Macon Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Located just south of Atlanta, the beautiful city of Macon is Georgia’s fourth-largest city. Macon annually welcomes thousands of visitors. Many of these tourists, as well as permanent residents, travel around on foot, often taking their safety for granted.
The danger of being hit by a car is a very real one, especially in today’s society where distracted driving seems to be the norm.
With little to no protection, pedestrians are so exposed that an impact from even a slow-moving vehicle can easily cause serious injury or death.Serious Injuries – A Serious Problem
According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System Encyclopedia, 4,743 pedestrians were killed and another 76,000 were injured in motor vehicle accidents in 2012 (the most recent year for which data is available). On average, a pedestrian was killed in a traffic crash every 120 minutes and injured in a traffic crash every 7 minutes. Statistics show that the fatalities in 2012 reflected an increase of 6 percent from 2011 and were the most in the last 5 years. In 2012 alone, 167 pedestrians were killed in the state of Georgia. In fact, a report by the national organization Smart Growth America reveals that the most dangerous places to walk tend to be communities in the South. The report noted that many of these places grew in the postwar period through rapid spreading of low-density neighborhoods that relied on wider streets with high speeds to connect homes with schools and businesses.More than half of all pedestrian deaths in the last decade occurred on these arterial roads, which often do not have the sidewalks and street crossings that are essential to safe pedestrian travel.
Determining Fault in Georgia Pedestrian Accidents
The law expects that both drivers and pedestrians will follow the rules of the road and exercise reasonable care. In some states, pedestrians that are partly responsible for their injuries cannot collect any compensation because their negligence contributed to the accident. However, Georgia follows a modified comparative fault system. This means that pedestrians who are partly at fault for an accident can still recover damages, but their recovery will be reduced by their degree of fault. Additionally, they can collect only if they are less than 50 percent at fault. In many cases, pedestrians who use caution before entering a roadway have a great deal of control in avoiding a collision with a motor vehicle.Without exercising such caution, pedestrians can cause accidents by:
- Ignoring traffic signals while crossing the street
- Not using marked crosswalks
- Not crossing at a corner or intersection
- Carelessly walking, playing, or working on a roadway
- Walking into a roadway without looking for traffic (as in the case of a darting child or a parent following such a child)
- Being inattentive near a roadway (talking, texting, eating, drinking, etc.)
- Carelessly entering or leaving public transportation (bus, trolley, taxi, etc.).
Drivers Usually At Fault
Most pedestrian injuries and deaths are caused by careless or negligent motorists. Motorists can cause accidents by:- Speeding
- Distracted/reckless driving (especially texting)
- Ignoring traffic signs or signals
- Failing to stay in lane
- Disregarding weather or traffic conditions
- Failing to yield right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks
- Failing to use turn signals
- Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.