average (12.2% in Michigan, compared with 11.8% nationally). Cities including Lansing, Grand Rapids and Jackson scored favorably, while Detroit, Monroe, and others scored well below the national average. Click here for the complete data on Michigan.
More than 4,500 Americans died last year while walking in the nation’s cities and towns. In Michigan, 253 pedestrian fatalities were recorded in 2007 and 2008.
The report—Dangerous by Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths—was authored by Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership. It was released in Michigan through the Michigan Environmental Council.
The report shows that communities that invest in safe, complete streets — those that encourage pedestrians, cyclists and motorists to coexist safely — are the safest places to walk. Walk- friendly policies and infrastructure should be a key pillar of policies to encourage revitalization of urban cores throughout the state.
Unfortunately, only a trickle of transportation funding is used to address pedestrian safety. Pedestrian deaths account for 12 percent of all traffic deaths, yet only 1.5 percent of funds available in the current federal transportation bill are directed toward pedestrian safety.
Michigan Complete Streets Coalition 
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November 21, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Rosemary Smith
In Marquette, MI, local radio stations, 100.3 The Point, Eagle 96.7and 949 The Bay are teaming up with Waste Management and the Marquette Co Sheriffs’ department to run PSAs encouraging safe pedestrian and biking traffic.
Here’s a sample commercial they’re running… good stuff!
DID YOU KNOW WHEN YOU’RE WALKING OR BIKING IN THE ROAD, IT’S A GOOD PRACTICE TO ASSUME THAT YOU’RE INVISIBLE? THIS IS SHERIFF LOVELACE. MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH A DRIVER ENSURES HE OR SHE SEES YOU AND YOU’RE LESS LIKELY TO GET RUN OVER. MICHIGAN LAW SAYS PEDESTRIANS DO HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY WHEN THEY’RE IN A CROSSWALK… NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. AND BEFORE YOU ENTER THE CROSSWALK, VEHICLES HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. KEEP YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY SAFE. PAY ATTENTION AND LOOK ‘EM IN THE EYE.
(Mark or Theresa):
THIS MESSAGE BROUGHT TO YOU BY WASTE MANAGEMENT… CLEANING UP OUR ENVIRONMENT AND KEEPING OUR STREETS CLEAN AND SAFE.