The Grave Issue of Public Transport Safety
The urban planning of most United States metropolises leave much to be desired for pedestrians. Most roads are built for the convenience of vehicles, which in turn compromise the safety of people on the sidewalks.
Public transport safety is an issue that needs to be addressed, one that is acknowledged by a handful of government entities like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They reported that one wrongful death of a pedestrian occurred every 71 minutes in 2021, presumably due to reckless driving along with many other factors.
This is bad especially for vulnerable groups like the youth and the elderly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both of which have reportedly experienced a disproportionate amount of traffic deaths that same year.
City planning does not place the safety of pedestrians at the utmost priority, and people often use public transportation to get to multiple locations. Depending on where they’re going, they may find themselves cramped in the train or bus. Some of them may even use the LimeBike or the Bird scooter.
Whatever mode of public transportation they may use, being on the road exposes pedestrians to some risk of catastrophic injuries like traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, which is why it is extremely important that they actively protect themselves from harm.
In this blog, we will go over some tips to maximize a pedestrian’s safety against road hazards. It is important that you keep reading as you will, at some point in your life, be the pedestrian that this blog is catered to.
Without further ado, here are the 5 useful tips to optimize public transportation safety.
1. Plan Your Route To Optimize Public Transportation Safety
Knowing where you are going does wonders in protecting yourself from any accidents. With sure-footing, you refrain from multi-tasking and direct most of your attention to the environment around you. This allows you to watch out for any traffic signs or potential hazards you may otherwise not be aware of.
Say for example, you’re fixated on your navigation apps because you didn’t know where to go. Simultaneously doing that while on a LimeBike, puts you at risk for a catastrophic injury, a likelihood that will be reduced if you just planned your route a little more.
2. Refrain From Distracted Walking
The same principle above applies to Tip #2: refrain from distracted walking.
Distracted walking doesn’t just mean “don’t go on your phone when you walk.” It also includes things like listening to music on your way to the bus stop, or talking to your friends on your phone while you’re on the scooter. These things hinder your ability to remain present in the moment, which could negatively affect your safety.
And perhaps one of the most dangerous yet overlooked forms of distraction is texting-and-walking, which shuts you off cognitively, visually, and manually to your surroundings.
Be advised to focus on one task at a time. If you absolutely need to shoot a text mid-walk, stop walking and send that text before resuming.
3. Ensure Public Transportation Safety By Staying Away From Curbs And Edges
But if you must stop mid-walk, make sure that you are staying away from curbs and edges.
Stay away from vehicles as much as possible when you are on the street. If you linger too long by a curb or the edge of a sidewalk, you may get sideswiped. The impact of heavy objects against you could have detrimental effects on your mental and physical health, especially if they’re moving towards you.
So when you’re waiting for your bus or simply patiently waiting when the light turns green for safe crossing, make sure you leave an ample distance between you and the edge of the sidewalk.
4. Know Your Sidewalk Rules
Different from the “sidewalk rules” referenced by several content creators on TikTok, the sidewalk rules enforced by your state refers to the regulations geared toward ensuring pedestrian safety on the sidewalks.
The sidewalk rules are not uniform across all cities. For example, one city may enforce their own sidewalk rules differently from another with regards to bike riding. Los Angeles, for example, allows bicyclists on the sidewalk so long as they exercise their duty of care for the pedestrians around them. The same cannot be said for Artesia and Cerritos.
For this reason, it’s important to look into the sidewalk rules in your own city. Otherwise, you risk running into some legal trouble. Worse — endanger the lives of others.
5. Know Your Pedestrian Rights
If you’re on the sidewalk, you are afforded certain pedestrian rights. It’s important to know them so that we can exercise our duty of care towards others in the right way.
For example, you are not allowed to carry a white cane as you are walking out in the streets unless you are legally blind as defined by state law. Failure to comply with this law may lead you to suffer some legal repercussions.
Call Omega Law Group
However careful you are during your commutes, there is still a chance that you could run into some serious trouble on the road. Which is why it’s important that you have a backup plan when your luck runs out. For any legal services you may need relating to personal injury, call the best team of accident attorneys. Call Omega Law Group.
The highly-skilled lawyers of Omega Law Group are well-versed in the law and are able to maximize the settlement amount you could get for your accident. The empathy they have towards their clients, in addition to their personalized client service have allowed the firm to accrue over millions of dollars on behalf of their clients.
The exceptional level of legal service they deliver to their clients has earned them prestigious awards from industry-vetted organizations like SuperLawyers, as well as features from the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Business Journal. In fact, the Business Journal has just recently heralded them as one of “Most Admired Firms” to work for.
Despite the prestige and accolades, Omega Law Group remains grounded in fulfilling their mission to provide quality legal service for all in spite of one’s financial circumstances. In order to do this, they operate on a contingency-fee basis, allowing them to fight for their clients without charging upfront for legal services.
Schedule a free consultation with the elite legal team of experts to learn more!