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Alarming amount of car crashes outside schools,
study says | Digital Short
ABC Action News
Published on Dec 13, 2017
(0:55 sec video segment)
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ABC Action News
Published on Dec 13, 2017
Are your kids safe walking to school or even getting off the bus near school? A Florida law
firm dug through the FL Department of Motor Vehicle records to find out the number of
crashes within 500 feet of schools— and it’s alarming!
How safe is your child’s school zone? This map will show you.
BY HOWARD COHEN
DECEMBER 12, 2017 04:57 PM
UPDATED DECEMBER 12, 2017 05:28 PM
The School for Advanced Studies and New World School of the Arts, both on Miami Dade College’s Wolfson campus in downtown Miami, are the most dangerous schools in Florida when taking into account vehicle crash data, according to a new study.
The company, 1Point21Interactive, analyzing data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, found this particular zone in downtown Miami had 2,296 crashes in 2016 within 500 feet of the school building — the highest in all of Florida.
The firm’s interactive map also ranked the nearby Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial High School, three blocks away in downtown Miami, just behind with 2,134 crashes.
Miami ranks No. 1 for most dangerous school zones in Florida, the San Diego-based firm found.
Mater Academy in Hialeah, Mater Academy East Charter in Miami, Westland Hialeah Senior High School, and the following Miami schools — Frederick R. Douglass Elementary, Ada Merritt K-8 Center, Mater Academy Charter, Phillis Wheatley Elementary School and Booker T. Washington Elementary School — all ranked in the state’s top 10 with more than 1,500 crashes apiece in 2016.
Schools in Tallahassee, Tampa and St. Petersburg had considerably fewer crashes near its schools. Atwater Elementary in Sarasota, for example, had eight crashes within 500 feet of its doors in 2016.
“The purpose behind this interactive map is to educate parents and children about the importance of practicing safe driving and walking in school zones and create awareness about the high-risk areas throughout Florida,” data visualization analyst Andrea Rodriguez of 1Point21Interactive wrote in an email to the Miami Herald.
