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Report: Suncoast region ranked among most dangerous areas for pedestrians in US

Six Florida metro areas are among the top 10.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Cities and towns on Florida's Suncoast are ranked among the most dangerous places to walk or ride a bike in the country, according to a recent report. 

According to the "Pedestrian Danger Index" study, the Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port area ranked as the nation's sixth-most dangerous place for pedestrians from 2010 to 2019.

The study was put together by Smart Growth America in partnership with the National Complete Streets Coalition.

This year's edition was titled "Dangerous By Design" and stated that nearly 200 pedestrians died in the North Port, Sarasota, Bradenton area over the 10-year period researchers studied.

The report looked at different variables including speed, road design and accessibility. It also took income, age and racial demographics into account and found "the risk [was] not evenly distributed."

"Older adults, people of color, and people walking in low-income communities are disproportionately represented in fatal crashes involving people walking—even after controlling for differences in population size and walking rates," the study reads. 

According to the report, between 2010-2019, Black people were struck and killed by drivers at an 82-percent higher rate than white and non-Hispanic Americans.

That disparity reaches 221-percent for Alaska Native and American Indian people, the report adds.

Six Florida metro areas made the top ten, with the Tampa Bay metro area coming in at eighth. With nearly 5,900 deaths in Florida between 2010 and 2019, the study ranked the state as being first nationwide for pedestrian danger.

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