In our previous blog on this issue, you learned that the number of people being hit and killed by vehicles while walking has been shooting up over the past eight years. The odds are getting higher for you being a road casualty. In the next 24 hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 430 people on average will be in the emergency room for traffic-related injuries.
How to Avoid These Accidents
The ABCs of survival. What was one of the first things you learned in kindergarten? Look both ways when crossing the street. True then. Truer now.
Be Alert. Those tunes on your earbuds might have you in the groove or you may be deep in conversation with your friend on the phone. But when you set out into the street all your focus better be on the traffic.
If you are too drunk to drive, you are too drunk to walk. Don’t stagger along that mile home as it may be your last. You have a lot of options including a friend, calling a cab or pulling up the Lyft or Uber apps.
Make yourself visible. At night, wear bright colors and carry a flashlight.
Don’t be unexpected. Jaywalking and popping out between cars onto the street means risking that oncoming drivers will see you.
Deadly assumption. Never think that a driver will give you the right of way.
What To Do If You Are Hit By a Car?
It’s scary and unimaginable, but here’s how to react when it happens to you.
Be identified. Many times the victim is unconscious. Whenever you hit the streets, carry some kind of ID with an emergency contact and, if you can, your insurance card. You should do this even when you go out for a jog, as those pedestrians who like to travel light are the most difficult to identify.
Stay calm and if you can, move out of the street. Even though you may be shocked, hurt and angry, this is no time to lose it. You’ll need to be able to communicate with the driver and the police. If it is a hit and run situation, you’ll want to make mental note of the car and if possible, the driver.
Make sure the driver doesn’t leave. It is not uncommon for the hit pedestrian to feel fine and find out later there are broken bones or injured internal organs. Calmly ask the drive to please stay and ask any witnesses to remain on the scene.
Call the police. A police report is your best means of dealing with the insurance company.
Collect the driver’s information and take photos. You can tap down into your phone the driver’s license, insurance information and license plate number. Use your phone camera to record everything about the scene, and do not come back later to do it because the physical environment is always changing.
While we are on the phone, do not go on social media to talk about it. In a lawsuit, checking your phone when you got hit could look negligent.
In addition
- Seek medical attention ASAP
- Start an insurance claim
- Call a lawyer