Pedestrian deaths across the United States have increased by close to 50% since 2010. Clearly, this is a crisis that affects every one of us. After all, we are all pedestrians. Thankfully, a path to reverse this troubling trend has been laid out by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which recently completed a special investigation report on pedestrian safety.
In the report, the NTSB investigated 15 fatal pedestrian accidents and made many recommendations to government agencies to improve pedestrian safety. In short, the recommendations are as follows:
- Test vehicle headlight systems when they are mounted on the vehicle to ensure they correctly light the road.
- Allow headlight systems that light the road a vehicle is traveling on as opposed to just lighting directly in front of the vehicle.
- Test vehicle designs based on how well the design reduces injuries to pedestrians.
- Incorporate pedestrian safety systems, which are built into vehicles to react within milliseconds of an impact to mitigate pedestrian injury, into the 5-star safety ratings and test the pedestrian safety systems.
- Develop detailed data sets about pedestrian crashes which highlight all types of incidents involving pedestrians.
- Combine highway crash data and injury health data, with the goal of producing a national database of pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
- Establish methods that states and metropolitan planning organizations can use to collect pedestrian incident data, then define a common framework that will allow those data sources to be combined.
- Expand support of state and local safety projects to promote pedestrian safety action plans.
Hopefully, the NTSB recommendations are implemented and prove to be effective. Each day, according to the NTSB pedestrian safety report, 233 pedestrians are injured by motor vehicles and 16 are killed across the United States. While the report doesn’t indicate the cause of the injuries, some of the incidents can be attributed to the negligence of the motor vehicle drivers. This includes common injury-causing acts of negligence such as:
- Distracted driving and texting
- Drugged and drunk driving
- Failures to yield
- Running red lights and rolling stops
- Speeding in school zones and intersections
Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. applauds the efforts of the NTSB to publicize the alarming issue of motor vehicle collisions involving pedestrians and to improve pedestrian safety. However, we know risks will always exist when motorists behind the wheel fail to uphold their responsibilities of safely operating their vehicles.
Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.: Fighting for Injured Pedestrians
Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm that helps victims of preventable accidents, including pedestrians, across the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia seek justice through personal injury lawsuits. Our team is here to help you explore your options for recovering compensation. Call (202) 659-8600 or contact us online to speak with an attorney.