Georgia Injury Law Blog
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has come out with a new study that promotes traffic safety initiatives of the kind Atlanta pedestrian accident attorneys have been advocating for too -the use of technology to prevent pedestrian accidents. As an Atlanta injury lawyer, I have seen a significant number of car accidents involving pedestrians. These auto accidents often involve serious personal injuries and many times result in the wrongful death of the pedestrian. Any technology that decreases the number of pedestrian accidents is a welcome innovation.
The Insurance Institute has studied technologies that can help prevent these accidents, and for this, it has analyzed the most common kinds of pedestrian accident scenarios.Between 2005 and 2009, 224,000 pedestrians were involved in front-impact accidents involving single passenger vehicles.Out of these 13,193 pedestrians were killed.
According to the Insurance Institute, the most common kinds of pedestrian accident scenarios involve a person crossing the road, and a car traveling straight ahead towards the pedestrian.In these cases, the motorist has a clear view of the pedestrian, but is unable to stop in time.The Insurance Institute study is promoting the use of forward collision warning systems, including pedestrian technology, to prevent these accidents.Forward collision warning systems have been very popular for some time now.These systems allow the driver to detect an object that is in the path of the car, thereby encouraging him to apply the brakes, and prevent an accident.Some of these systems now come with pedestrian detection technology that enables the driver to detect not only an object, but also a pedestrian in the car’s path.
In the European Union, automakers are now performing design modifications to the front of the vehicle to reduce the severity of injuries to pedestrians in an accident.Something similar to this could help reduce pedestrian deaths in the United States too, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has failed to pursue similar initiatives here.