1) Distracted Driving

We tend to think of distracted driving as a relatively new hazard on the roadways with the increase in the prevalence of mobile phones, GPS units, in-car Wi-Fi and other potential hazards. However, distracted driving has been one of the most common causes of pedestrian accidents for decades. Before the cellphone, there were other distractions that split the attention of careless drivers split every day. These included: food, passengers, radios, surrounding traffic, even newspapers and books that kept driver’s eyes off the road.

However, that number of distractions is increasing. In fact, according to NHTSA crash data collection, 10% of fatal crashes and 15% of injurious crashes in 2015 were caused by some sort of distraction. That’s why legislators all over the country have been quick to pass laws attempting to minimize the occurrence and impact of distracted driving.

California distracted Driving Laws

In fact, California has a total of four distracted driving laws on the books. The first two make it unlawful for drivers to use handheld phones while operating an automobile. The third law makes it illegal for drivers under the age of 18 to use handheld phones while driving, like the first two, but adds provisions pertaining to the use of hands-free devices (such as Bluetooth headsets) while behind the wheel. The last California cell phone law makes it unlawful for anyone to text while driving.

In each case violating these laws is considered a primary offense (which means the driver can be pulled over if spotted. Punishment for violating these distracted driving laws in California include fines and addition of points to your license (which could result in a suspended or revoked operator’s license).

2) Speeding

Speed is the single most common contributing factor to motor vehicle accidents in The United States. Traveling above the posted speed limit radically increase your risk of being in an accident. In fact, a study presented at the University of California at Berkeley showed that for every 1% increase in an automobile’s speed, the chance of being involved in a crash increased by 2 percent.

Speeding also increases your chance of being injured (and injuring others) significantly. That same study found that for every 1% increase in speed, the chance of serious injury increased by 3% and the risk of a fatality rose by about 4%.

3) Failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians at crosswalks

Failing to yield to pedestrians in marked (or unmarked) crosswalks is one of the most common causes of pedestrian accidents nationwide. In fact, Failure to yield accidents account for 20% of fatal and non-fatal accidentsin California.

And almost all failure to yield accidents can be attributed to the driver. In fact, California’s crosswalk laws guarantee that pedestrians (not automobiles) have the right of way at marked and unmarked crosswalks even when there are no crossing lights in use.

(When cars fail to yield to pedestrians, they do so when turning left more often than right. Why is that? Experts suggest that drivers don’t often see pedestrians in crosswalks upon beginning their left turns and are often looking in a different direction at the time of the impact.)

4) Disobeying traffic signs or signals

You may think that reckless drivers running through stop lights cause a significant portion of pedestrian accidents in California. You’d be wrong. In fact, disobeying traffic signs and signals isn’t as common a cause for pedestrians accidents as you might think.

One study found that just 17% of stop sign accidents actually involve a vehicle running through the intersection. Interestingly, most drivers do stop but then either fail to see pedestrians or fail to yield the right of way to them. Those types of failure to yield accidents represent 70% of all crashes which occur at intersections controlled by stop signs.

The statistics are slightly different for intersections controlled by stoplights but reckless drivers simply running through intersections at speed just aren’t as common as the other root causes of pedestrian accidents in California.

5) Failing to signal while turning

Pedestrians have a duty to protect themselves. Indeed, some portions of that duty are codified in California traffic laws. For example, pedestrians must always use available crosswalks, they must walk on certain sides of the street (as determined by traffic flow), and they must obey signs and lights just as drivers do.

Part of the obligation to protect yourself while traveling on foot extends to yielding the roadway to turning cars. But how do you really know if a car is turning at an intersection?

In 2012 a self-report study found that over half of Americans don’t use their turn signals when they should. If a driver fails to signal their intention to turn, and a pedestrian steps into the crosswalk, the driver is at fault for the crash, not the pedestrian.

6) Disregarding weather or traffic conditions

California traffic laws state that drivers have a duty to travel at “prudent” speeds regardless of posted limits. That means they must take into account conditions like the weather and traffic when determining what a “safe” speed is.

Disregarding these conditions and traveling at (or above) the posted limit when it’s unsafe can shift liability for a pedestrian accident to the driver even if the pedestrian contributed to the crash. For example, is if a car is traveling at the posted limit in dense fog and strikes a pedestrian who stepped into a crosswalk without waiting for the signal light to change, both individuals could share liability for the pedestrian accident under California’s comparative negligence statutes.

7) Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol

According to the IIHS-Highway Loss Data Institute, intoxicated drivers cause 13% of all pedestrian accidents.

A single alcoholic beverage can begin to erode a driver’s ability to perceive and react to road hazards in time to avoid a crash. After just 4 drinks an average weight man would be considered legally impaired (with BAC of .08 or higher). That threshold drops to just three drinks for an average weight woman.

And even before a driver becomes legally impaired, their ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is degraded. Just two drinks can