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The GHSA (Governor’s Highway Safety Association) Executive Director, Jonathan Adkins said in a press release May 8, 2018, “Reducing speed and alcohol impairment is the key to preventing pedestrian deaths.”

In March of this year a woman pedestrian was killed in Tempe, Arizona by a self-driving Uber vehicle. The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) says this may be unusual for a self-driving vehicle, but in many ways it is “typical of pedestrian crashes: an SUV traveling on an urban arterial road (busy roads designed mainly to funnel vehicle traffic toward freeways) striking a person crossing midblock in the dark.”

IIHS statistics show that since 2009, which was the lowest point to date in the number of pedestrian deaths, pedestrian deaths have jumped 46 percent. The recent IIHS study showed that the increase was mostly in urban or suburban areas, at non-intersections, on arterials and in the dark. Increasingly they are involving SUVs and high-horsepower vehicles.

"Understanding where, when and how these additional pedestrian crashes are happening can point the way to solutions," says IIHS President David Harkey. "This analysis tells us that improvements in road design, vehicle design and lighting and speed limit enforcement all have a role to play in addressing the issue."

The IIHS also believes that expanding the alcohol impairment message is important. When comparing 2009 and 2016, the IIHS found a 38 percent increase in pedestrians killed in crashes with BACs (blood alcohol content) of 0.08 or higher.

The data used by IIHS in its study was the most current data for 2016. 5,987 pedestrians in the U.S. were killed. This is 16 percent of all crash fatalities. In conducting the study, the IIHS researchers “looked at changes in the number of pedestrian deaths relative to the number of pedestrians involved in crashes.” 

In Everyone Walks, a GHSA report, the association calls for states to take new steps to combat speeding, expand their impaired driving programs to all road users and educate the public on the importance of engineering and design changes that will improve safety outcomes for everyone.

Florida ranked 5^th in pedestrian deaths in 2017 as reported in the GHSA’s Spotlight on Highway Safety. There were an estimated 303 pedestrian deaths between January 2017 and June 2017. That's a rate of 1.44 per 100,000 people and the 5th highest rate in the country.

In May 2018 a female Cape Coral driver was arrested of DUI-related charges after she crashed and seriously injured two pedestrians. Police said at the time that the driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.226. (Florida’s drunk-driving laws prohibit driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or above.)

“The increasing pedestrian deaths and injuries in the United States, and Florida in particular, are sobering. We at Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. urge everyone to drive responsibly. Do not drink and drive, and do not drive while distracted. Drivers need to always be alert to their surroundings. Remember, driving is a privilege, not a right,” said Fort Myers Pedestrian Accident Attorney, Randall Spivey.

Fort Myers Pedestrian Accident Attorney, Randall L. Spivey is a Board Certified Trial Attorney – the highest recognition for competence bestowed by the Florida Bar and a distinction earned by just one (1%) percent of Florida attorneys.  He has handled over 2,000 personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida.  For a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights, contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., in Lee County at 239.337.7483 or toll free at 1.888.477.4839,or by email to Randall@SpiveyLaw.com.  Visit SpiveyLaw.com for more information.  You can contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.in Charlotte County at 941.764.7748 and in Collier County 239.793.7748.