What Are The Main Causes of Pedestrian Accidents?

It is important to note that you generally cannot claim against a pedestrian in a personal injury claim, as they often do not have the relevant insurance. However, pedestrians could claim against other roads users such as car drivers. Therefore, in this article, we will be focusing on ways a pedestrian could make a personal injury claim.

The government considers pedestrians a vulnerable road user group, as a vehicle body does not protect them like some other road users. This means they are more at risk of being involved in accidents and sustaining injuries.

However, this doesn’t mean a pedestrian can’t be at fault for an accident. If a pedestrian was the faulting party for a road accident, they would not be able to make a claim for their injuries. You can only make a valid personal injury claim if you can prove that your injuries directly resulted from someone breaching their duty of care towards you.

All road users have a duty of care towards each other on the roads. This means they need to adhere to basic standards of care when on the roads and conduct themselves in a way that reduces the chances of accidents occurring. When this duty of care is breached, accidents and harm could happen. If you could prove that the accident and injury was the fault of another party, you could potentially claim against them. We will look at evidence types further in this guide.

What Is The Most Frequent Cause Of Pedestrian Accidents?

The Department for Transport is a branch of the government that researches and releases statistics on transport accidents each year. According to their research, different pedestrian contributory factors that could cause accidents include:

Pedestrians crossing the road behind a stationary vehicle
Failure to look properly
Pedestrian failing to judge vehicle’s speed or path
Wrong use of a pedestrian crossing facility
Dangerous action on a carriageway
Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol
Carelessness or recklessness on the part of the pedestrian
Pedestrian wearing dark clothing at night
The pedestrian having some form of mental or physical disability or illness

However, this list is not exhaustive and many injuries to pedestrians are caused by other road users. If you’ve been in an accident and suffered injuries caused because of another road user, you could still potentially make a claim for compensation.

What’s more, if you were only partially responsible for the accident, you could still be able to claim. However, any compensation you might receive would be reduced. Get in touch with our advisors today to find out more.

Pedestrian Accident Statistics

This section will look closer at the statistics relating to what the main causes of pedestrian accidents are. The figures shown are from Department for Transport data about contributory factors to vehicles or pedestrians in reported accidents in Great Britain.

This chart shows the number of accidents relating to different factors. However, it is important to note that these factors are based upon police reports from those attending the scene of an accident after it has already happened. Because of this, it may be difficult for a police officer to determine a contributing factor with complete accuracy.

Further research allows us to look at what types of vehicles are more likely to be in a pedestrian accident.

This graph shows the number of reported accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles. From this graph, we can see that pedestrians are most at risk from cars.

Why Are Pedestrian Accidents Common?

Pedestrian accidents are not uncommon because, as mentioned, they are considered an at-risk road user group. They have little to protect themselves against large vehicles if an accident occurs. For this reason, they are also more likely to be injured in a road traffic accident.

For example, if two cars collide, both parties are protected by the car’s metal body. As long as all drivers and passengers involved are wearing their seatbelts, they may walk away with less serious injuries. However, if a car collides with a pedestrian, the impact of the metal body on a person without similar protection could leave them with severe injuries.

Another example could be bicycle accidents. Cyclists are also considered an at-risk user group, as they are similarly without the metal body of a vehicle for protection. However, cyclists should always wear safety gear to keep themselves safe, whereas pedestrians don’t usually have this. So if a cyclist and a pedestrian collide, the cyclist could avoid a head injury if they are wearing their helmet. Still, the pedestrian could suffer fractures, dislocations or crushing injuries since they have no protection.

How Can Pedestrian Accidents Be Reduced?

So, you may be wondering how pedestrian accidents could be reduced. How can other road users keep pedestrians safe?

The Highway Code is a document that outlines how all road users should behave on British roads. If all road user groups appropriately follow the regulations in this document, accidents could reduce. This includes not driving under the influence, paying attention to the roads, and ensuring to always adhere to the speed limit of an area.

Pedestrians should always ensure they are being as safe as possible. This could involve always paying attention to their surroundings, not being careless or reckless, and wearing bright or hi-vis clothing if walking at night on roads without pavement.

This guide aims to answer the question ‘what are the main causes of pedestrian accidents?’ If you have any questions about claiming, why not get in touch?

Pedestrian Accident – How Do You Prove It was Caused by Negligence?

This guide has provided information on topics such as “what is the main cause of accidents?”. This section will now clarify more about how you might be able to successfully claim for a pedestrian injury – evidence. Any successful personal injury claim revolves around proving that your injury was caused by third-party negligence.

Firstly, if you’ve been involved in a pedestrian accident, you may require medical assistance. Going to a hospital or seeing a doctor can confirm the nature of your injuries and determine the ideal recovery plan for you.

Your solicitor can help you acquire evidence to prove negligence. Potential evidence you can use in a claim includes:

Photographs of the accident site and your injury
CCTV footage
Accident reports (from the police, for instance)
Medical reports of your injury
Contact details of any potential witnesses. They can be contacted at a later date to provide a statement.

