Pedestrian Accidents

Published on: July 30, 2018

Unlicensed Driver’s Purchase of Vehicle Leads to $5.5M Crash Settlement

A car dealership has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit for $5.5 million – while still denying liability – after it reportedly sold a vehicle to an unlicensed driver who was later behind the wheel in a hit-and-run crash that resulted in catastrophic brain injuries for the pedestrian he struck.

Technically, car dealerships can sell a vehicle to an unlicensed driver, but it’s a rare scenario. It’s not one that is likely to happen unless the individual:

Is paying cash for the vehicle in question (most banks offering a vehicle loan will require the vehicle be registered, which typically requires a valid license).
Does not drive the vehicle off the lot – either for a test drive or after purchase.

In the recent settlement, the Washington car dealership (part of a national chain) insisted it had done nothing wrong, as kit did not hand the unlicensed buyer the keys and it was his mother her drive the vehicle off the lot. It was the expectation or assumption of the dealership, according to The News Tribune, that the buyer would obtain a license if he was going to drive the vehicle. However, he reportedly did not do that. This hit-and-run pedestrian accident occurred approximately one year after the vehicle was purchased in June 2015. Continue reading →

Published on: May 9, 2017

GHSA: U.S. Pedestrian Accident Deaths Up 25 Percent

By Dean Freeman

A 15-year-old Timber Creek High School student was killed in a hit-and-run pedestrian accident after he was struck by a motorcyclist who fled the scene near Avalon Park Boulevard and Pellicer Drive in east Orange County. The teen was reportedly skateboarding in the street with friends when the motorcyclist, later identified as a 35-year-old man who was allegedly drunk at the time of the crash and fled on foot. The Orlando Sentinel reports police found him hiding in a nearby backyard and arrested him.

Pedestrian accidents are an all-too-common problem in Orlando and throughout Florida, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious injuries every year. According to a new analysis from the Governors Highway Safety Association, it’s getting worse – both in the Sunshine State and across the nation.

The GHSA’s Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State, using 2016 preliminary data, reveals a 25 percent increase in pedestrian accident fatalities in the U.S. between 2010 and 2015. Early figures from 2016 show the number of pedestrians killed in 2016 increased by 11 percent, as compared with those who died in 2015 crashes. That is the largest yearly increase in both the number and percentage of pedestrian accident deaths in four decades – since national records have been kept. Continue reading →

Published on: April 5, 2017

Report: Central Florida Pedestrian Accident Deaths Rise

By Dean Freeman

Pedestrian deaths in Central Florida are rising at an alarming pace. The Orlando Sentinel recently reported there have been two dozen people killed in Orange, Osceola, Lake and Seminole counties just so far this year.

That’s six more than compared to this same time last year, when there were 18 – a 33 percent increase.

This is seemingly a troubling continuation of a trend reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), wherein the number of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes rose 9.5 percent from 2014 to 2015, reaching 5,376 that year. This figure, the most recent for national statistics, is the highest its been in two decades. Continue reading →

Published on: March 28, 2017

NHTSA: Hybrid Vehicles Must Make Noise So They Aren’t Deadly to Pedestrians

By Dean Freeman

Being a pedestrian in Florida is dangerous. The risk of being hit by a car while walking is increasing everywhere, but the Sunshine state has one of the highest rates of pedestrian injuries and fatalities in the country. This risk is exacerbated by the proliferation of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Although these cars are great for the environment, they are not so great for people on foot. The reason has to do with the fact that they are so quiet, they “sneak up” on pedestrians, who might otherwise hear the vehicle approach and take appropriate protective measures. The risk is especially out-sized for people who are blind, visually impaired or elderly.

Engine noise in these vehicles is next-to-nothing, usually limited to sounds generated by wind resistance or tire noises – and even that occurs only at moderate speeds. Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a new rule requiring that by September 2019, all newly-manufactured electric vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less make some audible noise when traveling either forward or in reverse at speeds of 19 mph or less. Continue reading →

Published on: January 27, 2017

Study: Florida Home to America’s Most Dangerous Roads

By Dean Freeman

The Sunshine State has a vast number of amazing qualities – but the safety of its roads apparently isn’t one of them.

The newest report from SmartGrowth Design, Dangerous by Design 2016, details Florida’s abysmal rates of pedestrian deaths, relative to the number of people who walk to work. This year, researchers combed through data of 104 cities across the countries. Eight of the nation’s top 10 most dangerous cities are in Florida, as is No. 11. While the national average rate is 52.4, the top metro area in Florida – the Cape Coral/ Fort Myers region – had a rate of 283.1. Orlando-Kissimmee-Standford metro region ranked at No. 3 with a rate of 235.2.

