Articles Posted in Auto Accidents

A recent study done by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety indicates that the rise of pedestrian deaths in recent years could be attributable to the rise in popularity of larger vehicles.  The authors of the study conjecture that poor visibility  and blind spots that these vehicles have could be a major factor in their findings.  The Chicago personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer  have noticed that many of their pedestrian injury cases did in fact involve SUV’s and pick-up trucks.

The statistics are striking. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, 6,519 pedestrians were killed in the United States in 2020.  That represents an astounding 59% increase since 2009.  Over the same period of time the sales of SUV’s and pickup trucks rose dramatically, now accounting for almost 50% of all new vehicles sold.

A North Carolina study was done from 2010 and 2018 that demonstrated the impact of SUV’s and pickup trucks on pedestrian injuries.  This study found that  pickup trucks were 42% more likely to hit pedestrians when making a left turn and  SUV’s were 23% more likely to hit a pedestrian.  Experts conjecture that this disparity is that the larger vehicles have poorer viability.    SUV’s and pickup trucks have A-Pillars which can block viability.  Additionally, Consumer Reports found that truck hoods have risen 15% since 2000.  The magazine also found that the Ford F-250 was a staggering 55 inches off the ground which is as tall as the roofs of many cars.  The high hoods obstruct the view of people walking in front of the truck, especially if the pedestrians and are short  or are children.

Chicago personal injury lawyer, Peter Zneimer of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. notes that one of the most common causes of pedestrian injury cases is when a driver makes a right turn on red and strikes a pedestrian or pedestrians who are walking in the crosswalk to the right of the driver. The problem is that when drivers make a right turn on red, their attention is focused to the left to watch for approaching cars.  When a driver sees that there are no approaching cars or that an approaching car is far enough back to make the right hand turn, his focus is still to the left to make sure that it is safe.  Then the driver is supposed to look to see if there are pedestrians in the crosswalk to the left. A recent study published in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspective in May of 2023,  illustrated why right turns on red are so problematic.  The study concluded that “at red-light turns, driver attention was heavily skewed toward the leftward traffic.”  Additionally, the pedestrians may feel a false sense of safety and may not be looking out for cars since they have the walk signal.

Studies that looked into the effects of right on red on pedestrian safety  bear out the dangers of allowing right on red.  A study conducted by the Journal of Safety in 1982 after right on red was implemented in many states found that; accidents rose 40% for pedestrians and 82% for bikes in New York State. Likewise in Wisconsin, the figures were 107% for pedestrians and 72% bicyclists.  And finally,  Ohio saw an increase of accidents of 57% for pedestrians and 80% for bicyclists.  The statistics show that there were dramatic increases of pedestrian accidents after the implementation of right on red.

The city of New York has already banned the practice of right on red and San Francisco and Los Angles are considering a ban.  The personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. suggest that Chicago put pedestrian safety first and seriously consider of taking the lead and ban right on red in the city of Chicago.