Pedestrian Safety

Everyone is a pedestrian at some point during the day. It doesn’t matter where you live or how you get somewhere — we all walk to cross a street or traverse a parking lot. Unfortunately, pedestrian deaths have been on the increase. It might sound hard to believe, but in 2018, over 6,000 pedestrians were victims of traffic fatalities. This is the highest figure since 1990 and a 3.4% increase from 2017. In 2018, a pedestrian was killed approximately every 84 minutes, which accounted for 17% of all traffic deaths.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers the following safety tips to help keep you safe inside and outside of a motor vehicle:

  • Always walk on the sidewalk or on a path if available. If you have no choice but to walk on the road, make sure to walk facing traffic and keep as far away from cars as possible.
  • Cross streets at marked crosswalks and intersections when possible, since drivers will expect you to be there. If crossing at an intersection or in a crosswalk is not an option, find a well-lit area and wait for sufficient space so that you have enough time to safely cross, watching for traffic the entire time you are in the street.
  • Do not wear or use any device that might distract your attention or prevent you from hearing a car horn, such as headphones or a mobile phone. Not only could you fail to hear sounds that alert you to danger, but it might also distract you from seeing a traffic signal at a crosswalk.
  • Do not walk while impaired. Doing so is downright dangerous. A significant number of crashes involving pedestrians included a drunk walker.

According to the NHTSA, drivers should also be on the lookout for pedestrians. The agency offers the following tips:

  • Be especially careful in inclement weather and at night, when pedestrians may be hard to see.
  • Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
  • Be extra vigilant in school zones.

The lawyers at Liever, Hyman & Potter are concerned for the safety of pedestrians and the motoring public throughout Berks County and Schuylkill County, and serve auto, truck, and motorcycle accident victims and their families in Reading, PA, Pottsville, PA, and throughout Eastern and Central Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia. The lawyers there handle injury claims, including claims for serious injuries and death caused by the negligence of other vehicle operators.