Pedestrians have always had more to lose in a crash than those in a vehicle who have the protection of safety restraints and vehicle systems designed to minimize their injuries. Pedestrians have nothing to protect them from the force of a collision, so they have always been at risk of more severe injuries than those in the vehicles involved in crashes.
Still, in some ways, the overall risk that pedestrians have is somewhat more serious now than it was a few years prior. What factors have made the possibility of a pedestrian collision more of a serious safety concern for people traveling on foot in California in recent years?
The overall increase in pedestrian crashes
One of the most concerning issues for modern pedestrians is how the rate of deadly pedestrian wrecks has increased in recent years. In fact, saw a record-breaking 7,500 pedestrian deaths, and that figure does not include traffic collision data from Oklahoma. Pedestrians are at greater risk of a crash occurring now than they were just a few years ago.
Great greater injury risk due to design trends
Both the likelihood of a pedestrian crash and the severity of a crash could be worse now than in years prior because of changes in vehicle design and what vehicles people drive. SUVs and trucks deliver more force to a pedestrian than a smaller, lighter vehicle might when traveling at the same speed. Additionally, those larger vehicles are often taller, which may increase the likelihood of a deadly collision. Bigger vehicles may make pedestrian crashes more likely because their drivers could more easily overlook the presence of an individual in traffic.
Increasing injury expenses
Inflation has affected every area of the economy in recent years, including the cost of medical care. Unfortunately, insurance requirements have not shifted to follow increasing care costs. People in California only need to have $15,000 in bodily injury liability coverage, although some drivers carry more insurance than that. Pedestrians injured by vehicles may find that the insurance coverage available is inadequate given their losses.
Understanding why pedestrian crashes are more of an issue now than they were just a few years ago could help people prioritize their safety in traffic. Pedestrians have many reasons to be safety conscious when walking or jogging near motor vehicles.