Seattle Personal Injury Law Blog

Regular readers of this blog are aware of the all too frequent pedestrian accidents that occur throughout the Seattle area. Most of these types of accidents we write about involve individuals who are walking when they are struck by a motor vehicle. Though not nearly as common, it is possible for individuals who are standing or sitting to be involved in pedestrian accidents as well.

This past weekend a pedestrian who was not walking died after being hit by car. Rather than walking, the man was instead sitting in the middle of a North Seattle Road. The early morning incident occurred while it was dark on 15th Avenue Northeast.

Most people would agree that there are far too many car accidents involving pedestrians in the Seattle area. In many cases these incidents are due to inattentive driving on the part of the person who is behind the wheel of the vehicle. While this is most certainly a problem, inattentiveness on the part of the pedestrians may be a problem as well.

Consumer Reports recently released a poll that indicated that throughout the nation, 85 percent of those surveyed had recently witnessed pedestrians utilizing a mobile device of some sort to email, text, talk or use an app while engaging in the practice. Of that number, over half, or 52 percent, indicated that they believed the walkers and bikers were putting themselves in danger. This is further bolstered by a study performed by a former graduate student who found that the number of pedestrians who are injured while using a cellphone is up by more than 180 each year.

On any given day in the Seattle area, numerous construction projects of varying sizes are underway. Depending on the type of project, the use of large pieces of equipment may be necessary to complete the job. As is the case with virtually any piece of equipment, there is a risk that the operator will be injured while using the machinery. The outcome of these construction accidents can be serious.

This occurred this past weekend at a construction site located on the University of Washington campus. A man operating a crane was injured when a heavy slab of concrete fell on the machinery he was using. The piece of concrete was described as being approximately 15 feet by 30 feet and weighing approximately 40,000 pounds. It apparently fell six stories before landing on the cab of the crane, crushing it and trapping the man. At the time of the incident, the man was working to demolish a former dorm called Lander Hall.

Operators of motor vehicle accidents sometimes participate in behavior that is anything but safe. Most who are on the road witness it on a fairly regular basis. While in many cases there are no consequences for the unsafe actions, sometimes that risky behavior results in an accident. Those accidents can sometimes be only minor fender-benders. Other times however, they can result in death.

Late last month a race between a motorcycle and a car, apparently lead to a fatal accident in West Seattle.