Posted in Pedestrian Accident,Wrongful Death on May 25, 2013
An increase in pedestrian accident fatalities in 2010 has federal transportation safety agencies worried. According to statistics released recently, there were 4,280 pedestrian accident fatalities in 2010, a 4% increase from the previous year.
According to the statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on an average in 2010, a pedestrian was killed in an accident every 2 hours, and injured every 8 minutes. Most accidents that killed pedestrians occurred at non-intersection crossings. Approximately 73% of pedestrian accident fatalities occurred in urban areas.
However, what pedestrian safety groups will find really interesting is that approximately 80% of fatalities occurred during normal weather, compared to snowy, rainy or stormy weather. Bad weather is sometimes attributed as a cause in pedestrian accident fatalities, because poor weather conditions typically lead to lowered visibility and a higher risk of accidents. The data indicates that poor weather is a minor factor in these accidents.
However, there were a few facts that came out from the study that are not surprising at all. For instance, the data shows that in 2010, approximately 60% of pedestrian accident fatalities occurred during the night. Senior pedestrians were also at a much higher risk of being killed in accidents in 2010, and accounted for 19% of fatalities. They also accounted for approximately 11% of all pedestrian injuries that year. A similar number of pedestrian fatalities – 19% – involved children between ages 5 and 9.
It’s far too early to tell exactly why there has been an increase in pedestrian accident fatalities, and why some of the progress that has been made in reducing these numbers over the past couple of years has plateaued or dropped off. As we drill down into the causes of this spike however, we are likely to find that driver and motorist negligence as well as distracted driving are significant factors in these growing fatality rates.
