MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - An advocacy group has ranked Horry County as the deadliest place in the state for pedestrians.

The nonprofit Surface Transportation Policy Project found that, per capita, walkers are more likely to be killed in the county than in any other metropolitan area in South Carolina.

Horry County also scored poorly for pedestrian safety when compared with the largest and most deadly U.S. metropolitan areas, said Kevin McCarty, senior director of policy for the Washington, D.C.-based group.

The group bases the scores on the pedestrian danger index, which compares pedestrian deaths with the amount people in an area walk.

"If Horry County were ranked with the nation's top 50 metropolitan areas, it would be No. 1 as the most dangerous," above the Florida cities of Tampa and Orlando, McCarty said.

Local officials said millions of visitors who use Grand Strand roads and sidewalks throughout the year contribute to the problem.

"I think that you could probably make the case that we have a significant number of walking folks, especially because we are a tourist area," said Paul Whitten, director for the county's Public Safety agency. "Sometimes it is a sheer numbers issue."

Horry County tourists are often in an unfamiliar area and become distracted while driving or walking, Whitten said. While there's no single solution to the problem, education and lighting at intersections can help lessen the danger to pedestrians, he said.

The county has increased lighting at major intersections during special events that draw tourist crowds. Three of the 18 Horry County pedestrian deaths in 2002 and 2003 occurred in densely populated Myrtle Beach, city spokesman Mark Kruea said.

"We have spent a tremendous amount of money on sidewalks and bike paths," he said. "A lack of sidewalks is not a problem for Myrtle Beach."

Still, Horry County, including Myrtle Beach, scored poorly on the pedestrian danger index. The county received a score of 249. Columbia was less dangerous, with a score of 51 points for 2002-03.

The group also examined how much money areas pump into pedestrian safety, which includes sidewalks and crosswalks.

Horry County spends 25 cents per person in federal transportation funding on pedestrian and bicycle facilities, the group found. That's low compared with the 82-cent national average, though other areas across South Carolina spend far less, according to the group.

For example, Florence and the metropolitan area around Charlotte, N.C., that includes Rock Hill spend less and have a smaller percentage of fatal wrecks involving pedestrians.

Florence spends 8 cents per person on pedestrian facilities and safety, and its six pedestrian deaths made up 7.4 percent of all traffic fatalities. The Charlotte-area pedestrian death rate was 10.2 percent with 40 pedestrians killed. There, spending is a penny less per person than Horry County.

"You are in a state that doesn't place a particularly high priority on pedestrian and bicycle safety, and you are in a region that is most challenged in this area," McCarty said.

The group's study did not discuss the overall improvement in pedestrian safety in South Carolina. Such deaths declined from 113 in 1999 to 80 in 2003, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Overall, South Carolina ranked sixth in the nation for pedestrian deaths in 2002, a slight improvement from its fourth-place ranking in 2001, according to the state Transportation Department.

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Information from: The Sun News, http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/