Manhattan has perhaps the busiest and most crowded streets of any place in the country. So it should be no surprise that New York State is one of the worst states in the U.S. when it comes to pedestrians Killed by motor vehicles -- with Manhattan and the rest of New York City likely leading the way. According to a recent nationwide study of the years 2012-20, New York came in fourth in total Pedestrian accident deaths with 2,534. The Empire State averaged about 282 pedestrian fatalities per year in that period. The worst year for pedestrian fatalities in that period was 2013, when 336 were killed by motor vehicles. In 2020, 231 pedestrians died. The "top" three states in the study were California, Florida and Texas. It's probably no coincidence that those states and New York are also the top four states by population. Of course, other factors, such as traffic and pedestrian density, certainly played a role in New York's high ranking.

Who are pedestrian accident victims?

Victims can be any age, but 20 percent of pedestrians killed in collisions in 2020 were aged 65 or older. Meanwhile, out of all the children under age 15 killed in car accidents in 2020, about 20 percent were pedestrians. It is possible that both seniors and children tend to lack the reflexes and reaction times to avoid a reckless driver who is bearing down on them. Small children can be especially vulnerable when an inattentive or distracted driver fails to see them in the crosswalk. As a pedestrian, you generally have nothing more than your wits and faith that drivers will obey traffic laws to protect you from severe harm. When those are not enough, you could be entitled to substantial recovery for damages like pain and suffering, lost wages and medical bills.