DUVAL COUNTY, Fla — Florida consistently ranks among the top five deadliest states for pedestrians, and this year Florida lawmakers are looking at ways to combat that stigma.
Pedestrian safety, especially for students, has been top of mind here in Duval recently.
School Board Member Cindy Pearson (District 3) noted earlier this month the school district launched its new “Be Safe Be Seen” campaign to address a concerning trend of dangerous driving around stopped school buses.
“Last year I think we had 42 or 43 students hit with three fatalities,” Pearson said.
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For local parents like Katie Hathaway, it’s a constant concern when sending her children off to school.
“And getting kids to and from school safely every day is the bare minimum we should be doing,” Hathaway said.
Now, state lawmakers are considering a new bill that aims to improve safety at crosswalks.
The bill would require any new crosswalks in school zones or on public roadways with speed limits of 35 miles-per-hour or higher to install one of four different safety crossing signals.
They include flashing beacons, in-roadway warning lights, pedestrian hybrid beacons and rectangular rapid flashing beacons.
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Pearson said she likes the goal, but would like to see the plan include a public safety campaign.
“It is quite dangerous for our students when our drivers either don’t recognize the signal, don’t know how to interact with it or just ignore it,” Pearson said.
Hathaway also supports the base mission of pedestrian safety, but noted that, without any state funding attached, the bill would increase costs on local governments.
“Families need safer routes, but you cannot implement legislation like this without the funds to back it and this comes at a time when some in our state want to eliminate property taxes, which help fund projects like this,” Hathaway said.
The bill cleared its first committee stop in the House Wednesday morning, and concerns around a lack of flexibility and funding were raised.
The bill sponsor indicated he’s willing to make changes as the bill moves forward to address those concerns.
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