Leon County Pedestrian Fatalities Surpass Pre-COVID Levels

The latest information from the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FHSMV) Crash Dashboard shows that pedestrian fatalities in Leon County have surpassed pre-COVID levels. The dashboard shows there were 12 pedestrian fatalities in 2023 and 2024. This is approximately 50% more than the pedestrian deaths reported in 2018 (8) and 2109 (9) – prior to the COVID pandemic. This is a 42% increase.

Also, the number of crashes involving pedestrians increased 16% from 380 in 2018 and 2019 to 440 in 2023 and 2024.

These numbers are in contrast with a national report that indicated 2023 saw the first overall year-on-year decline in pedestrian deaths from vehicle accidents in about four years, since the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of pedestrians killed on U.S. roads in 2023 dropped 5.4% compared to the previous year — which saw a 40-year high — but it was still 14.1% higher than the number of deaths recorded in 2019, before the pandemic, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

The FHSMV Crash Dashboard shows that pedestrian fatalities in Florida during 2023 and 2024 were approximately the same as in 2018 and 2019.

The latest Leon County fatality occurred near the intersection of Capital Circle Southeast and Apalachee Parkway on November 17th when a pedestrian was struck in a crosswalk by a truck when the driver failed to see the victim.

The CRPTA Promotes Safety Initiatives

Pedestrian safety is on the agenda of the Capital Regional Transportation Agency (CRPTA). The CRPTA is responsible for coordinating transportation planning within Florida’s Capital Region. The CRTPA includes all of Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties. The group adopted its annual safety targets at its February 19, 2024, meeting and has supported several infrastructure initiatives that promote pedestrian safety.

For example, the CRTPA submit[1]ted a grant application in late August to fund a safety study along an approximately six (6) mile segment of W. Tennessee Street in Tallahassee (from Aenon Church Road east to Monroe Street). The grant is seeking funding associated with the USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) 2024 Planning and Demonstration Grants program.

Portions of this segment of W. Tennessee Street have been identified in the CRTPA’s adopted SS4A Safety Action Plan as being on the region’s High Injury Network which identifies roadways (or roadway segments) where high numbers of traffic deaths and serious injuries are occurring. Along this segment of the corridor, between the years 2017 – 20231, 23 people have been killed with 70% of the fatalities identified as vulnerable road users (defined as people who are not protected by a car or truck while travel[1]ing and, as a result, at a higher risk of injury in a crash with a vehicle).

Also, in September the CRPTA adopted The North Monroe Street Safety Implementation Plan which identifies potential safety improvements along the N. Monroe corridor for roadway users (including motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists). The effort also included development of a federal grant application (SS4A Grant Program) to implement many of the identified potential improvements contained in the plan.