How Often Do Pedestrian Accidents Occur?

Through federal and state law, the government aspires to lessen the likelihood of a pedestrian suffering severe injury from a car crash. The imposition of fines and penalties to traffic law violators involves multiple groups, such as the police, transport, and health sectors.

With safer infrastructure, more effective road safety features, and stricter enforcement of traffic laws, road crashes involving pedestrians are not supposed to happen as often as they used to. However, pedestrians accidents are still common here in the U.S. still get involved in car accidents. If you or a loved one sustained serious injuries from an automobile accident, you might need to seek legal help from a reliable Elkhart personal injury attorney.

This article focuses on pedestrian accidents, specifically:

• Laws promoting pedestrian safety
• Statistics on car accidents involving pedestrians
• What to do after an accident

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Laws that Protect Pedestrians from Accidents

Safe vehicles play a crucial role in reducing the likelihood of car collisions leading to serious bodily injury on pedestrians, which is why the United Nations applied several regulations to local vehicle manufacturing and production standards. Vehicle manufacturers must meet the front and side-impact regulations, add electronic stability control, fit seatbelts, and add airbags in their vehicles.

Aside from these safety features, various traffic rules (i.e., speed limits) are also set to protect the public’s welfare, pedestrians included.

The sad reality is that none of these laws guarantee the prevention of car accidents or pedestrian injuries. Pedestrians’ biggest enemy on the road is the negligent, careless, reckless, or drunk driver who disregards traffic rules. The most common violations to watch out for are over-speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence (DUI), which causes physical injuries and property damages.

Most serious injuries are time-sensitive, which means that a few minutes delay can make the difference between life and death. The severity of your injuries and circumstances surrounding the accident are essential factors that will generally be considered when filing for a personal injury claim. Suppose you’ve been in an accident and you believe that the party involved is responsible for your injuries. In that case, you can seek legal advice from a local personal injury law firm to review the laws governing the state and protecting your welfare from these types of accidents.

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Statistics on Car Accidents involving Pedestrians

Vehicle accidents result in considerable economic damages and losses to accident victims, families, and even the nation. According to the key facts released by the World Health Organization in June 2021, here are some critical data to consider:

• Car collisions cost countries an average of 3% of their gross domestic product. This is partly due to medical expenses and lost productivity, both for those killed or disabled; and for family members who had to take time off work to take care of the injured.
• 1.3 million people die from vehicle crashes annually.
• An average of 20 to 50 million people sustain non-fatal injuries or disabilities.
• Car accidents are the leading cause of death for children and young adults ages 5 to 29
• Young males are more likely to be involved in a car accident than young females.
• More than 90% of road crash fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries, with death rates highest in the African region. Similarly, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to be involved in a car accident case within high-income countries. Here, people using public transportation and pedestrian are most vulnerable.

These statistics reveal that car accidents are more common than you think and that younger groups are more vulnerable to this type of accident.

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What to do After a Pedestrian Accident

There are many different reasons why pedestrian accident cases occur. But regardless of the circumstance surrounding the accident, all injured pedestrians want the same thing: to have the party at fault be held liable. However, pursuing personal injury claims or filing a personal injury lawsuit can sometimes be more complicated than it seems. This is where the benefit of having a pedestrian accident attorney comes it.

An Elkhart attorney can help you achieve the best possible outcome, particularly in car accident lawsuits where there is considerable damage or the blame is less than evident. With legal help, you can be compensated for all the emotional distress, traumatic car accident injuries, and economic damages that the car accident caused you.

To prevent harming another motorist, one’s passengers, or pedestrians, a driver must exercise reasonable caution. If the driver fails to exercise reasonable caution and caused accident injuries, the driver and the insurance provider should be held financially responsible for the damages and medical bills. If you have been injured in an automobile accident as a pedestrian, seek legal help from a personal injury law firm in Elkhart that can help you protect your legal rights. Contact us at Wilson & Kinsman LLC and consult with trusted Elkhart personal injury attorneys.