One of the initiatives in the FuturEBR city-parish “master plan” is to make Baton Rouge more pedestrian friendly. In a state ranked third highest in pedestrian fatalities, that dream seems pretty far off. 
In a report by the Center for Planning Excellence, Baton Rouge ranked the 19th worst city for pedestrian safety. The report’s most eye-opening fact is people of color make up 85 percent of pedestrian fatalities, but only 39 percent of the population. 
The study by the CPE took data from 2005 to 2014. So why has our city allowed hundreds of African-American civilians to be killed because of our poor infrastructure? 
Roads everywhere in Baton Rouge are a mess, but the only roads that seem to be fixed are in wealthy neighborhoods or booming business areas like Perkins Rowe. Perhaps our legislature should consider the fact that if we allocated more funds to repairing roads and creating a more pedestrian-friendly atmosphere in low-income neighborhoods, the businesses would move in. 
Take Government Street, for example. In 2014, the Better Block BR campaign held a successful demonstration where they altered a section of the road to make faux-bike lanes and wider sidewalks. The campaign resulted in the creation of the Government Street renovation project, set to begin construction this summer. 
Businesses like Curbside Burgers have already begun to move into Government Street locations, demonstrating the effect our road safety has on business incentive. 
The city has begun it’s plan to create a more pedestrian-friendly atmosphere, but our real problems lie with the terrible driving that plagues Baton Rouge. In one weekend during March 2017, 15 people were killed in auto-related accidents.
According to information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Louisiana is the No. 1 worst state to drive in. This is mostly because of our No. 1 ranking in fatal crashes involving failure to obey traffic rules — meaning traffic signals, wearing seat belts or driving with an invalid driver’s license. We also have the second highest car insurance rates in the country. 
Maybe pedestrian safety isn’t up to the legislative body. Perhaps all Louisianians need to take a deep breath when getting behind the wheel of a 4,000-pound machine, and keep a steady eye out for pedestrians and bikers, while our city works on repairing our roadside problems.  
Abbie Shull is a 23-year-old mass communication junior from St.Louis, Missouri.