Pedestrian Accident Injuries

Pedestrian accidents often result in a wide range of injuries from brusing, lacerations and abrasions to traumatic brain injury and death. In fact, over 5,000 pedestrians lose their lives and 80,000 are injured annually in pedestrian accidents involving motor vehicles. Lacking any sort of barrier between themselves and the massive vehicles around them, pedestrians are among the most vulnerable users of the roadways. As a result, any accident involving a pedestrian often results in serious injury.

The following is a list of the most common serious injuries suffered by pedestrians during accidents involving motor vehicles:

• Head injury — Head injuries are all too common among pedestrians. Unlike motorcycle or bicycle riders, pedestrians rarely have any form of head or body protection. Collisions with a motor vehicle will often thrust a pedestrian violently to the ground or into other objects. Head injuries can range from bumps, gashes, scrapes, lacerations, to fractures of the skull, and can lead to extremely serious brain injury or death.
• Brain injury — The impact of the pedestrian’s skull with the ground, the motor vehicle, or any other object can cause violent movement of the brain within the skull. Brain injuries can range from mild concussions to very serious traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries can have a devastating and sometimes lifelong impact on attention, ability to multi-task, judgment, memory and mental acuity. They can also result in decreased bodily function and long term or even permanent disability in some cases.
• Spinal cord injury — The violent impact from a motor vehicle frequently results in spinal cord injuries such as crushed or fractured vertebrae; damage to disks (for example, herniation); and nerve damage which, sadly, may result in partial or total paralysis.
• Broken or fractured bones — The victim of a pedestrian accident often suffers a wide range of orthopedic injuries as the result of a collision with a motor vehicle. The point of impact is most often to the hips and legs, but can also cause broken ankles, wrists, legs, arms, ribs, hands, feet, and facial bones.
• Amputation — Unfortunately, depending upon the extent of any injury to the extremities, amputation of the injured limb may be recommended by surgeons. Should amputation be deemed necessary, the pedestrian will obviously be left permanently and negatively affected by the accident.
• Organ damage — In combination with the negligence of the driver, the capability of the motor vehicle for high speed, coupled with its weight and density, make it an extremely dangerous threat to pedestrian safety. Any collision, however innocuous, can lead to internal injuries including organ and pulmonary damage. These types of injuries often necessitate emergency surgery, the possibility of complications, a prolonged recovery period, and can potentially result in a lifelong disability.
• Facial injury — A head-on impact may cause the pedestrian to suffer any number of facial injuries, from a broken jaw or nose, to chipped or broken teeth. Additionally, eye injuries and facial fractures are all too common in these types of accidents. Potentially, permanent scarring may result due to these accidents as well.
• Death — Pedestrian fatalities are on the rise and in the past few years over 5,000 pedestrians have been killed annually in accidents involving motor vehicles. Pedestrians are extremely vulnerable in these accidents, as they are outweighed many times over by even the smallest of motor vehicles. As such, death following a collision with a motor vehicle is far more likely than in accidents between two cars.

As is evidenced by the list of pedestrian injuries above, pedestrians involved in an automobile accident require the assistance of an experienced pedestrian accident attorney who will aggressively fight for their full recovery. Peter Thompson & Associates has an excellent and long-standing reputation for zealous representation of victims of a pedestrian accident. Our personal injury attorneys will assess the facts of your case and guide you toward the optimal path of legal recovery. We accept clients on a contingency fee basis and have offices throughout the State. Home and hospital visits are also available statewide. Call us today at 800.804.2004 to start us fighting for you!