Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents with Motorists

Road traffic crashes involving cars, motorcycles, buses, and pedestrians kill approximately 1.35 million people worldwide each year. Additionally, these accidents are responsible for millions of serious injuries that change the course of people’s lives.

Being involved in a pedestrian accident can be life-changing. If you’ve been in an accident recently, figuring out your next steps can be very overwhelming. The good news is that doing a little research can go a long way. 

Learning more about the common causes of pedestrian accidents and what your options are will make the entire recovery process much more manageable.

Keep reading this guide to learn everything you need to know about the common pedestrian accident causes.

Distracted Driving

Many pedestrian accidents are due to distracted driving. Distracted driving involves any type of activity that diverts a person’s attention away from the road while driving. 

There are many categories of distracted driving. First, it can occur if the driver is talking on a cell phone, texting, or sending emails. It can also be adjusting the radio, heater, A/C, or operating a navigation system.

Often distracted driving involves people turning around and tending to their children in the backseat. Finally, eating food while driving can cause even more distractions.

In most cases, distracted driving results in a “pedestrian hit by a car” type of case, and often, the driver is liable.

On the other hand, pedestrians can also cause accidents by being distracted while walking. This usually occurs when you’re busy playing on your cell phone and not paying attention to the traffic signs and lights around you.

Weather Conditions

Weather conditions often play a significant role in pedestrian accidents. When weather causes an accident, assigning liability to the driver in a pedestrian-motorist accident case can be more difficult.

This is because walking and driving in poor weather puts drivers and pedestrians at higher risk overall. Many factors can contribute to accidents in inclement weather, like poor visibility, poor lighting, bald tires, or the pedestrian not paying attention.

You’ll find weather-related pedestrian accidents typically occur due to:

• Fog or heavy rain and snow that reduces visibility
• Icy or wet roads that make stopping more difficult
• Wet or slippery roadsides that cause pedestrians to fall in front of a car

Slippery roads can also cause vehicles to slide off the road and hit pedestrians.

Poor Visibility

Bad weather conditions aren’t the only thing that can cause poor visibility. Other factors can greatly reduce the visibility on the road:

• Vehicles or objects on the side of the road
• Poor working headlights
• Headlights that are too bright
• Road construction

Pedestrian accidents caused by poor visibility can be tricky when recouping money for injuries. This is because liability can be due to road conditions, signs, or lights. Usually, the city should be responsible for maintaining these, but it can be difficult to find this information on your own.

Finally, poor visibility issues worsen when drivers and pedestrians fail to use caution while on the road.

Wearing Dark Clothing

It should come as no surprise that pedestrian accidents are much more likely as the day turns to night.

Wearing dark clothing while walking after dark obviously makes it much more difficult for drivers to see you. Despite this, many people don’t think of this when they go for their walks. 

The truth is, wearing dark clothes at night while walking basically makes you invisible to drivers.

If you’re going to walk at night and don’t have reflective clothing, be sure to avoid walking on streets with poor lighting. It’s also a good idea to carry a flashlight with you.

If a driver hits you while walking, you could be found negligible, too, since you weren’t wearing the correct safety gear.

Driving Under the Influence

Driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) are significant causes of pedestrian accidents. While both DUI and DWI involve drugs and alcohol, or both, state laws vary around them both.

Either way, if someone is driving under the influence, they’ll have impaired judgment. It also impacts vision and causes poor hand-eye coordination. It’s much easier to overestimate abilities while driving under the influence and think you have plenty of time to stop.

Additionally, pedestrians can cause accidents if they’re walking around under the influence of any kind of substance.

Left Turns

When drivers make left turns, they have to navigate through opposing lanes of traffic. During this process, a driver is generally more focused on the other cars than anything else.

This makes it much easier to hit a pedestrian crossing the road. Many pedestrians even get hit at intersections with crosswalks and signals. 

Jaywalking

Crossing an intersection or roadway improperly is known as jaywalking. People will often try to cross a busy street in places that don’t have a designated crosswalk. They may also try to run across the road at the last minute before a light change.

Running or darting into the road haphazardly can also cause serious accidents. Striking pedestrians like this often leads to massive injuries.

If you’re jaywalking, you leave a driver with very little time to react and can easily find yourself with a severe injury. You could be liable for the damages if you were jaywalking and caused an accident.

If you were driving and hit someone jaywalking, you’ll want to consider hiring an attorney.

Speeding

Speeding is always a huge factor when it comes to pedestrian accidents. Driving over the speed limit poses a massive risk to others around them.

People who go too fast don’t have time to react to pedestrians. They’ll also be less focused on everything going on around them. Speeding also increases the potential for serious injuries for both drivers and pedestrians.

Drivers who speed and hit pedestrians will most likely be liable for their injuries.

Reckless Driving

Reckless driving is a combination of many things. Drivers can be speeding, driving under the influence, or out for a “joy ride.” On top of that, reckless driving involves an obvious lack of care for anything else, including pedestrians.

With reckless driving, the driver won’t care to obey traffic laws, stop at red lights, or give pedestrians the right of way at crosswalks.

Each state has its own definition of what defines reckless driving. Regardless, reckless driving is a serious offense. Even more, hitting a pedestrian while driving recklessly almost always causes severe and life-changing injuries.

Most of the time, the driver will be liable for the pedestrian’s injuries in this case.

Unmarked Crosswalks

It’s imperative that all crosswalks are clearly marked so they’re visible to both drivers and pedestrians. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

 The lack of clearly marked crosswalks and guardrail can lead to a driver failing to look for pedestrians. They’re also less likely to notice a pedestrian crossing the road.

Typically the city you live in is responsible for keeping crosswalks in good shape. In these cases, liability for the accident can vary. While the city might be liable for its part, pedestrian and driver behavior also plays a crucial role. 

When to Contact a Lawyer

It’s well worth talking to a pedestrian accident lawyer if you’re involved in any pedestrian accident. You should contact a lawyer as soon as possible after the accident.

Pedestrian lawyers are personal injury lawyers with much experience working with people in these situations. They also ensure that you get the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

Pain and Suffering

Many injuries like broken bones, strains, sprains, and head injuries have long-term consequences. Most of the time, you’ll need ongoing medical treatments like therapy and medication. You might also not be able to return to the same job you had before.

Not to mention you have to deal with emotional trauma from the accident. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common after an accident. PTSD can cause nightmares, flashbacks, and anxiety. It can also impact how you function every day.

All of these treatments cost money and reduce your quality of life overall.

Income Loss

Serious injuries can take anywhere from weeks to years to heal. Many times these injuries result in a permanent disability of some kind.

Lost benefits and wages add up quickly. This is especially true when you must take time off work to recover.

Do Your Research

You should do research to find a reputable lawyer in your area. Be sure to read Google reviews to get a good idea of the law firm’s reputation.

Most pedestrian accident lawyers will offer a free consultation. They’ll review your case and even help you sue a driver if necessary. You can read more here for information about hiring a pedestrian accident lawyer.

Learning the Common Causes of a Pedestrian Accident

Sadly, most of the common causes of a pedestrian accident can be avoided. Understanding more about these causes will help you if you’ve been involved in a pedestrian accident.

If you’ve had an injury, it’s worth talking to a pedestrian accident lawyer about your case. Remember to take the time you need to recover properly and ask friends and family for help when you need it.

To learn more helpful legal tips, make sure to read the rest of our blog articles today!