Common Causes Behind Pedestrian Accidents

Why Understanding the “Why” Matters

When a car hits you on foot, it doesn’t feel random—it feels unfair, personal, and avoidable. You’re dealing with pain, time off work, and the mental loop of replaying those few seconds again and again. 

Understanding why pedestrian crashes happen helps you spot the choices and conditions that led to yours. It also gives you leverage, because cause points to accountability, and accountability opens the door to compensation.

Our pedestrian accident lawyers at Horn Wright, LLP, help injured pedestrians across New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, and we serve clients in all those areas with the same urgency and care. 

We’ve seen the patterns on crowded avenues, quiet neighborhood streets, and hectic intersections near schools and transit stops. Different locations, same results when drivers cut corners. That’s why we move fast to document what went wrong before it fades.

Distracted Driving: The Attention Problem

Phones, touchscreens, and dashboard gadgets have turned driving into a multi-task contest and pedestrians pay the price. 

A two-second glance at a text means a car travels half a block without a focused driver. That’s how someone in a crosswalk becomes “invisible” until it’s too late. You shouldn’t have to compete for a driver’s attention just to cross the street.

Evidence of distraction can be found, and it’s worth the chase. Security cameras, phone records, and witness accounts tell a story that the driver won’t admit out loud. We pull data, line up timelines, and connect the dots so the excuse falls apart. When the evidence is tight, negotiations shift.

You deserve a case that reflects the truth, not a polished version that protects a careless driver. If distraction caused your injuries, your proof should say it clearly and loudly. That clarity matters to adjusters and juries alike. It also closes the door on “I never saw them.”

Speeding and Reckless Driving

When drivers treat city streets like open highways, bad things happen fast. Speed squeezes reaction time to almost nothing, and the human body can’t absorb that kind of impact. If a driver was flying through your intersection, that choice needs to be front and center in your claim. Here’s how recklessness shows up and how we prove it:

• Too fast for conditions. A car moving ten miles over the limit turns near-misses into collisions. Pedestrians don’t have crumple zones, so every extra mile per hour multiplies injury risk. Skid marks, black-box data, and camera timestamps make speed measurable. Numbers beat guesswork every time.
• Aggressive weaving and rolling reds. Quick lane changes and “California stops” create chaos at crosswalks. Drivers focused on beating the light stop seeing people on foot. Witnesses and signal data prove the pattern in minutes. That pattern looks a lot like negligence to a jury.
• Hot left turns through crosswalks. Left turns demand patience and clear sightlines and rushing them is a recipe for harm. Drivers who floor it to “make the gap” cut straight across your path. Angle, speed, and sightline measurements show how little time you were given. Tight visuals make the risk obvious.
• Speeding in school zones and neighborhoods. These areas are designed for caution, not hurry. When drivers ignore that, the danger skyrockets for kids, seniors, and anyone walking a dog. Posted limits and traffic-calming signs become powerful context. Reckless speed in these zones is hard to defend.

Failure to Yield at Crosswalks

Crosswalks are supposed to be your safe space, not a gamble. Many drivers fixate on other cars and forget to scan for people, especially when turning. That split-second oversight isn’t “just a mistake.” It’s a breach of duty that puts pedestrians in the hospital.

• Blowing the signal timing. Some drivers push through fading yellows or early reds, entering the crosswalk as your walk signal starts. That overlap is exactly why crashes happen at corners. Signal phase data and video make the timing argument undeniable. The timeline tells on the driver.
• Right-on-red tunnel vision. Turning drivers look left for cars and forget you on the right edge of the crosswalk. That blind spot is predictable and preventable. Corner cameras and curbside witnesses spot it instantly. Predictable and preventable equals negligent.
• Edging and crowding. Honking, creeping forward, or forcing you to hurry is aggressive and dangerous. Those moves push you into harm’s way while the car claims “I was careful.” Witness statements show how you were rushed. Rushing people on foot is not careful; it’s careless.
• Nighttime indifference. Low light doesn’t erase duty; it raises it. If a driver didn’t slow down or scan longer, that’s on them. Headlight patterns and ambient lighting get documented. Darkness isn’t a defense when caution was the answer.

Poor Road and Sidewalk Conditions

Sometimes the hazard isn’t only the driver. It’s the space itself. Faded crosswalk paint, broken signals, missing signage, and crumbling curbs all raise the risk of a serious crash. If the layout hides pedestrians from view or funnels cars too quickly into crossings, design becomes part of the story. And design has owners.

When public entities or property owners fail to maintain safe conditions, responsibility can be shared. That means different timelines, special notice requirements, and a need to act fast. We identify which agency or owner controls the space and send preservation and notice letters immediately. Early moves keep your options open.

Photos, crash maps, maintenance logs, and prior complaints show patterns. When a location hurts people repeatedly, it’s not bad luck. It’s a fix that never happened. Your case can help force that fix while making sure you’re not left carrying the cost.

Drunk or Drugged Driving

Impairment turns a two-ton vehicle into a guessing game. 

Slower reactions, blurred judgment, and tunnel vision make pedestrians easy to miss and impossible to avoid in time. Even “a little buzzed” is a lot more dangerous than most drivers admit. You shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s gamble.

Criminal charges don’t pay your medical bills. Civil claims do. We use breath tests, toxicology results, officer observations, and field sobriety evidence to anchor liability. When impairment is proven, defenses collapse. Settlements tend to move faster, and juries get less forgiving.

Your recovery deserves the full support the law allows. If a driver chose to drink or use drugs, your case should call that out plainly. Accountability here is essential. It’s also how change happens on the road.

Weather and Visibility Issues

Bad weather doesn’t cause crashes. Bad driving in bad weather does. Rain, snow, fog, glare, and early darkness demand more caution, not less. When drivers don’t adapt, pedestrians become the first victims. Here’s how conditions play into cause without letting drivers off the hook:

• Rain and slick pavement. Wet roads stretch braking distance and hide painted lines. Drivers must slow down and scan longer. If they didn’t, that’s negligence, not “act of God.” Dashcam and traffic-cam footage show exactly how hard they were pushing.
• Snow, ice, and slush. Winter driving requires clear windows, gentle inputs, and extra space. Sliding into a crosswalk is poor planning. Plow timing and maintenance records add context. So do photos of windshield visibility and tire condition.
• Low sun and harsh glare. Sunrise and sunset can turn windshields into mirrors. That’s the moment to ease off the gas, not guess what’s ahead. If the driver didn’t adjust, they chose risk over safety. Glare explains visibility, not responsibility.
• Fog and poorly lit streets. Reduced sightlines mean reduced speed and heightened attention. Failing to adapt is a choice with consequences. Headlight use, speed data, and sight-distance measurements make the point. Conditions raise the bar; they don’t lower it.

Protect Your Rights, Pursue Your Recovery

Every crash has a cause and causes point to choices. 

Distracted driving, speed, failure to yield, bad design, impairment, or weather that wasn’t respected. Whatever set the stage, you don’t have to shoulder the fallout alone. You deserve a team that finds the “why,” proves it, and fights for what you need next.

Contact our office to book a free case review. We’ll dig into the cause, build a focused strategy, and push for the maximum compensation the law allows. You heal. We’ll handle the heavy lift.