Failure to yield to a pedestrian can result in a traffic citation for a careless driver, but it can have much more severe consequences for the individual on the street. The state of Minnesota learned that lesson the hard way in 2016, as drivers hit and killed more pedestrians last year than in the past 25 years.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety announced that 60 pedestrians were struck and killed on Minnesota roads in 2016, which represented a nearly 50 percent increase from 2015 when 41 pedestrians were killed by vehicles. It is the highest yearly total since 1991, when 61 pedestrians were killed.
Why The Increase?
Pedestrians aren’t running unannounced across the streets at higher rates than in years past, so why did pedestrian fatalities spike in 2016? Police officers and city officials believe distracted driving likely played a big role in the uptick, as it’s already been noted that distracted driving crashes rose in 2016.
“It is distressing to see such an increase in pedestrian deaths,” Donna Berger, director of the DPS Office of Traffic Safety, said in a statement. “These are our neighbors, our co-workers, our family members and friends. It’s especially upsetting because this doesn’t have to happen. These tragedies are preventable, but it requires both motorists and pedestrians to do their part.”
It’s The Law
Under Minnesota law, all drivers are required to yield to a pedestrian attempting to properly cross in a crosswalk, if the driver can safely stop their vehicle. Furthermore, all intersections, even if they are devoid of painted crosswalks, are considered legal areas to cross the street, meaning drivers must yield the right of way at an intersection (assuming their aren’t lighted walk signals in use) to a pedestrian. If you’d like some insight into how this would work in houston, converse with personal injury lawyer in houston.
Interestingly, an investigative report found that suburbs were actually much more dangerous areas for pedestrians than busy city spaces. A piece by the Star-Tribune revealed that nearly twice as many pedestrians died in Twin Cities suburbs than in Minneapolis or St. Paul between 2010 and 2014. Police cite higher speeds and fewer marked crosswalks as the biggest factors in these accidents.
St. Paul police Sgt. Jeremy Ellison said that when asked, the majority of drivers said they simply didn’t see the pedestrian in question. Sgt. Ellison said drivers need to commit to active driving behaviors behind the wheel to ensure everyone remains safe on the roads and crosswalks.
“Actively trying to watch for pedestrians is something that we really need to try and teach drivers to do,” Ellison said. “Because you can drive down the street, but if you’re not looking for them, you aren’t going to see them.”
