As a pedestrian, you can be at risk of severe injuries if someone in a car or truck hits you. While numerous traffic laws are in place to prevent these collisions, they still happen far too often.
And they can be more likely to happen to certain types of pedestrians.
- Impaired pedestrians: When someone is impaired by drugs or alcohol, their reflexes slow, they can get confused and they may take risks they wouldn’t take otherwise. A drunk or drugged pedestrian may not be able to respond to dangerous situations quickly enough to avoid them.
- Distracted pedestrians: Looking down at a phone or other item means a person is not looking where they are going. And when someone is focused more on something like eating, taking pictures or talking to their friends than their surroundings, they can end up walking into the path of a vehicle.
- Pedestrians who are wearing headphones: Headphones can block out vital sounds that help people stay safe. If you are wearing them while you are walking, you may not hear a car horn, ambulance siren or someone yelling at you to watch out.
- Older and younger pedestrians: Children and adults over 65 can be at a higher risk of a pedestrian accident than others. They can be hard to see; they may be moving slower or act unpredictably, making them more vulnerable to an accident.
- Non-visible pedestrians: Walking at night or in environments with low visibility can put pedestrians at risk of not being seen by drivers.
These actions are not necessarily illegal, but they can be dangerous and put pedestrians at a higher risk of getting hit by a car. Thus, avoiding these behaviors can be wise, as can taking extra precautions when you may be in an unsafe situation.
Having said that, if a pedestrian does get hurt in an accident, determining whether the driver was negligent will be crucial. If their negligence caused or contributed to a crash, injured victims or their families have the option to pursue compensation and legal remedies.
