A person crossing a street in a motorized wheelchair was hurt in a two-car accident in the Myers Park area of Charlotte, North Carolina (NC).
The wreck happened at the intersection of Providence Road and Cherokee Road, according to wbtv.com.
The exact details of this crosswalk accident are still unclear. Did one of the drivers fail to yield and attempt to turn too early? Was one of the drivers distracted? Did one of them turn on a red light? These questions will probably be answered once the police report in released.
Unfortunately, crosswalk accidents are not uncommon. Close to 60,000 pedestrians were seriously injured in crosswalk-related accidents in 2009. To make matters worse, over 4,000 pedestrians lost their lives in crosswalk accidents in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Both drivers and pedestrians have to be aware of each other when there is an available crosswalk. This is especially true for drivers since, if you make a mistake and wind up hitting a pedestrian, the damage you inflict on that pedestrian could be life-threatening.
PA