Pedestrian accidents can have devastating consequences for victims. Pedestrians often suffer extremely serious injuries, since they do not have anything between their body and the vehicle that strikes them. If you or someone close to you has been injured in a pedestrian accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you should reach out to a skilled Michigan personal injury attorney as soon as possible. We can examine the facts of your case and provide you with an honest assessment of your claim.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines a pedestrian as any individual on foot, walking, running, jogging, hiking, sitting, or lying down who is involved in a motor vehicle crash. According to the NHTSA, on average, a pedestrian was killed every two hours and injured every eight minutes in traffic accidents in 2013. In fact, there were 4,735 pedestrian deaths that year, accounting for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. Unfortunately, that number increased in 2014, when a total of 4,884 pedestrians were killed, while an estimated 65,000 were injured across the country.
In Michigan, 148 pedestrians were killed in 2013, accounting for 15.6 percent of the total traffic fatalities in the state in 2013. In 2014, there were 148 pedestrian fatalities, accounting for 16.4 percent of total traffic deaths. Pedestrian accidents can take place in a number of ways, including: