In recent years, an alarming trend has emerged on the roads in the USA (but weirdly, not anywhere else) including New York State where this New York car accident lawyer practices law: a huge uptick in car accidents involving pedestrians, especially at night. Why? And why only in the USA?
First, as the sun sets and darkness blankets the streets, the risks for pedestrians always amplify. One of the significant contributors to the increased accidents involving pedestrians at night is reduced visibility. As daylight fades, visibility diminishes, making it challenging for drivers to spot pedestrians, especially in poorly lit areas or where street lighting is inadequate. Additionally, factors such as glare from headlights, distractions within the vehicle, and impaired visibility due to adverse weather conditions further compound the risks.
But the factors above have always been a problem. Why are nighttime pedestrian accidents increasing now? Take a look today’s New York Times for a possible answer: In most parts of the world, drivers still have to shift gears as they drive, and thus are deprived of the easy opportunity to be simultaneously using their phones. Manual shift vehicles in the USA are quickly disappearing from our roads. US drivers are thus more readily able to engage in texting, emailing and checking their calendars as they drive compared to, for example, their European counterparts. This explains why this uptick is occurring only in the USA, where shift-vehicles are disappearing, and not elsewhere.
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