Many pedestrian collisions involve people crossing the road. However, there are other types of pedestrian collisions as well.
As average vehicle sizes have gradually increased, so have reports of devastating frontover pedestrian collisions. Pedestrians in environments where they may take their safety for granted are at the highest risk of frontover collisions. Understanding what causes these unique pedestrian crashes can help people keep themselves and their families as safe as possible.
Blind spots and overconfidence often cause frontover collisions
Frontover collisions occur when a driver pulls forward, unaware that there is a pedestrian about to step in front of their vehicle. These crashes often occur at parking lots and at the edges of driveways where they meet the street.
Children are at especially high risk of frontover pedestrian crashes, as they are short enough to be invisible to people driving large vehicles, such as SUVs and pickup trucks. As the average vehicle size has increased, the blind spots at the edges of windshields have also increased.
Even adults are vulnerable to frontover collisions when they may assume that they are fully visible to the person in the nearby vehicle. While frontover collisions typically involve low speeds, they can still cause broken bones, spinal cord injuries and brain injuries.
Anyone affected by a pedestrian collision may have medical costs, property damage losses and lost wages to address. Reporting an incident to local authorities and then discussing what happened with an experienced pedestrian crash attorney can help injured people minimize their losses if a driver fails to properly monitor their surroundings.