Many times in Lafayette, car accidents occur between vehicles. But car accidents also happen when a car hits a pedestrian, and the resulting injuries are usually considerable given the difference in size between a person and car. A new study illustrates an increase in the number of accidents involving pedestrians, and walkers in particular may want to listen carefully to what's behind the rise.

The study indicated that the number of serious injuries to pedestrians, in particular those who were using headphones, tripled from 2004 to 2011, and a staggering 70 percent of the time, the pedestrian died from the personal injuries sustained in the crash.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland Medical Center conducted the study. Researchers concluded that the distraction caused by headphones being used by someone who is walking on the street makes it difficult to hear oncoming traffic or to be aware of signs of danger. This put pedestrians at greater risk of being hit by a car, truck or even a train, as the study found.

According to the findings, many motorists warned pedestrians of impending danger by honking their horn. Still, an injurious accident often took place.

In Louisiana, vehicles must yield the right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks, and if there is no traffic control signal at the crosswalk, the driver still must yield to pedestrians. However, pedestrians are not allowed to suddenly leave a curb and step into the path of a vehicle if it would be impossible for that vehicle to yield.

If an accident between a car and a pedestrian occurs, the pedestrian potentially has the right to seek compensation for damages such as medical bills, loss of wages, pain and suffering and emotional distress. But if pedestrians are shown to have caused or aided in an accident -- by wearing headphones and not paying attention to traffic safety laws, for example -- then the amount of damages they can seek could be limited or reduced. The extent of injured pedestrians' money damages will depend on how much of the blame for the accident can be attributed to the non-driver.

It seems unlikely that headphones and other portable electronic music players are going away any time soon, so it seems probable that this trend of pedestrian accidents will continue. For this reason, it is important that both drivers and pedestrians are aware of their surroundings and always obey all traffic regulations.

Source: USA Today, "More headphone-wearing walkers hit by cars," Chris Woodyard, Jan. 17, 2012