Most pedestrian accidents in Georgia involve a forward-moving car. When a moving vehicle strikes a pedestrian—whether walking or standing—he often suffers head trauma. In a car and pedestrian accident, a pedestrian is thrown against the vehicle, then off the car, and onto the ground, causing him to be impacted twice.
The region of the car that hits a pedestrian will determine the extent of a pedestrian’s injuries. For example, the bumper can cause different injuries to a pedestrian than the hood or the windshield. Additionally, different ages and heights of pedestrians can also determine what types of injuries they suffer:
- Bumper – While a bumper hits the lower limbs of an adult pedestrian, leading to lower extremity injuries, it can cause a serious brain injury for toddlers and small children impacted by a car’s bumper.
- Hood – The hood typically strikes the torso of an adult, causing internal injuries, but it can also cause brain injuries for young children whose heads line up to a car’s hood.
- Windshield – When any age of pedestrian hits a moving vehicle’s windshield, a traumatic brain injury may result.
Interestingly, the injury patterns of traffic-related pedestrian accidents depend on the age and size of a pedestrian. Because of their smaller size and inability to judge a vehicle’s speed and how far away it is, children are more susceptible to suffering head injuries in Georgia pedestrian accidents, such as concussion, skull fracture, and traumatic brain injury.
Car and pedestrian accident investigations also have indicated that head impact and brain injuries were also dependent on the shape and stiffness of the car, the force of the impact, and the height of the pedestrian. Unfortunately, the head is the most frequently and severely injured body part of child pedestrians.
Statistics indicate that children younger than 16 are most likely to be struck by motor vehicles, and nearly one in four traffic deaths among children ages 14 and under are pedestrian deaths, according to the CDC.
If your child was hit by a negligent driver and suffered a serious brain injury in Georgia, your child may need ongoing medical care. To make sure you obtain justice and fair compensation for your injured child, call a Peachtree City brain injury lawyer to find out about your family’s rights to compensation. Shane Smith Law will provide you with a complimentary consultation at (980) 246-2656 today.