Catastrophic injury claims seek compensation for the worst kinds of injuries after a person has been critically hurt in an accident. Pedestrians are more likely to sustain critical injuries in a collision with a vehicle due to their exposure to traffic hazards and the increasing number of pedestrian-vehicle collisions.

A pedestrian crash can occur anywhere. Incidents tend to happen more often in urban areas since people are more likely to walk to get around. Even when a vehicle is moving at slower speeds, hitting a pedestrian might break bones or suffer major internal injuries.

Plenty of studies have explored the experiences of pedestrians. A recent study from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association estimates that more than 6,227 pedestrian fatalities occurred across 2018, a significant increase over previous years. If this preliminary data is correct, pedestrian deaths have reached their highest levels since 1990.

This study was created with data from the State Highway Safety Offices across the District of Columbia and all 50 states. Some researchers believe that the SUV boom in the United States is contributing significantly to the high numbers of pedestrian deaths. The report says that persons struck by an SUV are twice as likely to die as those struck by cars. According to the GHSA, the number of pedestrian fatalities involving SUVs increased by over 50 percent from 2013 to 2017 and the number of pedestrian fatalities caused by passenger vehicles increased by 30 percent during that same period.

Pedestrians face alarming risks after being struck in an accident, especially if they don’t seek medical help.

Some of the most common injuries associated with a pedestrian wreck include broken bones, internal injuries like organ damage or bleeding, contusions and other head injuries, or chronic pain that makes it difficult to work or live life normally. The medical bills for these kinds of injuries often extend into the thousands of dollars.

Pedestrians do not have the safety provided by seatbelts, airbags or the outer shell of a car, meaning that they may more likely to file catastrophic injury claims after being struck by another person in an accident. Despite the fact that vehicle safety advancements have improved in the last several decades, pedestrians continue to suffer at an alarming rate.

Certain people face a higher risk of pedestrian deaths than do others. The CDC says pedestrians aged 65 and above account for more than 19 percent of all pedestrian deaths and an estimated 13 percent of all the pedestrians who were injured in 2015.

Children also face being killed in traffic accidents as pedestrians. One out of every five children who are killed in vehicle accidents were children under the age of 15. According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries are a significant but neglected public health threat and in some countries around the world, pedestrians make up as much as 40 percent of all fatalities in vehicle accidents.

Pedestrians are more likely to have a difficult time going back to work or being able to move on with their life after a devastating vehicle accident, but many of them don’t realize they could have grounds for catastrophic injury claims as the victim of a personal injury accident.