Crossing the Street

We do it everyday.  When we are children, it is so dangerous that our parents will not let us  do it on our own.  Schools hire guards to make sure we are safe crossing the street.  Cars are so much bigger and heavier than we are that a car wreck between a car and a pedestrian almost always results in serious injuries to the pedestrian.  These injuries include paralysis, spine injury, spinal cord injury, brain injury and wrongful death.  In traffic accidents between pedestrians and cars, the cars always win.  Therefore, the pedestrian has to be careful.

The first rule of good street crossing is to always cross in a cross walk.  You may have heard that you should always cross at an intersection.  While this is a good rule of thumb, it is not hard and fast.  Some crosswalks are in the middle of a street.  These are marked with heavy white stripes (like those on the album cover of the Beatles Abbey Road).  Many times these cross walks are also accompanied by a flashing light.  Nine times out of ten, if a pedestrian is hit while fully in a cross walk, the fault for the car accident is the driver of the car not paying attention.  In fact, there are a series of statutes in the Indiana Statutory code which give pedestrians in cross walks special privileges.  One statute requires all cars to stop at a cross walk if another car is already stopped.  This is true even if the light is green for those cars.

Simply because you are in a crosswalk does not guarantee your safety.  Always be on the lookout for your best interest.  A drunk driver is not going to honor the rules of the crosswalk or your right of way, and because the car is bigger than you, you will lose the battle.  So, do not walk out into traffic unless you are certain you can make it across without being hit.  Be especially careful for the good Samaratin who stops and waives you across.  Although all other cars are supposed to stop, most won’t.  So do not step out from behind that car until you can confirm you will not be hit.  Always cross with the light at an intersection, but keep an eye up the road to make sure that everybody sees you and the red light.  Some won’t and you will have to act fast.  Also keep an eye out for the turning driver, especially if you are walking in the direction opposite travel on a one way street.  The turning driver on the one way street will always look for cars coming at them, but rarely looks for the pedestrian coming from the opposite direction.  In those cases, always wait for the car to pass unless you make eye contact with the driver and they acknowledge your presence.

Pedestrian collisions are a common road accident.  Injuries from these traffic accidents can be severe.  If you or a loved one is injured, we have more than fifty five years of experience waiting to help.  Please call or email.