Half of the cities in a top 10 list of worst metropolitan areas for traffic fatalities are in the state of Florida, according to a new report released Dec. 18, 2001. Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, and Fort Lauderdale rank Nos. 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9 for having the most fatal accidents per 100,000 people, an article in USA Today cites a report by the Road Information Program. Other cities on the list are Austin, TX (No. 4), Las Vegas (No. 5), Phoenix (No. 6), Memphis, TN (No. 7), and Kansas City, MO (No. 10). Researchers attribute the high number of Florida cities on the list to streets that were not designed to handle current traffic loads and to high numbers of elderly drivers and pedestrians on the streets, the paper said. The report says that 76 percent of those killed in urban accidents were motorists, 21 percent were pedestrians, and 3 percent were bicyclists. The 50-largest urban areas accounted for nearly 16,000 fatal accidents in 2000, an average of 44 each day, USA Today reported.