3 Facts About Pedestrian Accidents
If you are injured in a pedestrian accident, you have a right to seek compensation. Call our Las Vegas pedestrian accident lawyer for a free consultation. Here are 3 facts about pedestrian accidents, as explained by our experienced personal injury attorney.
3 Facts About Pedestrian Accidents | Statistics
Pedestrian accidents are rapidly becoming an epidemic across the United States. Even though Nevada has a population of just shy of three million residents—less than 1% of the US population—the Silver State has been experiencing a steady, unsettling upswing in foot traffic fatalities in recent years. In 2017, the most recent year for which data is available, an even 100 pedestrians across Nevada met their deaths in motor vehicle accidents. This sobering statistic is 25% higher than the number of pedestrian deaths in the year 2016, during which there were 80 pedestrian deaths in Nevada. With the number of pedestrian fatalities in the state consistently increasing since 2010, when only 41 such deaths occurred, a joint effort among authorities, drivers, and pedestrians has emerged in order to promote road safety. The Nevada Department of Transportation’s goal of “zero fatalities” may eventually become a reality.
Download Our FREE Pedestrian Accident Guide
3 Facts About Pedestrian Accidents | Causes
Who is to blame for these fatalities? The answer varies from accident to accident, but there are two frequent trends: pedestrians failed to carefully prepare to cross roads, and drivers were not using safe driving practices. In some of these pedestrian accidents, both trends were at work at the same time. Many fatalities in 2017 occurred when pedestrians neglected to look both ways before crossing Las Vegas’s busy streets, were distracted by their smartphones while crossing, or chose to jaywalk instead of use a crosswalk at an intersection. In the accidents in which drivers were the primary causes of pedestrian fatalities, a number of drivers struck pedestrians while speeding excessively or after losing control of their vehicles. Whatever the cause behind these many accidents, the bottom line is that Las Vegas’s pedestrian death toll dramatically and unforgivably climbed last year.
3 Facts About Pedestrian Accidents | Places Where Accidents Often Happen
Pedestrian fatalities in Las Vegas are not necessarily limited to any one environment. Some areas are more prone than others to cause pedestrian deaths, such as Boulder Highway, which was named Las Vegas’s deadliest road in 2015. However, even areas where cars tend to travel more slowly can be home to pedestrian fatalities.
Gated communities and private streets are common sites of pedestrian accidents, and because these accidents are counted separately than those that occur on public roads, the total number of pedestrian fatalities in Las Vegas and Nevada on the whole is higher than reported. The city’s expansive parking lots, despite the common perception that they are inherently low-speed areas, may also foster pedestrian accidents. When people on foot become lost or attempt to sprint across the asphalt, cars may quickly turn a corner, and a collision can follow.
If you have recently been injured in a pedestrian accident, please contact our experienced Las Vegas pedestrian accident lawyer today to arrange a free consultation.