To learn more about the evidence you could use in a claim, please contact us for free using the details provided. We can inform you quickly and easily if you’re able to claim. Furthermore, we can connect you with a solicitor from our panel that specialises in your type of claim and could help you receive compensation.

Pedestrian Accident Claims – How Long Do You Have To Begin?

When making a claim for compensation for being hit by a car, you only have a certain amount of time to start your claim. These time limitations can be found in the Limitation Act 1980. Generally, the time limits for pedestrian accident claims are:

3 years from the date you were injured or;
3 years from the date you first realised your injuries were caused by the accident.

However, there are some exceptions to these limitations. For example:

Minors will have 3 years to start a claim once they turn 18. Before this time, the time limit is suspended. A court-appointed litigation friend could make a claim on their behalf before their 18^th
For people who lack the mental capacity to make a claim, they will have 3 years to start their claim if they regain this mental capacity. Alternatively, a litigation friend can make a claim on their behalf before this point.

Contact our advisors today if you would like more information about personal injury claims for pedestrian accidents.

Compensation For A Hit And Run

If you suffered injuries in a hit and run accident, you may like to know how much a claim is potentially worth. As each claim is different, we can’t give you an exact figure, but we can examine how compensation could be awarded in personal injury claims.

General Damages

In successful pedestrian accident claims, general damages compensates for pain and suffering. To help give value to injuries, legal professionals use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) as guidance. It is a document that provides compensation brackets for various injuries and their potential severity.

In our table below, we’ve listed a selection of injuries from the latest update. It is provided to help you learn how general damages could be valued rather than give you an exact figure. As such, our table should only be used as guidance.

Injury	Severity	Notes	Amount
Leg Injury	Amputations (iv)	This bracket could cover the straightforward below-knee amputation of one leg. It could also cover a traumatic amputation or cases where numerous unsuccessful operations to save the leg occurred years after the event. Phantom pains, prosthetic success and related psychiatric issues will also be taken into account here.	£97,980 to £132,990
Neck Injury	Severe (ii)	Serious fractures or disc damage in the cervical spine which result in disabilities of considerable severity.	£65,740 to £130,930
Neck Injury	Moderate (i)	Dislocations or fractures which result in immediate and severe symptoms. This bracket may also cover chronic conditions and serious soft tissue injuries to the neck and back. These will result in impaired function and a vulnerability to further damage.	£24,990 to £38,490
Foot Injury	Serious	Fractures that result in continuous pain and a risk of future arthritis, prolonged treatment and surgery.	£24,990 to £39,200
Elbow Injury	Less Severe	Injuries that impair the function of the elbow but do not require major surgery or result in a lasting disability.	£15,650 to £32,010
Ankle Injury	Moderate	Ligament tears and fractures which lead to less serious disabilities such as difficulty standing and residual scarring. There may be a risk of future osteoarthritis.	£13,740 to £26,590
Shoulder Injury	Serious	Damage to the lower area of the brachial plexus or dislocation of the shoulder. These would cause pain in the neck and shoulder, aching in the elbow and weakness of the grip. This bracket may also cover a fractured humerus that leads to restricted shoulder movement and soft tissue injuries.	£12,770 to £19,200
Shoulder Injury	(e)	Fracture of the clavicle with possible disability and lasting symptoms.	£5,150 to £12,240
Fractures of Cheekbones	(i)	Serious fractures that require surgery but will still leave lasting consequences such as disfigurement.	£10,200 to £15,780
Damage to Teeth	(ii)	Serious damage to, or loss of, two front teeth.	£4,350 to £7,630

Special Damages

Some payouts may also include special damages. Special damages seek to recover any financial losses caused by your injuries. However, in order to claim for your losses, you will likely need to submit proof. For example, receipts and payslips.

Examples of special damages that could be recovered include:

Medical expenses, including plastic surgery costs and prescription costs.
Injury aids, such as wheelchair rental or purchase.
Loss of earnings, this could include holiday pay as well as any pension contributions.
Home adaptations, such as installing a stair lift.

The best way to learn about what compensation for a hit and run could be awarded to you is to call our advisors. They can estimate the value of your claim for free.

Make A Claim For A Pedestrian Injury With A No Win No Fee Lawyer

There are many benefits to working with a No Win No Fee solicitor on your pedestrian injuries claim. For example, they can help you gather evidence to prove the main cause of the accident, and can also make sure your claim is fully evaluated, with all areas considered.

If you choose to make a pedestrian injury claim with a solicitor from our panel, they may offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means that you could access their services without paying any upfront or ongoing fees.

Similarly, if your claim fails, you won’t pay any fees to your solicitor. The only time they will take a fee is if your claim succeeds, in which case they will take a success fee. However, this fee is capped by legislation to ensure that you keep the majority of your settlement.

To find out more about the causes of road accidents or to learn if you could be eligible to work with a solicitor from our panel, get in touch with our team today. One of our advisors can evaluate your claim, and if it is found to be valid, they may then connect you with a solicitor from our team. To learn more:

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