Pedestrian accidents

Published on: August 21, 2014

Atlanta Is One of the Most Dangerous Areas for Pedestrians

Atlanta has once again received the dubious distinction of being one of the most dangerous and risky cities for pedestrians in the United States. This recent designation came via the Dangerous by Design report, which spotlights cities that pose the highest risk of injuries and accidents to pedestrians.

The report is compiled by Smart Growth America, which formulated a Pedestrian Danger Index measure for all major cities in the country. When cities and states were compared, Florida was found to be the most dangerous state, while Orlando was found to be the most dangerous city for pedestrians in the country.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta region comes in at number eight on the list, with 839 fatalities occurring between 2003 and 2012. The region had a Pedestrian Danger Index of 119.4. Atlanta fared quite well, however, when compared to Orlando’s 244.3 Pedestrian Danger Index. But the rating clearly indicates that there are a lot of changes needed to help keep pedestrians safer in our city.

Published on: May 27, 2014

Pedestrian Fatality Study Underscores Georgia’s Poor Record

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Georgia ranks at the bottom of the heap when it comes to protecting pedestrians from serious or fatal injuries in accidents.

According to a new study, a small group of states accounts for some of the highest number of pedestrian fatalities in the country.The study was conducted by the National Complete Streets Coalition, where researchers analyzed numbers involving more than 47,025 pedestrian fatalities that occurred over a 10 year period. When analysis of the data was complete, some states were found to have an abysmal record in keeping pedestrians safe and preventing accidents.

The study established a Pedestrian Danger Index, which measured the number of fatalities relative to the number of pedestrians on the street, and found that some states had managed to keep fatalities very low. These included New York and Washington DC.

Published on: April 28, 2014

Efforts Underway to Reduce Truck Blind Spots and Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

One of the biggest concerns for motorcyclists while traveling anywhere near a tractor-trailer or commercial truck is the possibility that the truck driver will not see the motorcycle.The National Transportation Safety Board recently released a report asking the National Highway Safety Administration to target blind spot mitigation in commercial trucks, especially in those cases where blind spots significantly impact motorcyclists and cyclists.

It’s not difficult to understand why motorcyclists and cyclists may be so easy to miss for a truck driver.A truck driver has several blind spots that exist behind and around their rig and trailer, and any vehicle that is in one of these blind spots may not be easily visible to the truck driver.Those visibility difficulties become even more pronounced in the case of a motorcycle or bicycle because of the narrow frames of these vehicles.

When a truck driver is not able to identify a motorcycle in his blind spot, he is at risk of colliding with it and causing serious injury or death.While the occupants of a car have some amount of protection in the form of seatbelts, airbags and the frame of the vehicle to protect them from serious injuries in a truck accident, motorcyclists have no such luxury.They are extremely vulnerable to the high risk of injuries in an accident with a commercial truck, and it is these risks that the National Transportation Safety Board wants to target.

Published on: January 16, 2014

Alcohol-Related Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents Remain High

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

There’s plenty of awareness about alcohol-impaired fatalities involving motorists, but not much is known about the fact that alcohol-impaired fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists have remained consistently high over the past few years. According to a new report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it’s just as dangerous to walk or ride a bicycle under the influence of alcohol, and it’s high time that pedestrians and bicyclists were made aware of these risks.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report, the proportion of intoxicated pedestrians and bicyclists killed in accidents has changed very little over the past 20 years. Back in 1992, the percentage of pedestrians above the age of 16, who died with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or above, was 39%. In 2011, that number had dropped by two percentage points to 37%.

Among bicyclists, the researchers found that the fatality percentage rate when alcohol was involved was approximately 26% in 1992, and had dropped to 25% in 2011. The statistics seem to indicate that there has been barely any difference in the number of alcohol-impaired pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities over the past 20 years. During the same period of time, there have been substantial declines in the number of motorists killed in alcohol-related car accidents.

Published on: September 11, 2013

Slip and Fall Accidents: Expensive and Highly Preventable

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Although icy conditions are often thought of when the topic of slip and fall accidents arises, the risk of suffering this type of injury is very high in the summer months.This is due in part to the large number of people visiting airports, shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, sports fields, and other commercial spaces.However, very often, these same places conceal dangerous conditions that can cause serious leg and back injuries.

The best Atlanta slip and fall accident lawyers all agree that the most effective way for businesses to deal with slip and falls is to prevent them.This requires two things.First, recognize the common causes of falls.And second, implement safety protocols for removing the danger.

Some of the most common slip and fall accidents involve flooring that conceals various hazards.For instance, a floor that is wet because of a spill can pose a serious hazard, and when the floor is the kind that is often used in commercial spaces like marble and granite, the spill may not be easily visible.Businesses must ensure that all public walkways are constantly monitored, and that any spills are cleaned up immediately.

Published on: September 4, 2013

Georgia DOT Releases New Safe Driving Videos

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Georgia highway officials have made a lot of progress in helping reduce the number of people killed in traffic accidents across the state. However, thousands of people continue to die, or are seriously injured in accidents across the state every year.In order to help reduce those numbers further, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has developed and released a new series of videos.

