Naturally, pedestrian accidents in Ontario can happen to anyone, but looking at the trends and the statistics can still give you a good idea of which groups of people have the highest level of risk. Fortunately, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have tracked this data in their country and offer some interesting insights that should be enlightening to those of us here in Canada.
First of all, the elderly and senior citizens have a significant amount of risk. They were reportedly involved in roughly nine percent of all of the pedestrian accidents studied in 2012. Furthermore, when looking at fatal accidents, this age group was in a full 20 percent of the incidents.
Children are also at a high level of risk. While many children passed away in car accidents in 2012, about 20 percent of those deaths — one child out of every five — happened when the child was a pedestrian.
Finally, alcohol was said to have a huge impact on these numbers. In an incredible 48 percent of deadly pedestrian accidents, alcohol was being used by one party or the other. When looking just at these deadly accidents, it was found that 34 percent of the pedestrians who passed away had at least 0.8 grams per deciliter for their blood alcohol concentration, or BAC. The same was true for 14 percent of the people driving the vehicles.
Knowing the statistics may not be able to prevent accidents, but it certainly can shed light on the trends and help people know what to watch out for. If you’ve been hurt or lost a loved one in a pedestrian accident, be sure to look into your legal rights.
Source: CDC, "Pedestrian Safety," accessed May. 08, 2015