Pedestrian accidents can be extremely costly for victims and their families. Victims can suffer serious, life-long and even fatal injuries in a pedestrian accident. For that reason, victims of pedestrian accidents should be familiar with the legal protections available to them when they have been struck by a negligent driver.
Pedestrian accidents in California by the numbers
During 2018, 893 pedestrians were killed on the roadways in California. That was an increase of 26% in the number of fatal pedestrian victims from 2014. In addition, greater than 14,000 pedestrian accident victims were injured in 2018 on California roadways. In addition, almost 7,500 pedestrians have died on California roadways from 2009 to 2018. It is important to note that California’s pedestrian fatality rate is almost 25% greater than the national average. No state has more pedestrian fatalities on its roadways than California.
Help for victims of pedestrian accidents
Both personal injury and wrongful death legal protections can potentially provide help to pedestrian accident victims and surviving family members of fatal pedestrian accidents. When a pedestrian accident has claimed the life of the victim, a wrongful death claim may help them seek damages for their loss. Damages can include the loss of support and services and funeral and medical expenses, among others. Pedestrian accidents can take a lot away from surviving family members and pedestrian accident victims. Victims can suffer physical, financial and emotional damages. Because of this, valuable legal protections are available to help those harmed seek and recover compensation from negligent drivers responsible for their suffering, losses and the damages they have endured.