GDOT has launched a new video initiative that comes in response to a call by the Federal Highway Administration to reduce traffic accident fatalities across the country to 0.The Federal Highway Administration’s Towards Zero Deaths initiative is aimed at minimizing the number of traffic accident fatalities across the country.

In order to support this initiative, the Georgia Department of Transportation is promoting a new series of educational videos. These videos will appear GDOT’s YouTube Channel and website.

Published on: May 20, 2013

More Effort Needed to Reduce Georgia Bicycle Accidents and Fatalities

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Bicyclists in the metro Atlanta region continue to remain at high risk for injuries and fatalities.New data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that there were 14 “pedalcyclist” accident fatalities reported in Georgia in the year 2011.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts bicycles, unicycles, and other non-motorized vehicles in a single group called “pedalcycles.”

Those figures account for approximately 1.1% of the 1,223 traffic accident fatalities reported in 2011.Overall, Georgia had a bicyclist fatality rate of approximately 1.43 fatalities for every 1 million population.

Statistics were not much better across the rest of the country.In fact, there was actually an increase of 9% in the national bicycle accident fatality total for 2011.Overall, there were 677 pedalcyclist fatalities in the United States in 2011.These accidents also contributed to more than 48,000 injuries.

Published on: January 17, 2012

Even As Car Accident Wrongful Deaths Drop, Increase in Pedestrian Wrongful Deaths

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In 2010, there was a record drop in auto accident deaths from the previous year.However, the number of people dying in pedestrian accidents actually increased.

Last year, 32,885 people died in auto accidents across the United States.That was a drop of 2.9% from 2009.These were the lowest traffic accident death numbers on record since 1949.These accident fatality numbers have declined even as the number of miles being driven by American motorists increased in 2010.In fact, there was a drop in almost all categories of car accident deaths last year, including drunk driving accidents.

However, pedestrians were not safer in 2010.Pedestrian accident deaths actually increased last year by about 4.2% from 2009.Further, the number of persons who suffered a personal injury in pedestrian accidents in the United States increased by a staggering 19 %.Overall, more than 70,000 pedestrians were injured in accidents last year.That increase is puzzling considering that it comes after 4 straight years of declining pedestrian accident death numbers in the US.

Published on: September 26, 2011

Three Teenagers Killed in Clayton County Pedestrian Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A third teenager has succumbed to his injuries after a deadly pedestrian accident in Clayton County.Two other teenage pedestrians were also killed in the car accident last Thursday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has confirmed the death of the third teenager, a seventeen-year-old boy.The boy had suffered a serious brain injury in the accident.The boy and his two friends, aged sixteen and seventeen years old, were walking along GA 158, when they were struck by a car being driven by forty-eight-year-old Priscilla Diane Johnson.The impact left the boys with serious injuries.One of them died at the scene of the accident, while the other was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, and succumbed to his injuries there.The third victim died on Saturday morning.

According to police, Johnson had been talking on a cell phone at the time of the accident.She had also taken antidepressant medications just before the accident.She now faces a number of charges, including vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, and hit and run.Police also believe that she was driving under a suspended license.Additionally, she faces charges of reckless driving as well charges related to cell phone use while driving and lack of insurance. Personal injury attorneys have repeatedly warned about the dangers of distracted driving as well as driving under the influence of medications. Unfortunately, these tragedies will continue to occur until we toughen our laws in these areas.

According to one of her friends, at the time of the accident, she was on the cell phone having a quarrel with her husband.The friend has confirmed that she had taken antidepressants before she started driving, and had been impaired at the time of the accident.

Published on: September 23, 2011

Atlanta’s Pedestrian Accident Issues Spotlighted Again by Baby Stroller Death

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The metro Atlanta area is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous places for pedestrians. However, other, more sprawling parts of the state are just as susceptible. Police report that a driver was backing a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica through the parking lot at Lenora Park on Lenora Church Road when her vehicle suddenly struck a stroller being pushed by a pedestrian. The infant in the stroller died of her injuries at Children’s Healthcare at Egleston in Atlanta and the police are left with analyzing how this pedestrian accident occurred. As police attempt to determine the answer, they are on the search for witnesses who may be able to confirm that the mother was crossing in a crosswalk when the car accident occurred near Snellville, Georgia.

For personal injury attorneys in Atlanta, Georgia, this incident is eerily similar to another high-profile jaywalking case that garnered national media attention this summer. Raquel Nelson is an Atlanta mother who was charged and convicted with vehicular homicide when her son was killed while crossing a street with her – out of the crosswalk. The case galvanized the country, and finally resulted in Nelson being awarded the option for a new trial. The trial is slated to begin October 25, 2011.

In Nelson’s case, the driver had a previous record, was blind in one eye and had questionable blood alcohol content. In this most recent incident, the incident report indicates that while the driver’s vehicle held six occupants, alcohol was not a contributing factor. The website for WBS radio indicates that one witness told authorities the mother pushed the stroller from between two legally parked vehicles and into the path of the SUV. The story of other witnesses may differ.