You may have heard about how important it is to avoid distracted driving, but have you heard the same about walking?
People don’t realize it, but pedestrians are involved in hundreds of injuries and even fatalities every year. While it may seem more important to avoid looking at your phone while driving (and it is), it’s pretty important to maintain a sense of awareness while you’re walking too.
Just as when you are driving, it’s important to pay attention to your surroundings while walking, biking, rollerblading, or doing any other type of activity on foot and not in a vehicle. When you’re on the sidewalk or crossing the road, you can’t assume that a vehicle is going to see you or remain in control because it simply may not be the case.
Even if you are paying attention to what’s going on around you, are others? They may be drivers or bikers or motorcyclists or even someone walking their dog. If your focus is wrapped up in your thoughts or looking at your phone, then you don’t have your full attention on your surroundings. If this sounds like you, be aware that the consequences for doing this could be deadly or at the very least change your life forever.
While you may feel that it’s not that big of a deal and you don’t really need to focus while walking, the mentality that ‘nothing bad is going to happen’ has resulted in more than one person consulting a pedestrian accident lawyer for advice.
If you’re distracted while walking, your focus is elsewhere. You may not see people that are right in front of you. Whether it’s someone pushing a stroller or walking a dog, if you’re buried in your phone, you’re not going to see them and might stumble right into their way.
When crossing the street, you have to be vigilant for vehicles that could strike you. Look both ways before crossing and make sure vehicles have come to a stop. Take out headphones or turn music down and make sure that you have use of your eyes and ears to determine any possible threats. Walking while distracted could mean that you are vulnerable to injury from vehicles that don’t see you.
Always cross within designated pedestrian walkways to avoid causing any accidents as well. Jaywalking is illegal and you could get a ticket in addition to causing a traffic accident that hurts you or other innocent people.
How often do these types of accidents happen? In 2011, over 4,000 people in America were killed due to pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic. That’s well over two people a day. It may sound like something that happens rarely, but the numbers beg to differ.
The bottom line is that you should always pay attention to your surroundings. Walking distracted can cause you to twist an ankle by stepping on the curb or fail to see traffic. Paying attention to safety is key to actually being safe. When all else fails, contact The Law Offices of Payas, Payas, and Payas to see what advice they can give you on a recent injury, death, or pedestrian accident case.
Recent Comments