Florida Car Accident Pedestrian Deaths Rise Again
Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky is sorry to report that over the last year, pedestrian deaths increased to their greatest level in nearly 30 years, according to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association. This increase in pedestrian wrongful deaths flies in the face of a nationwide drop in the number of car accident fatalities.
The report found that nearly 6,600 pedestrians died in car and truck accident related crashes over the past year, an uptick of almost five percent from 2018. As one can imagine, the Association is dismayed by the data, which represents thousands of affected families.
While the researchers have difficulty determining the precise reason for the deadly increase, they attribute the rise to driver conduct including the ever increasing use of cellphones and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol – a situation which will only continue to rise due to the growing trend of legalized marijuana use. In fact, driver intoxication played a role in about one-third of all car accidents resulting in a pedestrian fatality, with about sixteen percent of all drivers involved in pedestrian related crashes being legally drunk.