Georgia Injury Attorney Blog

Before children suit up and hit the neighborhoods in search of tricks and treats this Halloween, parents are urged discuss with them the dangers they face on this spooky night. Crime Stoppers Atlanta and our personal injury attorneys are here to share a few simple safety tips that can help to keep your little ghosts and goblins safe on the 31st.

The ghoulish holiday brings about serious risks for mischievous behavior. Government statistics show child injury is four times more likely to occur on Halloween night. Pedestrian accidents and falls are the most common causes.

Halloween safety tips:

-Young children should always be supervised by a responsible adult.

-Plan out a safe trick-or-treating route before heading out. Make sure that you plan a trip that is away from lots of traffic and has safe sidewalks and roadways.

-Older children who can trick-or-treat alone should have a set curfew, a watch and a cell phone to use to check in with parents periodically.

-Instruct you children to never go into a stranger's home or vehicle.

-Children should carry a flashlight, glow stick or should have reflective tape on their costume to help make them more visible to passing motorists.

-Make sure children have their name, address and emergency phone number information on them.

-Make sure that children know to look both ways before crossing the street. Young vampires and zombies should keep looking left and right as they cross the road.

-Only cross the street at crosswalks or at street corners.

-Make sure all children are fed before going trick-or-treating. This will make them less likely to snack on candy before it has been inspected by a parent.

-Inspect your child's candy once you get home. Toss out any candy that has been opened or looks like someone has tampered with it. You should also throw away any small, hard candy that could pose a choke hazard for a small child.

-Parents are urged to check out Georgia's Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Search website before heading out with little ones.

-If you notice any spooky activity, you're urged to call local authorities immediately.

-If you're staying home and passing out goods to the little witches and ghosts this year, considering handing out non-food items like pencils, spider rings, erasers or stickers.

Halloween can be a terrifying time for young children. According to CBS Atlanta and child psychologists, parents should help their young ones to interpret Halloween as just make-believe. This should help to scare away any monsters.

Be sure to show children that all the spooky monsters around the neighborhood are just people in masks. Illustrate how this works by showing them a mask on and off your face. Make light of the situation. If your young child thinks they're brave enough to take on the neighborhood in search of goodies, allow them to try on the costume beforehand so that they can get used to how they look.

A recent pedestrian accident in Sandy Springs on Roswell Road took the life of an 18-year-old. The accident reportedly happened right after he helped an unnamed child onto the school bus. After the child boarded the bus, the teen walked in front of the bus and stepped into the path of an oncoming vehicle that failed to stop for the bus. The vehicle did stop at the scene of the accident. It happened between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m., according to CBS Atlanta.

Our North Georgia pedestrian accident attorneys understand that this story comes at a time when pedestrian safety is a big topic of conversation among transportation officials. According to a recently released report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, there were approximately 4,000 pedestrians killed on U.S. roadways in traffic-related accidents in 2009. It is estimated that another 60,000 pedestrians were injured in these types of accidents. In an attempt to better understand these accidents, AAA analyzed the NHTSA's National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) Pedestrian Crash Data Study (PCDS) from 2008. Through this information, the Foundation discovered what kinds of factors play a role in the risk of injury and death in a pedestrian accident. AAA also compiled a number of different ways in which the risks of these accidents can be decreased.

The AAA Foundation discovered that the vehicle is traveling at the time of impact has a direct impact on the risks that a pedestrian faces for injury or death. According to the report's data, a pedestrian that is hit by a vehicle that is traveling at 16 mph has a 10 percent chance of sustaining serious injuries, 23 mph at a 25 percent chance, 31 mph for a 50 percent chance, 39 mph at a 75 percent chance and 46 mph at a 90 percent chance.

The risk for death also increases as the speed of the vehicle increases. A pedestrian faces a 10 percent risk of death when a vehicle traveling at 23 mph strikes, a 25 percent chance at 32 mph, a 50 percent chance at 42 mph, a 75 percent chance at 50 mph and 90 percent chance at 58 mph.

These risks also vary when the age of the pedestrian is factored in. For example, when a 70-year-old pedestrian is hit by a vehicle that's traveling at 25 mph, they face the same risks as a 30-year-old pedestrian that is hit by a vehicle that is traveling at the same speed.

According to Transportation for America, there were nearly 2,000 pedestrians killed while walking in Georgia from 2000 to 2009. These accidents totaled costs of nearly $7 billion. Georgia has ranked 10th out of all 50 states for having the most dangerous roadways for pedestrians.

To help reduce these accidents, AAA recommends the following:

-Transportation officials should reduce speed limits in areas where high volumes of pedestrians can be found.

-If speed limits cannot be reduced because of the high demand for fast-traveling roadways, transportation officials should create a physical barrier between vehicular traffic and pedestrians.

