Reports have recently shown that pedestrians face a mounting safety risk. Every single day, roughly 20 pedestrians are killed in car accidents. Many more pedestrians are being seriously injured, even when they survive being struck. Safety officials have lamented the fact that pedestrian deaths overall are much higher than they were during previous decades.
For instance, a federal recent report claimed that around 7,500 pedestrians recently died in preventable accident scenarios over the course of one year. That was the highest total number that these reports have tracked since back in 1981. In Kansas alone, there were 1.6 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people in 2022.
Why is this happening?
There are many reasons why this is happening. Since 2010, officials have noticed that SUVs have become more popular, and they’ve been linked to a higher total in pedestrian deaths. Large SUVs and oversized pick-up trucks have a greater tendency to cause fatal pedestrian accidents because they have massive blind-spots. Many drivers never even see pedestrians before they hit them, at least, when driving these large vehicles. Additionally, pedestrians take the impact from these vehicles at a higher point, such as their neck or head, increasing the odds of a fatality.
Another issue that has been linked is distracted driving. It only takes a momentary distraction for a driver to proceed through an intersection while someone is stepping out into a crosswalk. Drivers who are looking down at their phones may be attempting to watch other vehicles with their peripheral vision. This tactic may give them some warning if a semi-truck is approaching, but not if a child walks into the street.
What options do families have?
Unfortunately, oversized vehicles are as popular as ever and distractions are very common. This suggests that the trend will continue and pedestrian fatalities will keep going up. As a result, it’s very important for the families of those who have lost their lives to know how to seek financial compensation for things like lost wages, medical bills, funeral costs and more, because it is possible that the only thing that will cause pedestrian fatalities to drop is holding responsible parties accountable for their wrongdoing.