At certain intersections across the borough, pedestrians are putting their lives at risk each time they pound the pavement, advocates charged last week.And it shouldn't have to be this way."Pedestrians are being struck at alarming rates," said Karla Quintero, the deputy director of planning for the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, which organized a City Hall rally last week to hammer home its point.She noted that just a day before the March 4 rally, three people were struck and killed in three separate incidents across the city."The city is not making this a priority," Quintero charged.Citing data from 1995-2004, Quintero said Brooklyn's most dangerous intersections for pedestrians include, in descending order: Atlantic Avenue and Nostrand Avenue; Flatbush Avenue and Church Avenue; Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue; Pennsylvania Avenue and Linden Boulevard; and Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U."There are areas in the city that have been so dangerous for pedestrians—for years," she said.Quintero said that if killing a person with a vehicle were a crime, "it would be the second most common type of homicide in New York City."Last year, according to reports, 163 people were killed by cars—a four percent increase over 2005, the first spike since 1999.Kay Sarlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, said 2006 was still one of the "safest years on record for pedestrians in New York City."But, she continued, "In the wake of several tragic accidents, it is clear that more needs to be done and [the] DOT is committed to taking further steps to make the streets as safe as possible."In its recently released Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, Transportation Alternatives recommends the city get tougher with "killer drivers."The plan calls for the criminalization and prosecution of traffic fatalities, and the establishment of a more rigorous investigation procedure "that facilitates the prosecution of motorists that kill pedestrians."The plan also calls upon the city to prioritize fixing the most dangerous streets and intersections."Fifty percent of injuries occur at 10 percent of intersections," Quintero said.Engineering solutions are a first step toward safer streets, Quintero noted.And it is not necessarily pedestrian behavior—listening to music, talking on a cell phone—that is getting them killed, Quintero said."Pedestrians are being killed because of speed. That's the primary determinant," she said."Once you increase the speed limit from 22 miles per hour, the chance of being seriously injured or killed increases exponentially," she said."Right now, we design our streets for speed," Quintero said.The plan calls for the adoption of a street maintenance policy that prioritizes pedestrian safety. "Every year, the city reconstructs 90 miles of roadway. The strongest pedestrian safety and traffic calming measures must be included within this work as a matter of course," the plan notes.The group urged the completion of the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming project by the summer of 2008, and the replication of similar traffic mitigation measures in at least one location in each borough by 2009.The city should also eliminate turning conflicts and provide extra protection for the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including senior citizens and the disabled, the plan urges.