With school starting in less than a week, Jacksonville-area roads and sidewalks are about to get busier as parents, teachers and students head back to the classroom. With more people driving, walking and biking near schools, safety is top of mind, especially for pedestrians. A 2026 national ranking by KURU Footwear placed Jacksonville 34th out of 35 major U.S. cities in pedestrian safety, using pedestrian fatality rates and walkability data. The report lists Jacksonville’s pedestrian fatality rate at 3.05 deaths per 100,000 people and a Walk Score of 26. In Duval County Public Schools, leaders say they’re trying to reach kids early — before they’re navigating traffic around campuses on their own.

The tight-knit Lake Asbury community remains heartbroken by the loss of a 14-year-old who died in an e-bike crash on Sandridge Road last week.

Residents continue to raise concerns about safety along Sandridge Road, which FHP noted was “unlit” at the time of a crash involving an e-bike that left a 14-year-old boy dead one week ago.

Dozens of students, parents, and neighbors gathered outside Lake Asbury Junior High School Sunday evening to remember Carson Farias, the 14-year-old boy killed while riding his electric dirt bike on Sandridge Road last Thursday night.

A 14-year-old boy is dead after a crash on a dark, unlit stretch of Sandridge Road in the Lake Asbury community, and the people who live there say the road itself needs to change.