Tallahassee is a vibrant and thriving community that sees plenty of people relocating to the area and a significant amount of tourist traffic. With warm climate and plenty of places to visit, Tallahassee might seem like the ideal place for people to walk or go for a bike ride instead of driving everywhere.
Unfortunately, people who use their own bodies as a source of transportation open themselves up to a degree of injury risk. Specifically, both cyclists and pedestrians have to be proactive about avoiding crashes caused by motor vehicles. The risk of a crash is higher in the greater Tallahassee region than it is throughout much of the rest of Florida. Leon County has high rates of preventable crashes.
Tallahassee sees many preventable crashes
Any place with a high number of people walking and biking could have a higher-than-average incidence of pedestrian and cyclist crashes. The greater Tallahassee area seems to have a particularly high degree of risk, especially when looking at the last few years.
A recent study looking at Florida traffic fatalities found that Leon County had the third-highest number of pedestrian crashes out of 67 counties. A shocking 52 cyclists and pedestrians have died in Leon County since 2020, and action is needed to prevent that trend from continuing.
There are plans in the works to make some changes to the roadways in Leon County. Plans for safety improvements include widening sidewalks and installing barriers to protect bike lanes. The rollout of those proposed changes is already underway, and there are dozens of others under consideration by local planners and policymakers. In the meantime, the collisions continue.
Unfortunately, pedestrian and cyclist crashes have a high chance of causing serious injury or death. They can also easily be more expensive than people anticipate. Standard car insurance does not provide adequate coverage for the losses potentially caused by a pedestrian or cyclist crash.
Filing a civil lawsuit may be the only way for surviving family members or those injured in a pedestrian or cyclist crash to recover their losses. Those who take timely action can potentially offset the losses related to a crash caused by a negligent party. While this effort cannot undo harm caused, it can address it in potentially meaningful ways.