There is an inherent level of risk for all pedestrians when crossing the street, even at crosswalks. This is true regardless of race, age, gender or any other factors. People can all be hit and injured or killed when drivers make mistakes.
That being said, studies show that doesn’t mean all people have the same amount of risk. Specifically, researchers have found that minorities face more risk, as they’re more often hit and killed by cars than white pedestrians.
Now, there are a lot of factors that play into this. For example, those reporting on the study did note that these individuals may live in cities more often, exposing them to more traffic. They’d find themselves in more potential situations where they could be struck than those living in the country.
Even so, they decided to test it out to see if drivers put minorities at greater risk. To do it, they got six people and dressed them all identically. They were all men, they used the same habits and mannerisms during the study, and three of them were white while three were black. In turn, they walked up to the same crosswalk and waited to see when cars would stop.
Drivers made African American pedestrians wait a full 32 percent as long as white pedestrians before stopping. Researchers also found that, when one car drove past a pedestrian without stopping, those behind where more likely to follow suit. On the whole, twice as many vehicles went by the African American pedestrians before they were allowed to cross.
Have you been hit and injured because drivers did not respect your safety for any reason? Medical bills can add up quickly, so it’s important to know all of your legal rights.
Source: US News, “The Inequality of Who Gets Hit by Cars,” Lindsey Cook, accessed Aug. 31, 2017
