NHTSA: Pedestrian Deaths on the Rise
4 percent more fatalities reported in 2010 than in 2009, according to data from each state.
OK, well, maybe nothing that dramatic, but NHTSA does note that pedestrian fatalities rose by 4 percent, to 4,280 from 4,109, between 2009 and 2010. Data for 2011 -- which, as in previous years, is reported by individual states -- are expected later this year.
NHTSA did not speculate as to what could be behind the spike in deaths. Wheels, however, breaks down the current data thusly:
"In 2010, a majority of deaths, 73 percent, occurred in urban areas. Nearly 80 percent took place away from intersections, 68 percent occurred at night and 47 percent were linked to alcohol consumption."
The good news, though, is that pedestrian deaths are still down sharply -- about 13 percent -- from 2001, which saw 4,901 fatalities due to motor-vehicle involvement.You can read the full report from NHTSA here.
[Source: NHTSA via Wheels.]
Phone Freaks,
Texting etc while driving is a major problem in and of itself. Personally, it seems rather apparent that anyone with a damn iPhone or cell phone in their hand seems to think that they are somehow invincible. In the past month or so I have had three people, (one adult and two teenagers), literally step off the curb at an intersection without so much as raising their head to look around before doing so. I came very close to running one of the kids over, and he was crossing without benefit of the 'pedestrian' signal to do so. I rolled the window down and said nicely that if he wanted a long life he should refrain from texting while crossing the street. He looked at me like I was from Mars and just kept on playing with his phone and continued walking. A 3,000 pound car can not stop on a dime. Frankly I'm amazed that five thousand people a day aren't run over in this country because they can't take ten seconds away from their precious phones to look where they're going. The entire cell phone thing has gotten way out of hand.
Peace to all
What I hate is the jerks in cars behind me who honk at me for stopping for a pedestrian -- jay-walking or not! It is illegal to move a vehicle through a crosswalk when a pedestrian is in it -- regardless of how far away he is. It's not worth the ticket to me and it's certainly not worth the pedestrian's life, so I'll hold up traffic and do the right thing every time.
Remember the lady in Georgia who's child was struck and killed when she was jay-walking across a busy road with her four children? She was too lazy to walk to a cross walk. Bet she wishes she wasn't lazy now.
Get rid of spam. Report it!
But the good thing about this data is that we all know it has nothing to do with the drivers, it has everything to do with the pedestrians. We've all seen the video clips of people walking and texting and falling directly into water fountains in parks and malls and silly stuff like that.
Pull your head out of your iphone and pay attention, people! Unless you're getting run over on the sidewalk, it's probably your fault!
I don’t know about everyone else but I’ve had dozens of people step off the crib in front of me and don’t look, I guess thinking that I’ll see them and stop. Luckily for them and me I have seen them but apparently there are lots who don’t. People need to start looking both ways and maybe there would be less pedestrian accidents.
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