After a long day of lectures and study groups on campus, the last thing you want is to get hit by a car when you cross the street to get to the TRAX stop. The shock of seeing a car bolting 20 mph toward you, the impact, flying 20 feet and bruising your body, isn’t all that pleasant.
Even if a pedestrian is in a crosswalk and has the signal to cross, it doesn’t mean he or she will be spared from being hit by an oncoming car. Pedestrians should especially take note of cars making turns because you never know when a Chevy Astro will be trying to beat the light and not see you in the crosswalk.
Utah’s Heads Up program is intended to raise driver awareness and prevent distracted driving. You’ve probably seen the billboards along I-15 that show a woman with tears running down her face and the ad copy that reads, “Hit a pedestrian, change your lives.”
Zero Fatalities, another state task force, reports 199 traffic fatalities to date with the cause of many of the accidents being drowsy, distracted, aggressive or impaired driving. Another cause is passengers who often do not wear seat belts. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 16,626 people died in traffic crashes between January and June. Considering how many cars are on the road, those numbers really aren’t very significant, unless you were one of the pedestrians sent to the hospital.
According to a Utah Crash Summary Report in 2007, pedestrians are 11 times more likely to be killed in a motor vehicle crash than occupants of a motor vehicle, and 87.5 percent of pedestrians in pedestrian/motor vehicle crashes are injured. According to the website of the Utah Department of Public Safety Highway Safety Office, 28 percent of drivers who hit pedestrians were turning, and the place where pedestrians are most often reported being hit is in a crosswalk. Crashes occur most often between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Vehicles making a left or right turn on a green light must yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian in a marked or unmarked crosswalk within the intersection, giving the pedestrian the right-of-way. Utah Code (41-6a-1006) states that a motorist must always exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, regardless of the situation.
The bottom line is we all need to be better drivers and pay attention to what we’re doing when we’re behind the wheel. Many people say it’s the journey that counts, not only the destination. Be courteous along the way and enjoy the journey.