Who’s At Fault in a Car Accident? A Guide to Liability in Ohio
Posted in: Car Accidents
KNR Legal Blog
A car accident is not limited to two-car accidents, head-on collisions and rear-end crashes. Personal injury claims resulting from car crashes may also result from an incident where a pedestrian is struck by an oncoming vehicle. In fact, a study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration highlighted the number of car accidents and vehicular crashes involving pedestrians throughout the United States, including in Ohio.
According to the Traffic Safety Facts 2012 Data released by the NHTSA, there were 76,000 pedestrians who were injured in traffic accidents. In 2012, 4,743 pedestrian accident fatalities were registered, which means that a pedestrian died every 2 hours. Pedestrians were injured every 7 minutes in vehicular accidents.
The 2012 death toll for pedestrian accidents was 6 percent higher than the number of pedestrian deaths in 2011. That is also the highest number of pedestrians killed in such accidents over the past 5 years. Also, the number of pedestrian fatalities was 14 percent of all traffic fatalities while pedestrian injuries accounted for 3 percent of all people injured in traffic accidents.
According to the definition of the NHTSA, a pedestrian is any individual on foot, running, walking, hiking, sitting, jogging or lying down who is involved in a motor vehicle accident. The NHTSA data also revealed the potential factors that contribute to pedestrian accidents such as the location of the accident, whether it occurred in the intersection or not, weather conditions, time of the day and the age of the victim.
The NHTSA also found that alcohol is involved in many car accidents involving pedestrians. The data showed that 48 percent of traffic accidents that led to the deaths of pedestrians were associated with driving under the influence or some alcohol involvement. Of the drivers involved in fatal car-pedestrian accidents, 14 percent had a blood alcohol content of 0.08 grams per deciliter or greater.
Source: NHTSA, “Pedestrians,” Accessed Sept. 30, 2014