Georgia Injury Law Blog
An analysis of data by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association finds that while pedestrian accident death numbers have dropped since last year, the final tally is still a close to 50% increase over a decade ago.
According to the analysis by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, a total of 334 people were killed in pedestrian accidents during the first 6 months of 2024. That was a drop of 2.6% from the same period of time the previous year. There were 88 fewer deaths during the first 6 months of 2024 compared to the first 6 months of 2023.
That is the good news. The bad news is that this was an increase of 48% from the same period a decade earlier. Between January and June 2024, there were a staggering 1,072 more pedestrian accident fatalities compared to the period between January and June 2014.
According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, that increase is even more worrying when you consider that the pace of pedestrian deaths is about 7 times higher than the American population growth. Too many people are being killed in pedestrian accidents on our streets while simply walking to work or for exercise and recreation.
The usual culprits are to blame for this significant increase in pedestrian accident deaths. Traffic enforcement levels continue to remain as low as they have been since the pandemic. Lower enforcement levels mean fewer officers who can pull over motorists engaged in speeding and drunk driving off the roads. These are the kinds of behaviors that are often linked to pedestrian accidents, and the data indicates that there are far too many such drivers on our roads.
Apart from lower law enforcement levels, other factors contributing to accidents include outdated infrastructure that is particularly unfriendly to pedestrians. Many of our roads were designed with motorists in mind, and that can be seen in the lack of support aids for safe pedestrian movement. There are far too many roads without adequate lighting and without sufficient number of paved sidewalks for pedestrians to walk safely on. More numbers of marked and designated crosswalks, especially in pedestrian- heavy areas can also help prevent these accidents.
Additionally, Americans now increasingly prefer larger, bulkier vehicles like super-sized SUVs and pickup trucks that can cause catastrophic injuries to pedestrians when they are involved in accidents with these vehicles. A person is much more likely to suffer serious or fatal personal injuries when he is involved in an accident with a large- sized SUV than a smaller sedan.
The Atlanta car accident lawyers at Katz Personal Injury Lawyers are dedicated to the representation of persons who have suffered injuries in auto accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across the state of Georgia. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries in a car accident, talk to a lawyer at our firm and determine your legal options for a claim for compensation. You may qualify for a claim that helps you recover damages for medical costs, lost wages and other types of compensation. Talk to a lawyer at our firm and discuss your case. Initial consultations are free.