Pedestrian accidents are on the rise. In the past week there have been several pedestrian accidents in the news. Downtown Little Rock is one of many places in Little Rock that pedestrian accidents are becoming more of an issue than ever before. The downtown area is a very highly populated area during rush-hour traffic times, and with more people on foot as they walk to their cars a after a busy workday, coupled with the pedestrian traffic of tourists visiting our beautiful city, it is more important than ever to slow down, put our cell phones down as we drive, and pay attention to the traffic lights and crosswalks. Pedestrians should feel safe when they enter a crosswalk. Taking our eyes off the road for mere seconds could have devastating results. As we all know, there are many times when pedestrians cross the street in areas where there are no crosswalks, so we can’t assume that just because there aren’t crosswalks in our path of travel that there will be no pedestrians stepping in front of us.
It is known that most injuries from pedestrian accidents usually occur in cities. However, fatality pedestrian accidents are distributed evenly between cities and rural areas. Most fatalities involve males above the age of 25, and the majority of injuries involves males ranging in age of 5 to 14 years. Most pedestrian accidents happen during daylight hours.
It is important that we are aware that pedestrian accidents are becoming more frequent. When you are behind the wheel, please be aware at all times of your surroundings. Your attentiveness just might save a life.