Articles Posted in Pedestrian accidents

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If a group of Atlanta Council members has its way, motorists will no longer be able to make a right turn when they are at a red light.  The move is linked to concerns about the risk of car accidents involving pedestrians.

The so- called Right on Red laws were enacted across the country back in the 1970s in the midst of a fuel crisis.  The law allows motorists the right to make a right turn at a red light, provided they stop first and it is safe to turn.  However, authorities found out very quickly after the laws were passed, that while the laws did not really do much to increase fuel efficiency, they did increase the risk of car accidents involving pedestrians when drivers made  right turns at red lights.  Even back in the 1970s, officials found that there was a higher risk of auto accidents involving pedestrians in these areas.

Recently, however, there have been efforts across the country to get these laws repealed or banned.  According  to transportation safety experts, these laws do contribute to large numbers of  car accidents every year involving pedestrians,   and many of these auto accidents result in catastrophic personal injuries to the pedestrians.  Now, a group of three Atlanta Council members also has proposed a ban on such right turns at red lights in certain areas in the city.  The three Council members are proposing a ban on these actions in Midtown, Downtown and Castleberry Hill.  These are busy areas that are chock full of entertainment venues and cultural attractions, and see large   volumes of pedestrian traffic.  According  to the Council members,  it is important to keep these areas thriving,  and that  can happen only when the laws make it safe for pedestrians to walk in these neighborhoods.

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A spinal cord injury can result in loss of muscle to a larger extent than can be  attributed to lack of movement and mobility.   A new study points to one of the lesser known, but longer term consequences of a spinal cord injury after an auto accident.

A spinal cord injury is a serious personal injury that is caused when there is an injury to the spine during an auto accident, or motorcycle accident or pedestrian accident.  Spinal cord injuries may also be caused in slip and fall accidents.  The  degree and severity of the spinal cord injury can depend on the location of the vertebrae where the injury occurs.  Spinal cord injuries can result in loss of movement and mobility making it impossible for the person to  stand, walk and otherwise use his or her limbs.  These personal injuries  significantly alter a person’s life and  his ability to earn a living and live a  normal life after the personal injury.

A new study finds that there are long term consequences of a spinal injury that we may not be aware of.  The  study recently found that a spinal cord injury can cause significant muscle wastage in patients.  Some degree of muscle wastage in patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury is to be expected because of the lack of movement and exercise that can cause muscles to wither away.  According  to the study, however,  the kind of muscle wastage that a person with these injuries suffers cannot simply be explained away by lack of movement.  In fact, the researchers believe that it has more to do with the ability of the adrenal glands to receive nerve signals.

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A decades-old law that was meant to manage fuel shortages is coming under the spotlight in states like Georgia,  as experts consider ways to reduce the number of pedestrian accidents around the country.

The  so-called “right- on-red” law allows motorists in   Georgia and  several   other states to make a right turn at an intersection even if the light is on red as long as the intersection is clear.  The  law provides American motorists with a unique privilege, and comes as a result of a law that was passed in the 1970s  as the country grappled with fuel shortages. That was when an oil embargo  pushed oil prices to record levels, necessitating  the passing of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975.  Some  other states  had passed similar right to turn laws a few decades earlier.

The  laws continued to remain in place even after the oil embargo ended and fuel prices returned to normal.  It is  a privilege that  American motorists now do not even think twice about, and it is only now in the face of skyrocketing pedestrian accident deaths that experts are asking if it is time to retire a law that is possibly  at least partly responsible for the increasing number of people being killed in  pedestrian accidents, especially at intersections.

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Pedestrians  are more likely to suffer fatal personal injuries in a car accident when they are involved in an accident with a large vehicle, like a pick up truck or SUV.  According  to the findings of a new study, however, more than the size of the vehicle, it may be the height of the front end of the truck that may prove most detrimental to pedestrian safety.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently published the findings of two new research studies into pedestrian safety.  According to the researchers, vehicles that have taller, higher front ends are much more likely to cause serious and fatal personal injuries to pedestrians in a car accident.  The study found that cars with a hood height of more than 40 inches were approximately 45% more likely to kill pedestrians involved in an auto accident with the car, in comparison to cars that had a hood height of 30 inches or less.

The worrying part is that vehicles with taller, higher hoods have become extremely popular over the past few decades.  According to research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, over the past 30 years, there has been a significant increase in not just the size and weight of the average vehicle, but also the hood height.  The average car has increased by 8 inches in height and 1000 pounds in weight. Over  the same period of time, cars have also gotten about 4 inches wider and about 10 inches longer. In fact, many vehicles that you see in Atlanta today are likely to be at least 40 inches or higher at the tallest point of the hood.  Aggressive – looking vehicles are not just intimidating to pedestrians, but are also capable of causing serious and devastating personal injuries that can result in wrongful death.

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As we head towards the end of summer, pedestrians walking along Atlanta roads must remember to focus on the task of walking and avoid distractions from their cell phones and other devices to avoid car accidents. Unfortunately, too often pedestrians are seen walking across a street while looking at their cell phones or texting. This type of conduct prevents them from being alert to cars entering their paths, even when the pedestrian has the right of way.

A  new study in Australia finds that texting on a cell phone while walking significantly increases a person’s risk of being involved in a pedestrian accident. The researchers divided college students into 3 groups.  The first group was asked to text while sitting, while the other group was asked to walk without texting.  The third group was made to text while walking on a pathway that was specifically designed for the experiment with tiles that were out of place.  Not surprisingly, the researchers found that the group of persons who were texting while walking had their focus impacted by their distraction.

