The personal injury lawyers at the Law Offices of Daniel Vega are deeply invested in helping to reduce the pedestrian accident rate here in the Bay Area. Whether you recently got injured in a crash at an intersection – due to driver error, jaywalking, or an unusual combination of factors – or you’re just looking to improve your safe walking IQ, here are 3 tips to memorize.
Image via Flickr
1. Increase your visibility.
As a pedestrian, you’re basically invisible to cars. Your challenge is to reduce that invisibility – to be seen as much as possible. Many tactics can work: wear brighter colors; for instance.
Take extra care during low light conditions, like dusk and dawn. Believe it or not, low light conditions may actually be more dangerous than no-light-at-all conditions, because both drivers and pedestrians overestimate their visibility.
2. Reduce your risk factors as a pedestrian.
These might include:
- Walking illegally (e.g. jaywalking);
- Straying from footpaths and sidewalks;
- Walking while under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or prescription medications.
These factors can all slightly increase your risk of getting hurt. On any one trip, your likelihood of getting hurt is very, very low. But when you aggregate the risky behavior over a lifetime of walking it can add up to be significant.
3. Be mindful when you walk.
Everyone knows that you’re not supposed to text on your phone or blast music on level 11 when you drive. But many pedestrians think nothing of obliviously texting and of pumping loud music through their iPods. Especially when you walk along a busy street or cross a crowded intersection, pay full attention to the process. Do not zone out when you cross the street or interact in any significant way with vehicular traffic. That extra mindfulness could be crucial — it could be the difference between a fatal accident and a scary, heart-pounding near-miss.
Whether a car whacked you in a parking lot and broke your hip; or a pickup crossed into an intersection and knocked you to the curb, contact the team here at the Law Offices of Daniel Vega. Get in touch with us for a free San Francisco pedestrian accident consultation today: 877-471-6847.