Are you fond of walking down the road or jogging by
the roadside? Do you enjoy long walks around the neighborhood? Well, you could.
But in the state of California, you just might have to be a little more
cautious. It’s quite dangerous to be a pedestrian in California, according to
recent studies by the Transportation for America Coalition.
If you don’t take extra precautions while walking
the street, you might end up needing a Los
Angeles injury attorney to represent you in case you get injured.
That is because you will most likely end up figuring in an accident.
Basically, California is the 16th most
dangerous state for pedestrians and 3rd in fatalities for
pedestrians 65 and older in the report’s Pedestrian Danger Index. The report
also made mention that non-whites and those over 65 years of age are the people
most likely to fall victims in pedestrian accidents.
Additionally, that the report also revealed that
Hispanics have a 97-percent higher chance of being run over by cars than
non-Hispanic whites. In the same page, African-Americans have an 83-percent
higher death rate than non-Hispanic whites in California.
Moreover, older pedestrians are twice as likely to
be killed walking nationally. However, in California, the risk with the elderly
is triple the national average.
Reasons for pedestrian accidents
There are many reasons that can contribute to this
situation. Poor infrastructure is common in poorer ethnic neighborhoods. Nearly
40 percent of the fatalities happen in places where there are no crosswalks
available for pedestrians to use. Also, older people are more prone to
accidents as they have troubles crossing the roads in time for the light.
Between 2000 and 2009, 6,960 pedestrians have lost
their lives after the accidents that are happening in the area. This by far is
the largest share occurring in the Los Angeles County where 2,079 pedestrians
died.
