Pedestrian Sent to Hospital After Being Struck by a Car

 Posted on October 15, 2013 in Personal Injury

There is a proper, legal way to cross the street. Streets are covered in white crosswalk stripes all over cities and towns in order to keep people safe. If someone chooses to cross the street in a non-designated area, it is called jaywalking and it is both illegal and dangerous. Sgt. Carl Giguere from the Tampa, Florida Police Department is an expert on pedestrian fatalities due to the number of times he is called to them as part of his job. He says that he does not think anyone ever actually believes that they will get hit when crossing the street when they are disobeying traffic laws. "Get above 14 to 18 miles per hour, you start partial decapitation of limbs. Anything above that can actually just explode the body," said Giguere. Crossing traffic is a very dangerous risk to take, especially when there are traffic signals and crosswalks that you are disobeying. In early October a woman was walking near Route 6 in Farmington, Connecticut and was struck by a passing car. The local Patch reported that the woman was 51 years old and was taken to the hospital to be treated for serious injuries. After the accident, police closed down a portion of the road for four hours and released very little information on the injured woman. It was not reported that this woman was disobeying traffic signals, although it has been found that almost half of all automobile collisions involving pedestrians occurred away from a pedestrian crosswalk. If you tend you cross streets away from crosswalks, remember, jaywalking is not only a ticketable offense, but it also greatly increases your likelihood of getting hit by a passing car. If you have been involved in a collision with a pedestrian and car, contact an accident attorney for assistance. Attorneys at the Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices in Illinois can help you in the court room today.