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Unprotected, unaware—and unable to run.

Let's imagine you're in a Dallas car accident on a city street, and the car that hit you was traveling 10 miles per hour. How would you feel?

Some people in this situation are jarred by the impact, but are unharmed. They may be angry at the inconvenience and irritated at the cost of minor repairs, but on the whole, they feel lucky. After all, it could have been so much worse.

When you're hit outside of your car, it's a very different story. The steel and seatbelts that would have prevented serious injuries offer no protection for someone on foot. Without anything to protect their bodies, pedestrians hit by a car could suffer head injuries or broken bones from hitting the pavement, or fatal internal injuries from the force of the crash.

Here are a few facts about Texas pedestrian accidents:

• In many cases, the driver is breaking the law even before the pedestrian is struck-either by speeding, running a red light, failing to signal or illegally changing lanes.

• Two-thirds of pedestrian fatalities occur in urban areas.

• Victims over 65 are most likely to die as a result of injuries.

• Roughly 13 pedestrians are killed by vehicles every day, and three of these are hit-and-run accidents.

• The majority of pedestrian victims in Texas are male. The drivers who strike pedestrians are usually also male.

• Most pedestrian hit-and-run accidents occur on the weekends, usually after nightfall.

• More pedestrian fatalities occur on January 1 and October 31 than any other days of the year.

• Nearly half of all pedestrian fatalities involve alcohol consumption.

It may seem that pedestrians who are hit by cars may be somehow at fault-after all, they must have been in the road to be hit by a car, right?

Not necessarily. Those walking on sidewalks or along paved paths may think they are perfectly safe, but in reality, many people are struck by cars while walking on pedestrian paths. Since they don't believe they are at risk, they are less likely to be aware of any oncoming danger. When an accident does occur, the pedestrian has little chance of avoiding it, since the approaching vehicle is much larger and traveling at a much higher speed. Unfortunately, due to the impact of a heavy vehicle and the vulnerability of the victim's exposed body, there's even less chance of the pedestrian's survival.

Regardless of where your pedestrian accident took place-at a crosswalk, in your neighbor's driveway, in a parking lot or at a tailgate party-David Hart is the board-certified personal injury attorney who can help get you compensated for your loss. The injuries when a car strikes an unprotected person are often severe-and we think the consequences should be, too. Call The Hart Law Firm today for more information on your Fort Worth pedestrian hit-and-run case.

* Statistics taken from The National Pedestrian Crash Report (June 2008).


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