Pedestrian Accidents

Published on: September 22, 2015

Los Angeles Pedestrian Awarded $3 Million

In the Los Angeles case of Joesph Butenhoff v. Rae Anne Bautista, the jury demonstrated how just because a police report states that one party is at fault doesn’t mean that the other party won’t still have to pay repercussions for their actions in court. In this particular case the plaintiff was a pedestrian, and the defendant was the operator of a mobile vehicle. The plaintiff was reportedly in the street after dark helping a dog owner and his injured dog when the defendant struck him with her vehicle. The pedestrian suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident.

He Said

According to the plaintiff, the defendant failed to watch the road, and she had been present in the lane with the injured dog and his owner while other vehicles were passing slowly by the scene in the adjacent lane. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant kept driving in the lane that contained himself, the injured dog and the dog’s owner to pass the other vehicles in the slower moving lane and then struck him when she swerved to avoid hitting the dog.

Published on: March 25, 2015

Los Angeles Pedestrian Accidents on the Rise

by Steven M. Sweat

Many pedestrian accidents occur every year in Los Angeles, and their numbers are increasing. The organization “Los Angeles Walks” studied this issue carefully and developed a map that lists the busiest intersections where many of the collisions between pedestrians and motor vehicles occur. Their purpose is to make walking in this city safer for everyone.

According to the organization, 49 pedestrians were hit and killed by motor vehicles in the popular Hollywood and Highland intersection. However, this was not the worst. A total of 51 such collisions occurred at 7th Street and Spring Street in downtown LA. This means that there were exactly 100 pedestrian deaths in just these two intersections, and Jessica Meaney of the organization mentioned above thinks that this “not acceptable.” She hopes that the city’s leaders will take the map to heart and do something to reduce the number of pedestrian injuries and deaths. This expectation is a tall order because 19,000 pedestrians were hit by motor vehicles between 2003 and 2009, and many of these people lost their lives.

Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue is another example of a dangerous intersection where an average 40 pedestrians are hit by motor vehicles each year. Local resident Kelly Smith is well aware of the danger because she spends a lot of her time walking and jogging in the area. She complained that cars come very close to hitting her on a regular basis because motorists often drive carelessly and are not paying as much attention as they could to what is going on around them.

Published on: October 30, 2014

Halloween Child Pedestrian Accidents in California

by Steven M. Sweat

Halloween child pedestrian accidents in California are still a major problem, as they are across the United States. We all love to see our kids dress up in costumes and be able to go from door to door trick or treating but, according the “Safe Kids USA” and the Centers for Disease Control, children are more than twice as likely to be struck by a car on Halloween than any other day of the year ! This is even more true in densely populated urban, residential neighborhoods like we have in Los Angeles, Orange County and other parts of Southern California.

What are the most common scenarios for minors being struck by cars on Halloween:

Most fatal child pedestrian accidents occur between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on October 31st with 6-7 p.m. being the peak hour for such incidents

Published on: April 28, 2014

Epidemic of Hit and Run Accidents in Los Angeles and How to Protect Yourself

by Steven M. Sweat

hit and run, accidents, los angeles, Los Angeles personal injury attorney

Hit and Run Accidents in Los Angeles

The level of hit and run accidents in Los Angeles has now reached epidemic proportions according to various reports.( http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/10/hit-and-run-crashes-los-angeles/3452699/ ).

The statistics are frightening:

Published on: August 28, 2013

“Look Both Ways Before You Cross the Street and …. STOP TEXTING!”

by Steven M. Sweat

We’ve all heard the adage “look both ways before you cross the street” from the time we were children. We heard it from our parents and teachers and it used to be that was enough but, recent studies are showing more teenagers and young adults being distracted by electronic devices in and around areas of high pedestrian traffic including crosswalks throughout the United States. In fact, according to a recent story by CBS News based upon National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the incidents of children, middle schoolers and high school students being distracted by headphones, smartphones, and the like is at an alarming rate. (See story here).

The statistics cited in this article are alarming:

According to 2011 statistics, there were approximately 69,000 pedestrian incidents involving injury in the U.S. last year 4,400 of these pedestrian mishaps resulted in a death and 11,000 of these persons injured or killed were under the age of 14.