Pedestrian Accident Statistics

Every day, pedestrians die as a result of accidents involving motor vehicles. In fact, one pedestrian is injured by a vehicle ever 8 minutes, and one pedestrian dies as a result of injuries from an accident with a vehicle ever 111 minutes. That's more than 1 per hour-and-a-half. In the United States, 5,000 pedestrians die each year as a result of these accidents, and over 60,000 more are injured.

Most pedestrian deaths are in urban areas, a full two-thirds of them, even though the speed of a vehicle in a rural area is likely to be faster. The rural areas show fewer accidents involving pedestrians, though, because they're more sparsely populated. But in urban areas, the high vehicle and pedestrian traffic greatly raise the likelihood of a pedestrian accident.

Reasons for Pedestrian Accidents

Driver negligence is often to to blame for accidents resulting in pedestrian injury or death. Here are some of the most common reasons for driver negligence. Often the driver:

• Fails to yield right of way to pedestrians at crosswalks
• Runs a stop light or stop sign or disregards other traffic control device
• Is simply not paying attention or is focused on something else like eating, the radio, a passenger or a cell phone
• Is speeding

Injuries from Pedestrian Accidents

Statistically, children under age 16 are the most likely to be struck by a car, but elderly victims are the most likely to die as a result of pedestrian accident injuries. About 2/3 of pedestrians struck and killed by vehicles are male. Also, most accidents occur on the weekends, from Fri to Sun, and during the evening hours. Pedestrian accidents in the late afternoon increase when daylight savings time is removed in the winter and the sun sets earlier.

Most people who are struck by a moving vehicle are injured by the force of that impact. Almost as many suffer injuries from striking the ground with force after being hit, and some suffer injuries from impacting with unknown objects or being run over the car after being struck.

Some injuries that can result from a pedestrian accident of this nature range from bumps, bruises and broken bones to things like paraplegia (partial paralysis of limbs-just arms or legs, but not both), quadriplegia (all limbs become paralyzed), traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, coma, and death.

Contact the nearest Accident Attorney in your area today!