On Tuesday afternoon, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a bus in downtown Houston. According to investigators, the pedestrian was walking near St. Joseph Medical Center when she was struck by a First Class Tours bus. The woman, whose name has not been released by investigators, died at the scene. Investigators have not determined if the woman was in the crosswalk or if the light was green at the time. This incident is the second incident this year in which a pedestrian was struck and killed by a bus in downtown Houston. In January, a pedestrian was crossing the street when he was struck and killed by a METRO bus in downtown Houston. Unfortunately, the number of pedestrian fatalities in Houston has steadily increased every year since at least 2013.
An increase in the pedestrian fatality rate has also been observed nationally. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 5,376 pedestrians were killed and an estimated 70,000 were injured in traffic crashes in the United States in 2015, a nearly ten percent increase from 2014. NHTSA estimates that, on average, a pedestrian was killed every 1.6 hours and injured every 7.5 minutes in 2015. In 2015, Texas ranked third in the nation for the highest number of pedestrian fatalities, with 537 reported pedestrian fatalities. Of the major U.S. cities, Houston ranked third with 62 pedestrian fatalities in 2015. Although NHTSA has not released official data regarding the number of pedestrian fatalities in 2016, some reports have indicated that the pedestrian fatality rate in Houston increased by at least thirty percent in 2016.
If you or someone you know has been injured in a pedestrian accident, contact an experienced attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or toll free at 713-222-7211.