Articles Posted in Pedestrian Accident

An elderly woman from Boca Raton was killed in a recent car-pedestrian accident in Palm Beach County, according to The Palm Beach Post News. According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office the 85-year-old woman passed away at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami after she was involved in the accident earlier in August at the 22000 block of Camino Del Mar.

The accident report stated that the accident happened as the elderly woman was waiting at the crosswalk for her caretaker. The caretaker ran over the woman as she attempted to back to vehicle up. The driver hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and hit the curb, then a wood pole and then the elderly woman. After the incident, she was initially taken to Delray Medical Center and then later transported to Jackson Hospital. Charges against the driver are currently pending, according to media reports.

Our pedestrian attorneys in Pembroke Pines, Oakland Park and Cooper City understand that older pedestrians are more vulnerable to pedestrian accidents than their younger counterparts.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 800 people over the age of 64 were killed in pedestrian-traffic accidents in the United States in 2009. This elderly population accounted for nearly 20 percent of all of the pedestrian accidents reported for the entire year. With the increase in the elderly population, an increase of roughly 13 percent from 2000 to 2009, we can expect more elderly pedestrians to be traveling our roadways. Serious accidents involving these individuals can be prevented with safe, alert and cautious driving habits.

For the elderly population, more than 60 percent of pedestrian deaths that occurred in 2009 happened at non-intersection locations.

There are a number of unfortunate factors contributing to the risks of elderly pedestrian accidents:

-Elderly residents are more likely to experience hearing and vision difficulties.

-Many seniors are less mobile as they require the use of a wheelchair, a walker or a cane.

-Many elderly residents suffer from age-related illnesses that affect their mental health, like dementia.

-Seniors may find it difficult to cross the street in the amount of time allotted by crosswalk signals.

Here are some senior-friendly safety tips for those walking our streets:

-Make sure you’ve got enough time to cross a street. Don’t start crossing a street unless you know how long the WALK signal has been lit up for. It’s wise for you to wait until the next cycle if you’re not sure.

-Have your eyes and ears checked periodically. Aids to help these senses can greatly reduce your risks of being involved in a serious accident.

-Don’t be shy. Ask for help if you need it. Most residents understand that seniors may require some assistance and won’t hesitate to help.

-Don’t assume that drivers will stop. Always assume that a driver can’t see you. Unfortunately, motorists have been known to fly by elderly seniors with little to no regard for their safety.
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Florida has the most pedestrian deaths in the country, ranking it the most dangerous place for pedestrians, according to a pedestrian safety report released by Transportation For America.

The 2011 edition looks back on the 47,000 people killed walking along roadways in the United States. It also looks back on the 688,000 injuries sustained from these pedestrian accidents in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere throughout the country. Now, in an attempt to reduce the risks of these accidents, Dangerous by Design 2011 will examine the information and attempt to form solutions for these preventable deaths.

The new report comes with a number of features. You are able to view fact sheets that are specific to each of the 50 states and you can even look, through interactive pedestrian maps, at the pedestrian fatalities that have occurred in your very own community.

Our Miami personal injury lawyers would like to stress the importance of this report as it illustrates our deadly streets. Florida experienced the most pedestrian deaths during the examined time period, 2000 to 2009. Florida metro areas took the first, second, third and fourth place for having the most dangerous metro areas in the country. We hope the release of this report will help raise awareness about the importance of safe and alert driving.

During the studied years, more than 5,000 people were killed while walking the streets of Florida. These accidents cost the state more than $22 billion. The Sunshine State has a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 182.8, which is what gives our state the number one ranking out of all 50 states.

The areas that saw the most pedestrian fatalities in Florida are:

-Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, 1,555

-Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, 905

-Orlando-Kissimmee, 557

-Jacksonville, 342

-Cape Coral-Fort Myers, 178

Most of these pedestrian accidents happen along arterial roads. These roads are dangerous by design as they fall under federal construction and planning and are meant to accommodate speedy traffic flow. These roadways have little to no safety provisions for on-foot travelers.

The highways-only lobbyists insist that pedestrian safety is a mere luxury, an unnecessary feature, that is the responsibility of local government. Meanwhile, almost 70 percent of these pedestrian deaths occurred on federal-aid roads.

The federal funding that goes toward the safety of pedestrians only makes us less than 1.5 percent of the entire federal transportation outlay. This tiny bit of funding may cease as Congress is currently looking at eliminating it altogether. Shouldn’t we have a say in where our tax dollars go?

If you would like to help increase the safety of our roadways, you are asked to contact Congress to tell them that it is no time to start cutting funding that could keep our pedestrians safe.
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