The Houston pedestrian accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC have noticed that over the last year or so, there seems to have been a sharp rise in the number of news reports of tragic Houston pedestrian deaths by vehicle, as well an increasing number of hit and run accidents. So from time to time, we have posted safety tips for pedestrians and calls to report hit and run drivers.
It turns out it wasn’t just our imagination. Houston police have just issued a warning to local residents to be careful when out walking, as there really has been a rising number of pedestrian and vehicle collisions, and a large proportion of those accidents have been hit and runs.
Yesterday, after the third pedestrian death in a 5-block section of Bellaire Boulevard, the HPD issued a warning to local pedestrians to be extra cautious on the streets, particularly at night. The first pedestrian fatality along this part of Bellaire this year happened on January 15th around 10 p.m. when a 79-year-old man was fatally struck. The driver in that tragic incident stopped to render aid, and was not found at fault for the accident. The second death occurred on February 9th just before dawn when a car that debris indicated might have been a Toyota killed a 28-year-old man. That hit and run driver fled the scene.
The most recent fatal pedestrian accident happened just before 6 a.m. on Saturday in the Bellaire Boulevard construction area when a 40-year-old man was hit when he tried to cross the street outside of a crosswalk. That hit and run driver also fled the scene. Our Houston pedestrian accident lawyerss emphasize that of the three recent fatal pedestrian – vehicle collisions on that stretch of Bellaire, two-thirds have been hit and runs.
That part of Bellaire Boulevard where the most recent fatal accident occurred is especially problematic according to people in the neighborhood. One side of the street is without a sidewalk. About 55 streetlights have been removed from the area, making it darker and more dangerous than usual at night. And construction work has made the area extra hazardous to navigate. But people need to cross the street. And bus stops on the route mean that pedestrians will be coming and going in the area.
The risk to pedestrians is by no means confined to the construction zone along Bellaire. Just yesterday, KTRK reported that a car struck a pedestrian on Highway 290 at the North Loop just after 5 p.m., and that the victim was taken away from the scene by ambulance.
The increase in pedestrian deaths and traffic fatalities in Houston has been alarming this year. Last year at this time, there had been 30 traffic deaths, of which 7 were pedestrians. This year, there are already 44 road fatalities, of which 15, more than one third, have been pedestrians.
The increase in Houston hit and run collisions is not a recent trend. From 1999 to 2001, the number of reported hit and runs in Houston increased by 20%. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety researchers found that unlicensed drivers are more than 66% more likely to flee the scene of an accident than licensed drivers. Our Houston pedestrian accident lawyers mention that this percentage bears a striking relation to the proportion of fatal hit and run pedestrian accidents along Bellaire recently. Click the link to learn some important pedestrian safety steps to reduce your risk of being hit.