fbpx
Auto Pedestrian Accidents
Motor Vehicle Accidents Personal Injury

Who Is Most At Risk in Auto Pedestrian Accidents?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 6,283 pedestrian deaths in 2018. Based on 2017 numbers, the NHTSA estimates there was at least 1 pedestrian killed every 88 minutes. When a motor vehicle of any type strikes a person, damage is bound to occur. The sidewalks, crosswalks, and roadways of our cities and towns are often full of pedestrians of all types. When a car vs pedestrian accident occurs, the pedestrian is ill-equipped to deal with the much stronger impact of a vehicle.

Across Texas, motor vehicles must share the road with people traveling by bike and walking. Due to the disparity in size and power, when a motor vehicle collides with an unprotected human, the consequences are often tragic. While all who walk, jog, bicycle, or otherwise ambulate on or near the streets are subject to grave danger should they collide with a car or truck, certain subsets of pedestrians are at an increased risk of injury and even death.

Child Pedestrians

More than six hundred child pedestrians are killed by motor vehicle crashes each year. Children are the most unpredictable of all pedestrians, as they are the smallest and least educated about the dangers of auto pedestrian accidents. Children can unexpectedly run out into the street from a nearby park, yard, or driveway – so drivers should always be on the lookout for kids when nearby locations in which they play. Many children are injured each year because of auto collisions. Even low-speed pedestrian accidents can cause serious harm.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates one in every five auto accident fatalities involving victims age 15 and younger involved a pedestrian. Children’s inability to effectively gauge risk and make decisions quickly places them at serious risk of accidents like these. Eighty percent of child pedestrian deaths take place at non-intersection locations.

There are many children crossing the street around schools in the mornings and afternoons. It makes sense that there is extreme concern about hazardous drivers around the campus and its surrounding area. Drivers must exercise added caution whenever they are in areas where students are present. Children from birth to age two suffer the most child pedestrian injuries; this age group is also most likely to be injured in driveways.

Mature Pedestrians

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the rates of pedestrian deaths in motor vehicle crashes per 100,000 people are highest for people ages 70 and older. Traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians are on the rise, and jaywalking causes many of them. As the world’s population continues to age, local infrastructure isn’t always set up to protect the ambulatory elderly. Differences in vision, fitness, flexibility, and reaction time can impede an older person’s ability to safely navigate as a pedestrian.

According to information from the AARP, individuals over the age of 65 are the most likely to be killed in a pedestrian accident in the United States. It is safest for the elderly to stay on sidewalks and pathways in order to remain as far away from traffic as possible while they walk nearby.

Auto Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

As a pedestrian, your personal safety is the priority. You may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries if you have been injured in an auto pedestrian accident.  Corpus Christi auto pedestrian accident attorney John Flood is happy to meet with you to discuss your situation confidentially and at no cost to you, so contact us today for more information on how we can help.