Whether walking for pleasure or out of necessity, there are benefits to being a pedestrian. For example, it is a lot easier to hit those 10,000 daily steps when you are not behind the wheel of a car. Unfortunately, it is also dangerous. A pedestrian accident can cause serious and lasting damage, and it is not uncommon for a victim to suffer fatal injuries.
Pedestrian deaths recently reached a 30-year high with 6,227 deaths in 2018. Experts point to several different factors, including population growth and SUVs. However, one of the biggest problems might be that most cities and towns in Louisiana are more equipped for cars, not people.
Where are the crosswalks?
You probably know how difficult it can be to find a crosswalk. In some areas, you can travel for miles before finding a pedestrian crosswalk. This leaves you and others on foot to try and cross the road as safely as possible without any real protections.
Research shows that crosswalks should not have too much space between them, as people will not use them. Data currently shows that people are only willing to travel about 300 feet to use a crosswalk. Any farther apart and most people will cross without one. The fact that crosswalks are usually farther apart than 300 feet shows that city designers are really not considering how humans work.
What is the problem with SUVs?
You would be more likely to survive an accident with a car than you would with an SUV. This is because SUVs are bigger and heavier and, therefore, more likely to cause fatal injuries. Starting in 2013, consumers started buying far more SUVs than smaller passenger cars.
Areas with higher numbers of pedestrian injuries and deaths also tend to be places that have recently experienced population growth. Combine more people in an area with more SUVs on the road, and it is easy to see the problem. Pedestrian collisions may even be unnervingly frequent in areas with growing populations and not enough crosswalks.
What about smartphones?
Smartphones are also a factor in pedestrian accidents. Drivers in 2019 used 4,000% more cell data than they did in 2008. This means there are a lot of distracted drivers looking down at their phones and not at the road — and some of those drivers are behind the wheel of deadly SUVs, too.
While you might feel lucky to have survived a pedestrian accident, your road to recovery is far from over. You know that the medical bills will start arriving soon if they have not already, and it takes time to truly address the physical and emotional damages with which you are dealing. However, you do not have to shoulder this burden all by yourself. When seeking compensation for your injuries via a personal injury lawsuit, you should be sure to work closely with a compassionate attorney who understands what you are going through.