-Vehicle technicians are urged to create a better passenger-detection system that will help to alert a driver or stop the vehicle automatically if a passenger comes dangerously close.

October 5th is International Walk to School Day and this year's campaign slogan is "Hike it. Bike it. I like it!" The organization that organizes this event, the National Center for Safe Routes to School, provides technical support and resources and coordinates online registration efforts for U.S. Walk to School Day.

The national campaign aims to promote healthy living while reducing the risk of pedestrian accidents involving school children.

There are a number of Georgia biking and walking events that will be taking place to support this year's campaign efforts. A number of counties in the state have received grants to help fund the event and to create safe routes to school for these young children.

Our pedestrian accident attorneys understand that this time of year is perfect to discuss the dangers and risks that our young walkers face on our roadways. As school recently started and the fall is now upon us, these young walkers face high risks for serious injuries on their way to and from school. Young pedestrians are oftentimes unable to comprehend the movement and the danger of traffic. This inability to understand these risks puts them at an even greater danger.

To help promote safe driving habits among motorists in areas where we're likely to see young pedestrians, Georgia's Bicycle & Pedestrian Program campaigns to raise awareness. The program also uses its State Bike/Pedestrian Coordinator to work with a number of local planners and project managers to create safer pathways for bikers and on-foot travelers in our state. These roadways are taken from the Georgia DOT roadway construction projects. The program works with a number of regional, state and local governments and transportation departments to encourage participation from non-profit organizations, public health officials, safety agencies and other stakeholders.

The following schools in Atlanta will be participating in the event:

-Sutton Middle School

-Capitol View Elementary School

-Evansdale Elementary School

-Sagamore Hills Elementary School

-Sarah Smith Elementary School

-Montgomery Elementary School

-Meadowview Elementary School

-Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School

-Toomer Elementary School

-Morningside Elementary School

-Bolton Academy

-Henderson Mill Elementary School

Walk to School Day has been celebrated across the globe since 1997. More than 40 countries participate in the festivities and recognize walking as a common interest and a healthy way to commute. In 2010, participation in the event reached an all-time high at more than 3,500 events registered in the U.S. The organizers of the campaign believe that there were many more events that were held but were not registered.

Through the four E's; education, encouragement, enforcement and engineering, this celebration aims to create awareness in motorists and local officials about the importance and the safety of our young walkers and bicyclists. Parents are urged to discuss safety tips with their children to help preserve safety on our roadways.

When it comes to pedestrian accidents, children and the elderly are most at risk.

North Georgia personal injury lawyers have been following a move by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which initially planned to mandate the installation of backup cameras in new vehicles by 2013. Descent from the auto industry has left that plan in limbo.

Yet we have to do something with our cars because we have done so little to improve our roads. Transportation for America reports almost 50,000 pedestrians were killed in the United States during the past decade. That's the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every month!

Nearly 700,000 were seriously injured. Somewhere in America, a pedestrian is struck every 7 minutes.

Yet little attention and even fewer resources have been focused on reducing these preventable accidents. Nationwide, just 1.5 percent of highway funding is geared toward pedestrian safety, despite the fact that 12 percent of fatal crashes involve pedestrians. In most instances, roads are build for cars, with little thought for pedestrians. And Congress is considering a move that would push the obligation onto states by reducing or eliminating what current federal pedestrian safety funding exists.

Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports 4,092 fatal pedestrian accidents were reported nationwide in 2009; another 59,000 were seriously injured. Georgia pedestrian accident claimed 150 lives that year. About 20 percent of fatality victims were over the age of 65 and another 20 percent were between the ages of 5 and 9. Children under the age of 15 accounted for about 25 percent of all injury victims.

Many of the injuries involving children are the result of backover accidents.

"Every year, nearly 300 people are killed and 18,000 more are injured when someone, often a parent or grandparent, backs over them," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "To put an end to these tragedies, we have proposed a new safety rule and are seeking further public feedback."

The proposed rearview visibility rules are part of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007. It would have required 40 percent of cars to have rear-mounted safety cameras by 2013 and all new cars to come standard with the equipment by 2014. The NHTSA estimates 100 lives a year could be saved. However, as Car Connection reported earlier this year, the government agreed to delay the new rules after a meeting with auto industry representatives.

For its part, Transportation for America is pushing for better road design and more funding. The organization's "Dangerous by Design" report puts focus on retaining dedicated federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian safety, adopting a national policy for complete streets, and filling in the gaps in communities that lack sidewalks in certain areas.

Meanwhile, motorists have an obligation to watch for pedestrians. Please remember that pedestrians typically have the right of way -- even when not in a crosswalk. Failure to yield to a pedestrian can result in a serious or fatal accident.