Highway 108 a Dangerous Place for Modesto Pedestrian Accidents

 The Modesto Bee is reporting a disturbing trend of pedestrians being hit on Highway 108. The roadway claimed another victim last month, which now puts the total at 17 in just over a year.

Our Modesto personal injury lawyers know that California leads the nation in pedestrian accidents.

Law enforcement will be beefing up patrols and will issue tickets to both drivers and pedestrians. Drivers will get a $243 ticket for not stopping for people in the crosswalk and pedestrians will be issued a $203 ticket for walking in front of cars. The police plan on using pedestrian decoys to see if vehicles will stop at crosswalks.

We recently reported on our Modesto Injury Lawyer Blog about the high rate of pedestrian accidents in Stockton, Modesto and the surrounding areas.

The Governors Highway Safety Associations Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State reports that California had 563 pedestrian deaths in 2009. For the first 6 months of 2010 we have had 260 which is the same amount for that time frame in 2009.

Police blame both drivers and pedestrians for being inattentive while driving and walking. They have been engaged in such activities as eating, putting on makeup, texting, talking on their cell phones. Anything and everything that is likely to distract them from paying attention to their surroundings.

Most of the accidents have involved children and the bulk of the injuries have been minor. The youngest victim was a 3-year-old hit by a texting driver. There has been one fatality that involved a 49-year-old who was intoxicated and was hit by a car while attempting to cross Highway 108 at night.

The latest victim was a 40-year-old who was walking across Highway 108 when she was hit by a pickup truck. Police reported that traffic was heavy and it was raining at the time of the accident.

Safety tips for all pedestrians:

-Make eye contact with the driver and always cross at a corner, using traffic signals and crosswalks.

-When crossing the street look left, right and left again. Always walk across the street, don't run.

-Use sidewalks or paths, if there aren't any, walk facing traffic.

-Be alert to vehicles around you.

-Children should hold hands with an adult in parking lots.

Pedestrian safety tips for children:
-Children under 10 should never cross streets by themselves.

-Children should walk using the routes with the fewest street crossings.

-Children should never cross the street behind a school bus and should wait for adults on the same side of the road as the school bus unloading or loading zone.

-Children need to be taught to not run into the road after a toy or pet.