What Are The Main Causes Of Pedestrian Accidents?

You may want to know what are the main causes of pedestrian accidents. This guide examines the road traffic accident statistics published by the Department of Transport to help understand the common causes of pedestrian accidents. We’ll also examine the rules and regulations for pedestrians found in the Highway Code to help prevent road traffic accidents.

If you suffered pedestrian injuries, you may like to know if you are eligible for personal injury compensation. We explain the eligibility criteria you must meet. If you satisfy this, you may like to claim for a pedestrian injury with the support of a solicitor. This guide concludes with a look at how a personal injury solicitor could help with your pedestrian claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

If you have any questions about pedestrian accident claims, speak to one of the advisors from our team. They’re available on the following details:

Phone – 020 8050 2736
Online- Fill out our claim online form and an advisor will call you at a time that suits you.
Live chat – Ask about pedestrian injury claims in our chat feature.

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What Are The Main Causes Of Pedestrian Accidents?
What Can Help Reduce Pedestrian Accidents?
When Are You Able To Make A Pedestrian Accident Claim?
Make A Pedestrian Accident Claim Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor
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What Are The Main Causes Of Pedestrian Accidents?

You may like to know what are the main causes of pedestrian accidents. The Department of Transport collects statistics on pedestrian casualties in Great Britain based on incidents reported to the police. These are then published as a pedestrian factsheet. In the sections below we look at contributory factors for pedestrian accidents published on 28 September 2023.

10 Most Common Contributory Factors For Pedestrians

These figures relate to pedestrian contributory factors for fatal or serious collisions with a vehicle. These figures do not take into account moderate/minor incidents. Between 2018 to 2022, pedestrian contributory factors included:

9,685 incidents where the pedestrian failed to look correctly.
3,475 incidents of pedestrians being careless – reckless or in a hurry.
3,190 failed to judge a vehicle’s path or speed.
2,077 incidents related to a pedestrian’s alcohol impairments.
2,035 stationary or parked vehicles masking the crossing
1,398 incidents in which pedestrians wore dark clothing at night.
1,154 incidents of dangerous behaviour in the carriageway.
1,033 wrong usage of a crossing.
738 illness or disability (either mental or physical).
404 drug use, either medication or illicit.

10 Most Common Contributory Factors For Vehicles

These figures relate to vehicle contributory factors for fatal or serious collisions with a pedestrian. These figures do not take into account moderate/minor incidents. Between 2018 to 2022, vehicle contributory factors included:

6,156 incidents where the driver or rider failed to properly look.
2,364 collisions involving pedestrians where the driver or rider was careless, reckless or in a hurry.
1,517 incidents of the driver or rider failing to judge the other person’s path or speed.
939 driver speeding.
882 incidents of stationary or parked vehicles.
840 collisions involved driving in an aggressive manner.
830 incidents with a driver poorly turning or manoeuvring.
667 collisions with pedestrians were caused by a driver losing control of their vehicle.
652 incidents of dazzling sunlight.
562 incidents involved drivers who were travelling too fast for the conditions.

In addition, 29% of pedestrian fatalities occurred on rural roads compared to 12% of all pedestrian casualties, and nearly three in five (58%) of fatal pedestrian accidents were in collisions involving a single car.

Please note these factors only provide an insight into why collisions occur. They are subjective as they reflect the opinion of the police officer at the scene. They should be interpreted with caution.

What Can Help Reduce Pedestrian Accidents?

Everyone using the roads owes other road users a duty of care to navigate in a way that prevents themselves and others from coming to harm. To adhere to this duty, road users, including pedestrians, should comply with relevant sections of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.

Highway Code rules 1-35 apply specifically to pedestrians. Following these rules, some of which are found in legislation elsewhere, can help pedestrians stay safe while using the roads. These traffic laws and rules for pedestrians include:

General guidance, such as using pavements and footways and how to behave if there isn’t pavement.
Rules on crossing the road, including how to find a safe place to cross, crossing at a junction and sharing routes with cyclists.
Using different types of crossings, such as giving traffic plenty of time to stop before entering a zebra crossing.
Situations that need extra care, including emergency vehicles, buses, trams and level crossings.

Understanding what are the main causes of pedestrian accidents and adhering to the Highway Code can help you avoid collisions while navigating the roads. However, you could still sustain injuries while on the roads. The next section examines whether you could be eligible to claim compensation.

When Are You Able To Make A Pedestrian Accident Claim?

If you suffer an injury while on the roads, you might be entitled to pedestrian accident compensation. However, you need to demonstrate that you satisfy the personal injury claims eligibility criteria. This means that you need to prove that:

A driver owed you a duty of care (as discussed above).
There was a breach of this duty.
You sustained injuries in a pedestrian accident as a result.

Examples of collisions involving pedestrians include:

Failure to stop. A driver may not stop at a red light or crossing and run you over in a hit and run.
Speeding. You did not see a speeding driver before you started to cross the road and cannot move out of the way quickly enough, so you get hit. This causes serious injuries.
Driver intoxication. A driver’s judgement and abilities will be seriously impaired by alcohol. They may not notice you crossing a road until after they run you over.
Reckless driving. For example, a driver may lose control of their vehicle and go onto the pavement, running you over.
Distracted driving. For example, if a driver is using their mobile phone, they may cause a pedestrian accident which leads to a serious brain injury.

You can discuss this eligibility criteria and the incident that caused your pedestrian injury with one of our advisors.

Make A Pedestrian Accident Claim Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor

If you are eligible to seek compensation for injuries sustained in a pedestrian accident, you may like to have legal representation during the claims process. One of the pedestrian accident solicitors from our panel could help you with your claim. Typically, the personal injury solicitors from our panel provide a No Win No Fee service under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When a No Win No Fee solicitor works on your claim, they:

Don’t ask you to pay for their services upfront.
Also won’t take any ongoing payments.
Only takes a success fee if your case succeeds. The success fee is taken as a legally capped percentage of your award.
Won’t ask you to pay this fee if your claim fails.

Please speak with one of our advisors if you have any questions about claiming for injuries suffered as a pedestrian.

To discuss what are the main causes of pedestrian accidents and when you can claim: