How Common are Pedestrian Accidents?

Let’s face it- every day we hear about car accidents, but are often surprised when we hear about pedestrian accidents. The sad reality is that Americans should not be sad to learn about pedestrian accidents, judging by statistics: In 2003, 70,000 pedestrians were injured due to pedestrian-vehicle crashes and in general, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic collision every 113 minutes and injured every 8 minutes. Sadly, 11.4% of traffic deaths are pedestrians. Texas is listed among the top four states for pedestrian fatalities-approximately 450 people are killed every year in Texas as the result of a pedestrian accident, or 37 people every month.

Pedestrian Accidents & Children

Drivers are ordered by the law to drive especially carefully and slower around areas that children populate, such as school zones. Despite these laws, children are some of the most common fatalities in pedestrian accidents and at other times, can sustain some of the most severe injuries due to their size and reaction time.

• In 2001, 669 children aged 14 and under died from pedestrian injuries
• In 2002, 43,300 children aged 14 and under were treated for pedestrian-related injuries
• 10% of children-pedestrian-accidents occur in driveways, when kids are playing or walking behind vehicles
• In a national survey involving school zones and residential areas, 45% of motorists did not come to a complete stop, 37% came rolling through and 7% did not even slow down- two-thirds of drivers exceeded the posted speed limit in one study
• Toddlers, aged 1 to 2, sustain the highest number of pedestrian injuries due to their small size and limited traffic experience
• Children pedestrian deaths are four times higher on Halloween than any other day of the year

The reasons why children are more susceptible to pedestrian accidents can include the following reasons: walking is a main form of travel for children, they often don’t pay attention to traffic, their height can make them hard to see and in the case of teenagers, they can fall prey to the “herd mentality,” where individuals feel safe by being in a group and thus tend to be more oblivious to their surroundings.

Injuries and Fatalities

According to reports, while pedestrian injuries occur most often between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., a peak period occurs between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. when people are picking up their kids from school or coming home from work. Pedestrian fatalities normally occur at night- which makes sense due to drunk drivers and poor visibility, among other things.