Jaywalking Leads to Pedestrian Accidents

 Posted on December 00,0000 in Car Accidents

Despite both nationwide and statewide policies meant to curb the number of pedestrian deaths, pedestrian accidents remain a serious and grave traffic safety issue. In 2012, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 5,000 pedestrians were killed and an estimated 76,000 were injured. This means that a pedestrian was killed every two hours and a person injured every seven minutes in accidents involving motor vehicles. For these purposes, the NHTSA defines a pedestrian as anyone who is outside of a motor vehicle at the time of crash, though incidents that occurred on private property—including parking lots and driveways—were not included for the purposes of these statistics.

Older pedestrians were the most likely to be killed in an accident with a motor vehicle in 2012: older pedestrians accounted for 20 percent of all pedestrian fatalities that year. Children aged 15 and younger, conversely, accounted for only 6 percent of all pedestrian fatalities. Bad weather did not affect the likelihood of a pedestrian accident, but the time of day did: nearly 70 percent of all pedestrian accidents occurred at night.

According to the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, pedestrians are most often at fault for these accidents. Jaywalking is the most common kind of unsafe pedestrian behavior that results in accidents with motor vehicles. Jaywalking can be defined as: walking when the pedestrian walk signal says not to, crossing a street without a crosswalk, and walking on a street with traffic flow instead of on a sidewalk, where one is designated. Jaywalking is most often thought to be an urban issue, in large cities such as Chicago.

Other types of pedestrian behavior in addition to jaywalking that result in accidents include (but are not limited to):

• Failing to yield;
• Walking against traffic;
• Working or leaning on a parked car;
• Standing in the road or between parked cars; and
• Pushing a disabled car.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a pedestrian accident in which you were not at fault, you may be eligible for compensation. Do not go through it alone. Contact an experienced Lake County accident attorney today.