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In 2011 and then again in 2014, four metropolitan areas in Florida — namely, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami — ranked among the five most dangerous places in the United States to be a

pedestrian or bicyclist. The unwelcomed achievement came from the _Dangerous by Design_ reports issued by the National Complete Streets Coalition. "Complete Streets" take into

account the needs of all users — whether they're traveling in a car or a bus, on a bicycle or by foot. While a high-speed interstate needn't be designed to accommodate pedestrians

or cyclists, a residential neighborhood or a commercial area with retail destinations and services should.   Although the state took the 2011 ranking seriously and started working to mend

its dangerous roadways, the second report "showed no improvements because the data used for the 2014 report came from 2012, which is when we began getting our efforts up and

running," explains Billy Hattaway, District 1 Secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation. (Florida's state DOT is decentralized and divided into seven geographic

districts.) At the end of 2014 Hattaway was named "Public Official of the Year" by _Governing_ magazine. The opening of that article succinctly and effectively captures his story:

_"When Billy Hattaway took a 10-day trip out to the West Coast in 1996, it triggered a 'conversion experience' for the then-state roadway design engineer at the Florida

Department of Transportation (FDOT). He toured cities with roundabouts and other pedestrian-friendly infrastructure features — rare sights in the Sunshine State. After returning, he began

pushing Florida to adopt some of the walkable ideas he'd seen. He got nowhere. Frustrated by his state's lack of action, he later left to become a private consultant, assisting

other states instead."_ Hattaway proved to be ahead of his time. He was rehired by the state in 2011 to lead FDOT's District 1, which covers the Southwest portion of the state. His

encore mission has been to make more of Florida more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Ironically and appropriately, FDOT is being helped with its efforts by Smart Growth America, which is

the parent organization of the National Complete Streets Coalition. ("It’s pretty neat that the people who basically wrote us up [for being the most deadly state have now] facilitated

our Complete Streets policy," Hattaway said in 2015.) Since returning to FDOT Hattaway has worked to develop Florida's first-ever statewide strategic safety plan for walking and

bicycling. He's led efforts to train transportation planners and engineers in walk-bike-friendly road design and he's working to revise the technical documents and guidelines that

are used when roads are being constructed anew or redesigned.   AARP is a strong advocate for Complete Streets (also called "Safe Streets.") Billy Hattaway spoke with Laura

Cantwell, associate state director of AARP Florida. — _Melissa Stanton, editor, AARP.org/Livable_