The  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that close to 10% of auto accidents in the United States every year are directly linked to motorists using cell phones  while driving. Other studies have found plenty of evidence that distractions also seem to place pedestrians at risk of pedestrian accidents.  If you are walking while talking on your cell phone, or listening to music on your headphones, you are less likely to identify an approaching car or spot any other kind of safety cues.

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When a proposed new rule by the federal government becomes final, most cars in the United States will come with automatic emergency braking systems that will significantly reduce the risk of car accidents.

The  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed a rule that would require the installation of automatic emergency braking systems on nearly all cars and pickup trucks in the United States.  The rule will require that all light passenger cars and trucks that weigh 10,000 pounds or  less come with these systems  after the publication of the final rule.  The rule will also require that automatic emergency braking systems recognize pedestrians at night.

After a period of 3 years from the final publication of the rule, all vehicles in the country will be required to have these systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a significant number of lives will be saved every year as a result of the widespread adoption of the technology.  It is specifically believed that 360 lives will be saved in car accidents every year and more than 24,000 injuries will be prevented as a result of the use of the technology.

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In  2022,  the number of pedestrians killed in auto accidents crossed 7,500, the highest on record in 40 years. This is a tragic statistic that demonstrates a problem that is without an easy solution.

The rising number of pedestrian deaths has been a source of concern for transportation safety advocates and pedestrian groups across the country. However,  the actual state of pedestrian safety may be even worse than earlier believed. The  Governors Highway Safety Association recently released its estimates of the total number of pedestrian fatalities in 2022, and the numbers are staggering. The  Governors Highway Safety Association believes that a total of 7,508  pedestrians were killed in car accidents  last  year,  the highest number on record since 1981.  That  year, a total of 7,837 pedestrians were killed in auto accidents.  The total for 2022 are very likely even be higher because final estimates were not provided by the state of Oklahoma.

Most states recorded an increase in car accident fatalities in 2022, including Georgia, where a total of 335 pedestrians were killed in auto accidents in 2022.  That  was an increase of 14 deaths from the 321 pedestrians killed in auto accidents in 2021.  The jump in pedestrian accidents in 2022 is even more concerning because it marks a 77% increase since 2010, while the jump in car accident fatalities over all has been just 25% since 2010.

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Many  cities including the metro Atlanta region have seen a boom in the number of e – scooter riders, but limits on the operations of these vehicles mean that many of these riders choose to ride on sidewalks, increasing their risks of being involved in pedestrian accidents.

Around the country, there  has been an increase in the number of e – scooter  riders, and cities have welcomed the expansion of this community because that reduces the stress on motor vehicle traffic, especially in congested cities like Atlanta.  However, many cities have restricted the roads that these vehicles can be operated on.  This means riders often choose to ride on sidewalks, placing them in direct conflict with pedestrians,  and increasing their chances  of being involved in pedestrian accidents.  In fact, according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there has been an increase in the number of e – scooter  personal injuries and accidents  involving pedestrians.

In most cities, the laws allow persons to ride e- scooters on roads where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less.  That  restricts the operation of ride vehicles to bike lanes and bike paths.  In areas where it is not possible to ride on bike lanes, e – scooter riders prefer to ride on sidewalks.  This  may be safe for the scooter rider, but involves  increased risks for pedestrians, especially when the e-scooter is being operated at high speeds.  Most riders do tend  to lower their speeds when they are riding on sidewalks as compared to riding in a bicycle lane.  Even  so, the  potential   risk  of personal injuries to pedestrians is very real.  Some  cities have placed greater speed restrictions on privately operated scooters that are being operated  on sidewalks in order to reduce the risk of personal injuries to pedestrians in accidents  with the scooters. Other cities are even considering a complete ban on e – scooters on sidewalks.

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The  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently released new statistics that show that the total number of people killed in car accidents in the United States dropped last year compared to the previous year.  However,  it may be too early to celebrate.

According to the latest statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a total of 42,795 people were killed in auto accidents in the United States last year.  That  translated into a minute  0.3% drop from the previous year.  In 2021, a total 42,939 people had been killed in auto accidents. However,  the toll for 2022  still remains 18% higher than the figures in 2019.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg calls this a “national crisis of traffic safety” on our roads,  and says that Americans need to do their part in helping reverse this rising trend of auto accident deaths.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently conducted a comparison of the United States with at least 29 other industrialized countries and found disturbing results.  The  study found that the United States fares very poorly on traffic safety parameters, compared to other wealthy nations. In fact, most Western countries did not record dramatic rise in wrongful deaths in car accidents the way the United States did during the  pandemic.

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Statistics  seem to show a slight drop in the number of people killed in car accidents across the country during the first 9 months of 2022, compared to the same period of time the previous year.   However, the number of people  killed in pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents increased over the same period of time.

New statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show a very  slight drop in auto accident fatalities in the first 9 months of last year, compared to the same period of time in 2019. A  total of 31,785 people were killed in car accidents between January and September 2022, compared to the previous year.  That was a 0.2%  drop.  The  bad news, however, is that bicycle accident and pedestrian  accident wrongful deaths continued to rise over the first 9 months of 2022 as they have  for several years now.

Car  accident deaths across the country and in Georgia have been at elevated levels since 2020 when the pandemic struck and lock downs were imposed.  In  spite of a drop in traffic volumes with few people driving on the streets, the number of auto accidents began to spike, confounding experts.  Since  then, we have learned that auto accident numbers began to rise in 2020 because of reckless driving behaviors, including speeding.  With  lower traffic volumes on the road, motorists became  much more comfortable driving at high speeds, and those behaviors  have continued since then.  Additionally, the lack of enforcement campaigns during this time also meant  more numbers of people driving without wearing their seatbelts or driving under the influence of alcohol, contributing to those high statistics.

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