Pedestrian and Vehicle Car Crashes

Every year, numerous people are hit by cars when they are walking through parking lots or just going out to collect the newspaper. Pedestrian accidents commonly don’t end well. A pedestrian is any person that is on foot or any person with disabilities traveling in a wheelchair or a mobility device.

Each year in Wisconsin alone, 60 pedestrians are killed. An additional 350 are seriously injured every year. In addition, 1200 people suffer injuries that range from minor to serious. Of these crashes, a disproportionate number of crashes involve children and the elderly. From 1994 to 1998, 37.5% of all pedestrian accidents involved children.

Of the accidents that involve pedestrians, elderly people (those over the age of 75) died most frequently. This is attributable to their having less of an ability to recover from injuries. Also, they were involved in more accidents because they take longer to cross the street and also have difficulties seeing or hearing traffic approaching.

Children ages 5 to 9 also showed a high injury incidence. The study conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation feels that this is because children either do not know or do not understand traffic laws. In addition, children commonly have very little sense of danger.

Despite the statistics, the number of car accidents involving pedestrians is going down; however, this is not translating to a decrease in the number of fatalities. In car accidents in which a pedestrian is a part of the accident, 40 of those killed are generally inside the car. That means that the majority of people killed in car accidents involving pedestrians are the pedestrian.

For more information on car accidents involving pedestrians, contact the Madison Personal Injury Lawyers of Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ®. They are always available to answer any questions you may have.