Colorado Springs is mourning the sixth victim of an auto-pedestrian accident this year. Police are urging both distracted drivers and distracted walkers to pay more attention to their surroundings.
The most recent fatality involved a 17-year-old high school student who was walking her dog near the road in the evening. There have been no charges in the case, but an investigation continues.
Police say that there are numerous other auto-pedestrian accidents that don’t end in fatalities. However, pedestrians are left with catastrophic injuries and lives that are drastically altered from what they knew before the accident happened. There were two more accidents involving pedestrians in the short time since the latest death.
Police fear that there will be even more in the future if pedestrians and drivers don’t change their behavior. They urge drivers to put down their cellphones and pay attention to the road and remind pedestrians to use crosswalks. At night, pedestrians should stick to areas that have plenty of illumination. Police believe that most of the accidents could be avoided if it weren’t for distractions.
Distracted driving and distracted walking are a serious problem in most American cities. A lot of people are convinced that they are able to multitask well enough to avoid danger when using their cellphones. The reality is that drivers on their cells are forced to split their attention between tasks, which means that they aren’t entirely focused on the road ahead.
Pedestrians are particularly vulnerable to accidents in these situations because drivers may not be looking for them the way that they’re watching for other vehicles. In addition, blind turns, hills, missing sidewalks and more can put pedestrians in additional danger.
If you’re injured in an auto accident and you suspect that distracted driving was involved, make sure that you express your concerns to your attorney. It’s often possible to prove that a driver was on his or her phone while behind the wheel — which can make liability for the accident easier to establish.