A vehicle struck a pedestrian in downtown Raleigh, sending the victim to the hospital with injuries. On November 4, 2014, a pedestrian was crossing from Person Street to Edenton Street when a vehicle, driving west on Edenton, made a right-hand turn and struck the pedestrian. The victim was transported to WakeMed with non-life threatening injures and police are investigating the accident.
Every year, nearly 4,400 pedestrians are killed by motor vehicles on U.S. highways and roads. In 2008 alone, nearly 69,000 pedestrians sustained injures after being struck by vehicles. For perspective, this amounts to approximately one pedestrian death every two hours and one injury every eight minutes.
One of the main reasons why pedestrians are at such risk is because many motorists fail to pay proper notice to the presence of people on foot. While these drivers generally are on the lookout for other cars, due to the smaller size of pedestrians, motorists often do not see them until it is too late. Even when a collision is relatively minor, pedestrians are at high risk of serious injury or death as a result of these crashes.
One of the most common types of car-pedestrian collisions involves a scenario exactly like the one in North Carolina. In these cases, a pedestrian will be crossing a street, often at a crosswalk, and a driver will fail to take note of his or her presence, make a turn and strike the person. In many cases, the pedestrian is not nearly as lucky as the one in Raleigh who was not seriously injured in the accident.
If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident in North Carolina, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Lanier Law Group, P.A. today.