What that means is when it comes to pedestrian deaths in Orlando, our ranking is 350 percent higher than the country’s average. Continue reading →

Published on: September 11, 2016

NHTSA: Non-Traffic Crash Injuries and Fatalities a Serious Problem

By Dean Freeman

The term “non-traffic motor vehicle crashes” is one of those clunky ones mostly used by regulators and policy wonks, but it’s one that should capture everyone’s attention because it’s a serious and ongoing, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

If you’ve never heard the term, you’re not alone, though you’ve likely heard of the incidents to which it refers. Non-traffic motor vehicle crashes are a type of crash that occurs off a public traffic way. Those may include:

Single vehicle crashes on private roads
Two-vehicle crashes in parking lots or parking garages
Collisions with pedestrians or bicyclists in driveways

In addition to these, there are also “non-traffic incidents,” which might include things like a person falling underneath a vehicle or someone falling victim to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning. Continue reading →

Published on: June 18, 2016

NHTSA: Florida Pedestrian Accident Fatalities on the Rise

By Dean Freeman

Florida has a bad reputation when it comes to pedestrian accidents, and the latest report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) doesn’t offer any redemption.

The report reveals that not only did the national rate of fatal pedestrian accidents climb by 2 percent, from 4,779 to 4,884, the rate in Florida rose by an astonishing 17 percent, from 501 in 2013 to 588 in 2014.

What’s more, pedestrian accidents now comprise 23.6 percent of all traffic fatalities in Florida – nearly 1 in 4 – compared to 20.8 percent – or 1 in 5 – that were counted in 2013. Continue reading →

Published on: September 21, 2015

Orlando Pedestrian Accident Kills Grammy-Nominated Venezuelan DJ

By Dean Freeman

A beloved and talented musician from Venezuela was killed in an Orlando pedestrian accident recently while chaperoning a group of children on vacation.

Grammy-Nominated DJ Luis Borges was staying with a group of children whom he and other adults were chaperoning at a hotel near Lake Buena Vista. He and one of the chaperons decided to walk to a nearby grocery store to stock up on food. The two adults loaded up their carts at a local grocery store, pushed the carts back to the hotel, unloaded the food and then walked back to the store with the carts to return them.

Around 12:35 a.m., it was raining heavily and Borges was reportedly walking in the road. A 42-year-old man driving on Lake Street says he never saw the pedestrian before striking him. There were no street lights and Borges was not in a crosswalk. The driver did remain at the scene until troopers arrived. Neither alcohol impairment nor speeding is believed to have been an issue, and no criminal charges are expected. Continue reading →

Published on: September 16, 2015

Castro v. City of Thousand Oaks – Pedestrian Injury Lawsuit to Proceed

By Dean Freeman

Crosswalk signals are intended to make pedestrians safer when crossing the street, particularly at intersections. But they may not always achieve this goal.

A 2007 study by the AAA Foundation for traffic safety revealed traffic signals were problematic for pedestrians over age 65 because they changed too quickly, failing to allow them additional time to safely get across. There was also evidence that pedestrians don’t always understand the nuances of the traditional pedestrian signal countdown. That too affects their behavior and walking speed, which could in turn increase the risk of a crash.

In the recent case of Castro v. City of Thousand Oaks, the complaint involves an assertion the crosswalk signal was flawed, giving pedestrians the feeling they were safe when in fact they were not. The lawsuit was filed against the city for injuries. After a trial court granted summary judgment to the city, a California appellate court reversed, finding a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the intersection/crosswalk posed a substantial risk of injury to a pedestrian who is exercising due care. Continue reading →

Published on: May 10, 2015

UIM Policy for Pedestrians in Back-over Accident Offset by Driver’s Insurance

By Dean Freeman

A husband and wife out for a leisurely stroll in their neighborhood would never return home the same again. It was a summer day in Maryland in 2009. As they passed a residential driveway, a driver in his 20s backed out of the driveway without looking.

In so doing, the driver struck the couple. The wife screamed and, as she would later allege in her complaint, hit the vehicle with her hand to alert the driver and make it stop. She reportedly then made eye contact with the driver, who stopped momentarily and then nevertheless seeing what had happened, continued moving his car, backing over her husband in an attempt to flee the scene.

Both husband and wife sustained serious injuries, though the husband had the worst of it. His injuries included a traumatic brain injury and other severe head injuries, as well as injuries to his neck, body and limbs. He was transported to a local hospital and then, later to a rehabilitation center, where he died two years later.

Continue reading →