According to a report from Fox 5 Atlanta, a woman was struck and killed while walking on Interstate 75 in Clayton County early Sunday morning. Officers from the Clayton County Police Department arrived on the scene near CW Grant Parkway shortly before 2:30 AM to find that the woman who was reportedly walking in the roadway had died at the scene and the driver of the vehicle that struck her was transported by paramedics to a local hospital for injuries sustained in the collision. The accident resulted in the closure of all northbound lanes of the interstate for several hours while police investigated.
As explained by StreetsBlog USA, around one-fifth of all pedestrian accidents occur on controlled-access freeways or interstates, despite the fact that pedestrians and bicyclists are strongly discouraged and even legally barred in many states from walking on interstates. Interstates, the blog notes, are specifically designed without any sort of walking infrastructure, with the focus of moving commercial trucks and other types of motor vehicles through the area as quickly as possible.
Recent studies show that only 18 percent of pedestrians on the interstate are people whose vehicles have become disabled on the roadway. Instead, StreetsBlog reported, even fewer are workers in construction zones. Instead, many of the pedestrians who die on interstates are actively attempting to cross multiple lanes of traffic, are walking along the shoulder of the roadway, or are standing, lying, playing or walking in a travel lane. Unfortunately, the blog notes, the speeds that motor vehicles are traveling on the interstate make surviving an accident highly unlikely for the pedestrian.
Were you injured or have you lost a loved one as a result of a pedestrian accident? If so, let an experienced accident attorney from Cambre & Associates LLC help you understand your legal options for seeking compensation for the costs and impacts of your injury. Contact us for a free case evaluation.