Step Up for Safer Streets With AARP Walk Audits

Last year, Michael Peck, 71, and several other AARP volunteers set out along the streets of Uniondale on Long Island with a wheelchair, a cane and a stroller.

The wheelchair held a cooler filled with bottled water that gave it some extra weight—and provided refreshments for the group. The mission: identify pedestrian safety issues that people of all ages and abilities might experience as they navigate the neighborhood.

Peck and other participants, for example, took note of any cracked sidewalks and problematic tree stumps. One person in the group timed the walk signals at intersections to measure whether you could cross the street in the time allotted if you had a walker or wheelchair, he says.

This month, AARP New York is encouraging volunteers across the state to conduct such walk audits in their own communities, as part of a broader walkability campaign. From Nov. 14 to 22, dozens of audits will be conducted, including in New York City, Poughkeepsie, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo. AARP has a walk audit tool kit to help communities get started.

“The idea is to do as many walkability audits as possible,” says Bernard Macias, AARP Long Island’s senior associate state director. “We want people to hone in on their sidewalks, streets and crossings.”

He says AARP will then gather up the data and go back to communities that identified problems, aiming to work with elected leaders on possible improvements.

Broader push for safety

Pedestrian safety is a growing concern across the U.S. The Governors Highway Safety Association projected that more than 7,300 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in 2023, a slight decrease from the 7,737 fatalities in 2022, the highest number since 1981.

In New York state, there were 14,099 pedestrian crashes in 2022, with 324 fatalities and 13,547 injured, according to state data.

Children under 14 and adults 65-plus “are definitely disproportionately the victims of traffic violence,” says Thomas DeVito, national director of Families for Safe Streets, a project of the New York City–based nonprofit Transportation Alternatives. “It hits on both sides of the age scale.”

Getting hit by a car is just one of several dangers for pedestrians, says Andrew Rundle, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. They also face uneven pavement, slippery surfaces from snow and rain, and the effects of heat, he says.

“Pedestrian falls also have very severe consequences,” such as brain trauma, he says.

When state lawmakers reconvene in January, AARP New York also plans to push for passage of two bills that would broaden the scope of the Complete Streets Act, a 2011 law that requires the state to consider the needs of all roadway users, including pedestrians, cyclists and transit users, when planning, designing, constructing or reconstructing roads.

The two AARP-backed bills would expand the requirement to cover more kinds of roadwork, says Kristen McManus, AARP New York’s associate state advocacy director.

“This kind of closes a loophole,” McManus says. “It’s a very technical fix for the law that will make a big difference.”

Peck, who has volunteered with AARP New York for about six walk audits so far, says local officials often either come along or meet with the participants afterward to talk about the findings.

“They really want to do the right thing,” he says.

Previous walk audits conducted near Uniondale have had a big payoff. Siela Bynoe, a Nassau County legislator, has credited these audits with helping her to secure $41 million in funding to improve streets in the area.

But Peck says there’s another benefit to volunteering for the audits: It’s fun.

“Quite honestly, it’s a pleasant day,” he says. “You get to mix it up with some nice people. You take a nice walk.”

AARP New York will celebrate a local pedestrian safety win in January.

That’s when a new law will take effect in Albany, reducing the speed limit on most city roads from 30 to 25 mph.

It was introduced by Albany Common Council Representative Deborah Zamer, who said that council members heard many complaints from constituents about near misses with cars while they were walking or biking.

“A lot of folks are aging in place and ... are walking on roads that don’t have sidewalks,” she says.

Zamer’s measure, backed by AARP New York, was signed into law by Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

Lowering speed limits is a powerful tool in reducing pedestrian deaths, says Thomas DeVito, national director for Families for Safe Streets, a project of the New York City–based nonprofit Transportation Alternatives.

Pedestrians hit by vehicles going 20 mph have an 8 percent chance of being fatally struck, he says. That number rises to 20 percent at 30 mph and 46 percent at 40 mph.

“Every mile per hour really makes a huge difference when it comes to survivability,” DeVito says.

Cristina Rouvalis, a writer based in Pennsylvania, covers business, health care and other issues. She has written for the Bulletin for more than a decade.

Also of interest:

• Join AARP NY's Taking it to the Streets: Improving Pedestrian Safety in your Community
• Top 100 Places to Live in the U.S. for Older Americans
• Keep up with local events and AARP advocacy efforts in New York