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Curious about surviving a car accident as a pedestrian? While you can't control every factor, you can increase your chances of survival.
Essential Steps
Strategies for Surviving an Accident
Priority: Protect Your Head. While broken bones and internal bleeding are serious, head injuries are often life-threatening. Taking measures to prevent head injuries can be life-saving.
- Immediately cover your head with your arms, positioning your forehead in the crook of your elbows and your palms at the back of your head.
- Try to position your body to minimize impact on your head during the crash. Above all, avoid having your head near the car's wheels.
Target the safety glass. Modern cars (post-1970s) feature shatter-proof safety glass, which can absorb impact energy, ideally breaking the glass rather than causing harm to you.
- If possible, curl into a ball with your back or bottom towards the glass, while keeping your head protected between your elbows.
Strive to climb onto the hood. Rolling over the car remains perilous and may lead to injury, but it's preferable to being on the ground with the risk of the car rolling over you.
- Attempt to jump slightly as the car approaches.
- At lower speeds, consider stepping onto the hood and over the cab on foot. This method is more effective if anticipated or if you're being targeted by the driver. Note that it may be less successful with larger vehicles.
Avoiding Accidents
To safeguard against accidents in the future, consider the following recommendations.
Stick to designated paths. Sidewalks and crosswalks generally provide safety for pedestrians, so utilize them whenever feasible.
- If sidewalks aren't available, walk facing oncoming traffic. For instance, if drivers drive on the right side of the road, pedestrians should walk on the left side.
Be Vigilant of Traffic. Always check both directions before crossing the street, even if you have the right of way in a crosswalk with a green signal.
- Remember, having the right of way doesn't guarantee safety. A distracted or drowsy driver may not notice pedestrians, even with a green light. Be wary of erratic driving and quickly move out of harm's way.
- Stay attentive. Keep your focus on your surroundings. In high-traffic areas, consider keeping your phone away and avoiding listening to music so you can fully concentrate on staying safe.
Increase Your Visibility to Drivers. Ensure that drivers can see you well in advance to avoid potential accidents. Take the following steps:
- Wear brightly colored clothing, or if walking at night, wear clothing with reflective strips (or attach them to your backpack) or carry a flashlight.
- Avoid blind spots. If you can't see the driver's face in their side mirror, you're in their blind spot. Be mindful that the driver may not be aware of your presence. This applies even if a driver is focused on checking for traffic from the opposite direction while making a right turn, potentially overlooking pedestrians with the walk signal.
- Establish eye contact. When crossing in front of a stopped or stopping car, attempt to make eye contact with the driver. This confirms awareness between both parties.
If Unsure, Hold Off Crossing. If you doubt whether a driver can see you or if you can cross the street safely in time, wait. Traffic patterns change, and a safer opportunity may arise within a minute or two. It's worth being a few minutes late rather than risking a dangerous crossing.
- Find an alternative route. If struggling to cross a busy road, consider walking a few blocks to another crosswalk. It's safer to take a slightly longer route than to cross recklessly.
Recommendations
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Report to the police, even if injuries are minor. Filing a formal police report is necessary for processing insurance claims for medical treatment or other damages. Also, document injuries through photographs (or have someone take them) for your records. If a bicycle, scooter, skateboard, stroller, etc., is involved, photograph the damage to these items as well. Any other pertinent evidence should be included in your documentation.
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Double-check both ways before crossing the street.
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Avoid using iPods/MP3 players when crossing streets. Being able to hear honks or shouts could save your life—utilize all senses to stay alert.
Cautions
- In many situations, attempting to ride a bicycle, scooter, skateboard, etc., through a crosswalk is impractical. It's often safer to dismount and walk or carry the wheeled vehicle across. This may be challenging or even impossible if pushing a stroller, but if so, consider crossing with larger groups (increasing the likelihood of traffic stopping completely) or taking a slight detour.
- When discussing a car accident with police later on, refrain from assigning blame or making accusations. The cause and details of the incident will be determined through investigation, and maintaining a calm demeanor is crucial. Take note of your perception of the event; this documentation can be valuable if you need to recount it later, particularly for legal proceedings or to an investigator.
- Don't assume that surviving a car accident will be easy just because it seems so in movies and on television. While pedestrian fatalities are generally decreasing, it's still essential to take all necessary precautions when crossing a street. While vehicle design has evolved to consider pedestrians, it can't eliminate the dangers of speed or impact.
