Distracted Driving and Pedestrian Accidents

Drivers distracted while behind the wheel often instigate an accident with other passenger drivers and pedestrians that could lead to severe injuries and even death. It is important to know what distractions cause the person behind the wheel to take his or her attention away from the road and how to avoid these issues.

Distractions in the vehicle on around the car increase the possibility of striking a pedestrian. The number of incidents involving a person walking, running or engaging in an activity on the sidewalk or outside generally increase through the years with the advancement in technology and additional distractions that drivers may face. While many of these incidents are the fault of the driver, some pedestrians are the reason the accident occurs. It is important to ensure that distractions are minimal when the person could inflict injury on another that does not have the protections that the inside of a vehicle may provide such as airbags and the surfaces the person has to bounce off of in the cab.

Pedestrian Injuries

When a person is jogging, walking, running or engaging in an activity outside, he or she may not know that a vehicle could hit him or her. He or she may not take any precautions to prevent the possible injuries that could happen. Death and grievous bodily harm are possible when the pedestrian is struck by a vehicle. The wounds on the back, neck and head could all paralyze the person. Similarly, soft tissue damage could lead to serious problems that a doctor may not discover immediately. Brain injuries could affect the victim in numerous ways to include amnesia and motor skill deficiencies.

The Distractions Explained

When a driver runs over or into a pedestrian, he or she may have several distractions that help to cause the incident. Some of these are inside the car such as the radio blasting, the heater or cooler causing a physiological reaction or other items that cause the awareness of the driver to leave the road. These are more so in the age of computers and electronics a phone, handheld device or a computer of some sort. While papers falling may distract the individual for a few seconds, the cell phone or handheld could remove his or her eyes from the road for long enough that he or she causes an incident.

Many distractions exist outside the vehicle. These occur through the sights, lights and even music. Some may find smokers distracting while others remove awareness to watch people. Some find the body of a jogger attractive. Others become distracted by emergency vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. No matter what the distraction is, when the driver runs into a pedestrian, he or she may not react appropriately. He or she may drive away or not even think of contacting an ambulance. Some behind the wheel will go into shock and not react at all. In the vital seconds between the distraction and the incident, the driver may make any number of mistakes.