Pedestrian Accident

Jaywalking was just legalized in California, meaning pedestrians can now cross the street outside of a crosswalk without getting a ticket. This is a significant change for the state, which has long had some of the strictest jaywalking laws in the country. The new law is a victory for pedestrian rights advocates, who have been pushing for looser restrictions on crossing the street. They argue that the old rules were unfair to pedestrians and disproportionately enforced in communities of color. Now that jaywalking is legal, pedestrians will have more freedom to move around the state and no longer have to worry about getting a ticket for crossing the street outside a crosswalk so long as they do it safely. Read the rest »

October is National Pedestrian Safety Month, as established by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The purpose is to increase awareness of pedestrian safety. Looking back, in the most recent year for which statistics are available, 6,205 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the U.S., as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A pedestrian was killed every 85 minutes. In California alone, at least two pedestrians or cyclists are killed every day, as stated by Caltrans.

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