Often, the most dangerous place a pedestrian can be is in a crosswalk. This is where they’re most likely to be injured by a driver or motorcyclist. About 50 people die every year in Minnesota after being struck by a vehicle. Many more are seriously injured.
Many people don’t realize that, as the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MDOT) reminds us, “Every corner is a crosswalk” – even if there are no lights, signs or markings.
What a University of Minnesota study found
Those things make a significant difference in the injury rate. One study at the University of Minnesota that involved placing video cameras at crosswalks found that when there were no signals, drivers only yielded to pedestrians 40% of the time. If there were also no crosswalk markings, only about 10% yielded.
Crosswalk markings make a big difference in driver behavior. Nonetheless, Minnesota law states, “Where traffic-control signals are not in place or in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall stop to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at an intersection with no marked crosswalk.”
Other indicators of the possible presence of pedestrians, like cautionary signage, also were found to make drivers more likely to yield. Not surprisingly, areas with a lot of pedestrians, like residential neighborhoods and school and shopping districts, were found to be safer than urban and even some rural areas.
The researchers didn’t capture any collisions during their filming of approximately 1,000 interactions, but they did see 16 instances where a driver and/or a pedestrian had to make a quick, last-minute move to avoid one.
Pedestrians can always be at risk
The bottom line is that drivers always have the responsibility of looking out for pedestrians as well as bicyclists, those on scooters and others with whom they share the road. Further, pedestrians should never assume that a driver will stop for them or has even seen them.
The costs of such an assumption are too high. Even survivable injuries in an auto-pedestrian crash can be devastating and permanent. Having experienced legal guidance to help ensure justice and fair compensation is critical.