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Ventura Woman Dies a Month after Pedestrian Accident

An elderly woman from Ventura, who was seriously injured in a pedestrian accident last month, succumbed to complications arising from her injuries. Eighty-four year old Mary Cox was seriously injured on the 25^th of November when she was struck by a motorist as she tried to cross the street. Since the accident, Cox had been in the hospital. Cox developed pneumonia, which according to the Coroner’s Office, was caused by the multiple blunt force trauma injuries she sustained during the collision.

The motorist who struck her was also an elderly driver, 89-year-old woman Fred Voder. Police officers have confirmed that they are holding Voder at fault for failure to exercise care for the safety of a pedestrian on the roadway. The Ventura County Star reports that Voder has not been arrested in connection with the accident, and police have not cited anyone.

According to a report by Transportation 4 America released this year, states that each year approximately 4,000 people are killed nationwide while crossing the road or walking on the sidewalk. According to the report, pedestrians fatalities are caused by poor and dangerous design of roadways. The report blames city and country authorities in California and around the country for neglecting pedestrian safety in road and traffic planning and design.

California pedestrian accident lawyers have also brought attention to the fact that our transportation system seems to be geared around the safety and convenience of motorists. Roads have been designed to facilitate faster and smoother movement of large numbers of motor vehicles. Even public safety campaigns and programs are concentrated on the safety of motorists.  State agencies spend heavily on educating motorists about the dangers of drunk driving and about the high risks of crashes associated with speeding. However, there is a markedly lower investment in pedestrian safety and education.

Time and again, California pedestrian accident lawyers have seen that accidents occur because of motorist failure to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks. Many accidents occur even when pedestrians are walking on marked and designated crosswalks, and obeying all traffic rules.

California with its bicycle and pedestrian friendly weather should be a haven for pedestrians and bicyclists. Instead, the state is notorious for its love of automobiles and for the disregard for bicyclist and pedestrian rights. The Transportation 4 America report titled Dangerous by Design did not place any Californian metro city on its list of top 10 most dangerous metro areas in the US for pedestrians. But several California metro areas including the San Jose and Santa Ana metro areas, were named for the high share that pedestrians have in traffic fatalities here. That means that although pedestrians here make up a very tiny percentage of the total population, they comprise a large percentage of auto traffic fatalities.

The findings of this report have been of great concern to California pedestrian accident attorneys. California spends a meager amount of its annual federal transportation funds on federal safety.  The trend is echoed across the nation as states earmark precious few funds to be invested in pedestrian safety, with devastating consequences for pedestrians.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of pedestrian accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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