Broward Injury Lawyer Blog
A recent service at the St. Ambrose Catholic Church ended with a fatal Deerfield Beach pedestrian accident. Accident reports indicate an elderly driver in a Buick Century backed over a female parishioner as she was leaving the church. The elderly driver didn’t just back over the woman, but she dragged her underneath the car across the lawn, too. The driver of the vehicle was 88-years-old and a fellow parishioner of the pedestrian. The pedestrian was just 66-years-old. They were both taken to the North Broward Medical Center at roughly 10:00 a.m. The pedestrian was later pronounced dead, according to the Sun Sentinel.
“She backed up so fast, dragging the poor woman, a man came up and opened the door and put on the brake,” said a witness.
Deerfield Beach pedestrian accident attorneys understand that there are nearly 20,000 injuries and nearly 350 fatalities that occur every year because of backover accidents in the U.S. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a large number of the victims of these kinds of accidents are young children and elderly residents. As a matter of fact, nearly 35 percent of the victim’s involved in these accidents are over the age of 70. For this reason, the NHTSA has recently made a proposal to require all new cars and trucks (weighing less than 10,000 pounds) to come equipped with rear-view cameras. The NHTSA is looking to have these cameras installed in all new vehicles by 2014. Recent studies conclude that having cameras on these vehicles would help to prevent up to 112 backover car accidents every year. In addition to saving these lives, studies have concluded that about 7,000 injuries could be prevented with this technology.
“Adoption of this proposal would significantly reduce fatalities and injuries caused by backover crashes involving children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and other pedestrians,” said the NHTSA in its proposal.
Advocates for the technology say that this may be the most beneficial preventative measure available to help reduce the risks of these kinds of accidents. Those who are opposed to the technology say that it’s going to cost way too much! Automakers are among the ones who oppose this movement. They say that to equip the near 17 million new cars that are manufactured each year, it could cost nearly $3 billion to put the technology into these vehicles. That’s a cost, they say, that will passed down to the consumer.
Characteristics of the most common backover accidents:
-Nearly 40 percent happen in residential spaces, such as parking lots of townhouses and apartments as well as in driveways.
-Less than 20 percent of fatal backover accidents happen in nonresidential parking lots, but these accidents account for more than 50 percent of injury-resulting accidents.
Nothing will ever be able to replace driver awareness. Be alert when driving in these scenarios to help prevent these kinds of accidents.
If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in a backover accident in Broward County or in any of the surrounding areas, contact Fort Lauderdale Pedestrian Accident Attorney Richard Ansara by calling 954 761-3641 or toll-free at 877-277-3780 for a free initial consultation.
Additional Resources:
Woman dragged underneath car at Deerfield church, by Joe Cavaretta, Sun Sentinel
More Blog Entries:
Risks of Bicycle Accidents in Broward County Increased with Bike-Sharing Program?, Broward Injury Lawyer Blog, March 15, 2012
Six-Year-Old on Scooter Critically Injured in Two-Car Accident in Pompano Beach, Broward Injury Lawyer Blog, March 1, 2012
