Georgia Injury Law Blog
The driver of a Cobb CountyTransit bus, which was involved in a serious pedestrian accident last week that left a pedestrian with an amputated leg, has now been charged. Atlanta police have charged the driver, Jean Lewis with failure to yield to a pedestrian on a crosswalk and failure to exercise due care. Of course, pedestrian accidents are more often involve the most serious injuries.
Lewis was driving a Cobb County transit bus when it struck a 54-year-old pedestrian. The bus struck the woman as it was turning left at a light. According to witnesses, the woman apparently saw the bus pulling out of the Hamilton Holmes Marta Station, and tried to walk faster, but she was struck by the rear of the bus, and fell to the ground. She suffered a severe leg and a broken ankle. According to Cobb County Representatives, the driver will be removed from service, pending completion of the investigation.
This pedestrian accident comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports on an increase in pedestrian wrongful deaths around the country. The increase is minimal, just .4%, but it comes after four continuous years of declining pedestrian accident deaths.
What Atlanta pedestrian accident attorneys have found extremely unfortunate is that the blame is often placed on pedestrians for this increase in wrongful deaths. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration squarely blames pedestrians who are distracted while walking, or walking in a state of intoxication, for this increase in pedestrian deaths. Although this may be true at times, many pedestrian accidents occur every year because of failure to yield to pedestrians, especially those who are on crosswalks.