As a driver, one of the worst kinds of wrecks that you can be involved in is one that involves a pedestrian. Even at a slow speed, a car can seriously injure a pedestrian and, far too often, car and pedestrian wrecks end up killing the pedestrian. Here are some ways that you can lessen the chances of hurting a pedestrian on the road.
Shopping Areas
In areas where there are a lot of stores, assume that pedestrians are not going to walk to the next crosswalk when they want to get across the street. More often than not, they’re going to cross wherever it’s convenient to them, and that sometimes means
darting out from between cars and giving drivers quite a scare. Slow down and be on the lookout for unpredictable pedestrians in these situations!
Schools
Schools are areas where you have to deal with children who may not be paying attention and with adults who are in a rush to pick up or drop off their kids. These are both seriously dangers. School zone speed limits are 15mph. This seems agonizingly slow to most drivers but, remember, a car going 15mph is easily capable of killing a child. Use extra care in these areas and be particularly wary when children are playing on the sidewalks.
Parking Lots
People in parking lots are quite frequently paying attention to things other than where they’re walking. Quite frequently, they’ll be scanning around for their vehicle instead of paying attention to the cars around them. Be sure you’re ready for pedestrians who don’t see you and who come from in between the cars quickly and without any rhyme or reason.
Parks
Look out for children near parks. If they’re playing a game and a ball or other equipment goes out into the street, you’ll need to be ready for them to come right out in front of you. Again, slowing down is always the best way to handle this situation. Your slow speed could still kill someone, but you’ll have more time to react before you do hit someone.
All of these actions are just exercising reasonable care. Any driver could be realistically expected to behave this way when they’re driving. If a negligent driver runs into you, be sure that you contact a vehicle accident lawyer about filing a lawsuit. A Dallas vehicle accident attorney can make sure that you get your case argued competently in court!
