A report regarding pedestrian deaths across the country confirmed what any Los Angeles County resident already knew: L.A. County is a very dangerous place to be a pedestrian. Pedestrian deaths are unfortunately all too common in both California as well as across the nation. This is especially true in Southern California and Los Angeles in particular. Los Angeles has the unfortunate distinction of being the nation’s deadliest county for pedestrians, with nearly double the number of deaths of any other county in the country in 2017. This sad fact mirrors what many city and county residents have always known: that to walk in many areas in Los Angeles puts you in extreme danger.
There are a number of reasons that LA is the nation’s deadliest for pedestrians. Despite having an excellent public transportation system, no one actually chooses to ride that system, which makes LA’s streets that much more traffic clogged and thus a greater danger for pedestrians. In addition, the large number of both national and international visitors that the city receives on a yearly basis also makes it even more likely that even more incidents involving pedestrians will occur given that many visitors to LA might be unfamiliar with California traffic laws or norms. However, if you or a loved one or someone you know was a pedestrian and have been involved in an incident in which you were injured, the experienced personal injury lawyers at JT Legal Group are here to help.
Los Angeles: The Deadliest City in the Country for Pedestrians
California has long been one of the most deadly states in the country for pedestrians. According to a March 2018 report, Los Angeles County was the most dangerous county in the United States in 2017 for pedestrians. Los Angeles had nearly double the deaths of the second place county, Maricopa County in Arizona. Los Angeles had 265 pedestrian fatalities, while Maricopa County had 133 and Harris County in Texas had 128 pedestrian fatalities in 2017. Los Angeles County therefore had more deaths than the second and third place counties combined, a sign of how deadly the city truly is for pedestrians.
What Makes Los Angeles So Dangerous for Pedestrians?
Los Angeles has such a high number of pedestrian deaths for a number of factors that are unique to Los Angeles. As the entertainment capital of the United States, Los Angeles receives millions of visitors from around the world every year. According to a list of the most-visited cities in the United States in 2018, Los Angeles was sixth in the country with 47.3 million visitors from throughout the United States and all over the world. The visitors were drawn to the city’s world-renowned parks and museums, its famous movie and entertainment studios and several beaches that rank among the most well-known in the world. This means that many people who may be unfamiliar with the local traffic laws or customs or who may be from countries or parts of the world where cars are expected to stop whenever a pedestrian steps into the street, no matter whether the pedestrian has the right of way or not, are walking down LA’s streets. This only makes matters worse in a city clogged with traffic and plagued by drivers who may not be paying attention to what is going on as they text or check emails on their smartphones to begin with, where a foreign tourist oblivious to the oncoming traffic may wander into the center of the road even with cars zooming by at 40 mph.
Los Angeles also has the unfortunate distinction of having some of the worst traffic in the country because of the sheer number of cars on its roads. The lack of people using public transportation in the area also contributes to the problem, as Los Angeles is one of of the most traffic clogged cities in the United States, largely because no one rides even the public transportation options that are available. A January 2017 report by CityMetric noted that academic studies had found the LA Metro public transportation system to be the third most comprehensive in the country but, that not only does a very small proportion of Los Angeles residents actually take advantage of this system and utilize the options that are available but the numbers of Los Angelinos who are actually using the system is dwindling year over year from even the tiny numbers that actually do so now . Where does all of this leave LA pedestrians? One person who chooses to drive downtown for work is one more car that a pedestrian has to dodge when crossing the street. The more traffic clogged the city’s streets as a result of commuters who are not taking public transportation, the more dangerous LA streets are for pedestrians.
Contact the Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys at JT Legal Group if You or a Loved One Were Injured in a Pedestrian Accident
Was you, or someone you love, injured or killed while walking somewhere in Los Angeles or elsewhere Southern California? This is an extremely common occurrence in Los Angeles, so much so that Los Angeles County was the most dangerous city in the country for pedestrians based upon a detailed analysis of all the pedestrian deaths in the United States in 2017. If this impacted you or someone you know or love, contact us immediately at (888) 529-3111 or [email protected]. Our experienced personal injury lawyers have successfully pursued personal injury claims against dozens of negligent drivers who have injured or killed pedestrians in Los Angeles in the past and we fight tooth and nail to recover every element of damage for our clients that they are entitled to under California law. Without the help of a trusted personal injury law firm like JT Legal Group when you have been injured or killed and you were a pedestrian in Los Angeles or some other part of Southern California, your claim may be subject to getting pushed to the side or completely rejected. For more information, including a no cost consultation regarding your particular situation, contact our firm immediately ” we’re here to help you.
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