A new report ranks Georgia in the top 10 in a list of states ranked based on pedestrian accident deaths. It is very likely that the majority of these pedestrian accidents resulted in wrongful death lawsuits.
The number of people being killed while walking has increased significantly over the last few years, especially during the pandemic. Even as there was a dip in driving across Georgia during March 2020, there was no corresponding drop in the number of fatal car accidents, especially those involving pedestrians. If anything, the number of people dying in these car accidents actually increased.
Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition recently released a new report titled Dangerous by Design. The report evaluates the performance of all 50 states in ensuring the safety of pedestrians, and ranks metropolitan areas as well as all 50 states based on the number of pedestrian deaths occurring in the states. Georgia is ranked at a dismal 9. There is more bad news. None of the states that are listed in the top 20 have seen any success in reducing the number of pedestrian accident deaths, compared to the previous report.
The report finds that pedestrians walking in low socioeconomic neighborhoods were much more likely to be killed in car accidents compared to those in higher socioeconomic neighborhoods. Low-income neighborhoods are much more likely to have arterial roadways that are likely to see more traffic. These areas are also much more likely to see higher volumes of traffic at intersections which increases the risk of auto accidents. According to the report, most pedestrian safety infrastructure improvements are made to enable people from wealthy, white neighborhoods to travel safely to and from these areas, resulting in poor funding for improvements in poorer areas and creating a dangerous environment for pedestrians in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods. Many areas that are located in lower socioeconomic zones, for instance, lag behind in providing some of the most basic pedestrian safety infrastructure like appropriate and adequate lighting and illumination, traffic signals and crosswalks. In the absence of these much-needed safety systems, pedestrians find themselves at risk of accidents with cars that are traveling at high speeds.
Much of US infrastructure centers around an encouragement of high speeds which also places pedestrian lives at risk. Race also plays a part with blacks, native Americans and Hispanic pedestrians forming a higher proportion of auto accident deaths. Older pedestrians are also much more likely to suffer fatal injuries in car accidents, compared to younger pedestrians.
The US stands alone in its failure to curb auto accident deaths in spite of lower traffic volumes during the pandemic. Most other Western countries that saw restricted traffic during the pandemics actually found a reduction in the number of car accident deaths recorded as well as the number of pedestrians being killed in fatal car accidents.
The Atlanta car crash attorneys at Katz Personal Injury Lawyers are dedicated to the representation of persons injured in car accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across Georgia. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries in a car accident, talk to a lawyer at our firm and determine if you have legal options to a claim for damages. You may be eligible for compensation that includes medical expenses, lost income and other types of damages. Talk to an attorney at our firm and discuss your case.