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Smartphones May Be To Blame For Unprecedented Spike In Pedestrian Deaths, Says Report (cnn.com)
According to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association, the United States saw its largest annual increase in pedestrian fatalities since such record keeping began 40 years ago. "The [association] estimated there were 6,000 pedestrian deaths in 2016, the highest number in more than 20 years," reports CNN. "Since 2010, pedestrian fatalities have grown at four times the rate of overall traffic deaths." From the report: The thing that has changed dramatically in recent years is smartphone use. The volume of wireless data used from 2014 to 2015 more than doubled, according to the Wireless Association. Drivers and pedestrians who are distracted by their smartphones are less likely to be aware of their surroundings, creating the potential for danger. The Governors Highway Safety Association looked at data from the first six months of 2016 that came from 50 state highway safety offices and the District of Columbia. The complete data will be available later this year. The findings come as traffic safety experts have called for totally eliminating deaths on roadways. Near-term solutions include designing roads and vehicles to be safer. Cutting down on speeding and drunk driving are obvious targets.
It's not on the driver when a witless fuckstick walks out into traffic when they wouldn't have right of way.
In many countries it is. Coincidentally those countries are also the ones with the lowest death rate for pedestrians and cyclists.
Actually, the ruling is if there is a pedestrian or cyclist (or any legal user of the highway, so moped, ridden horse etc are included) *already* on the road, then they have right of way.
Those not on the road *do not* have right of way over those who are. You can't just walk out into traffic.
However, if a pedestrian is at a designated crossing point such as a zebra crossing those on the road are to stop *if safe to do so*. That still doesn't mean a pedestrian can blithely cross without first looking at that point, though many do.
Initially, the driver will be considered at fault in law if they run someone over but that is not absolute and binding. For instance, if their view of the oblivious pedestrian was obscured by a parked vehicle or they simply couldn't stop in time whilst otherwise driving safely, they are not at fault, though they will still be blamed.
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
However, if a pedestrian is at a designated crossing point such as a zebra crossing those on the road are to stop *if safe to do so*. That still doesn't mean a pedestrian can blithely cross without first looking at that point, though many do.
It really depends on where you are. In the city of Santa Cruz, the driver is pretty much always at fault unless you have dashcam footage that proves that they were trying to commit suicide under your car.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
For example in the UK when turning into a side road you must give way to all existing road users, and this includes pedestrians crossing the road. Unfortunately a lot of drivers don't understand this, much in the same way as they think putting their indicator on generates a right to pull out etc. rather than simply being a notification to other road users of your intentions, and nobody is actually required to give way to you whatsoever.
I second that.
Just yesterday I nearly got run over on my bike by some SUV driver who was texting/dialing while driving.
Smartphones and texting while driving kill people. The problem is so obvious, that carriers had renowned filmmaker Werner Herzog do a freely available documentary on the problem a few years back to keep people from doing this ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Watch it and tell your friends to do that too. It's a must.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Hrm. Did I miss the part where you looked both ways before crossing the street? A walk light is not enough. You need to be aware of your surroundings. Briefly looking up from your phone doesn't count. YOU could have avoided the accident had you looked to see a car about to run a light and plow into you. So really you do share fault in this accident.
People - put your darn phones away when you're in motion. That includes both walking and driving.