Pedestrian accidents are some of the most serious cases I see because people have almost no protection when hit by a moving vehicle. In Schaumburg, pedestrians often share busy roads, shopping areas, parking lots, intersections, and commercial corridors with SUVs and pickup trucks, which are much taller and heavier than regular cars. This difference in design can greatly affect the outcome of a crash. When a tall SUV or pickup hits a pedestrian, the person may be knocked straight to the ground and run over, instead of being pushed onto the hood. If the pedestrian is hit again underneath the vehicle, the crushing injuries can make an already serious accident catastrophic or even deadly.
Studies back up these concerns. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that vehicles with higher, more upright front ends are more likely to cause fatal injuries to pedestrians. Vehicles with front ends 40 inches or higher were linked to a much greater risk of pedestrian deaths than lower vehicles, and even medium-height vehicles with blunt fronts were more dangerous. Another study found that raising the front end by 10 centimeters increased the risk of pedestrian death by 22 percent, especially for children, women, and older adults. For anyone injured in Schaumburg, the design and size of the vehicle involved can be a key factor in both the injuries and the legal case.
The height of a vehicle affects where it first hits a pedestrian. A lower car usually hits an adult around the legs, which can make the person roll onto the hood. While this can still cause serious injuries, a taller SUV or pickup often hits much higher on the body.
The front of a large pickup can hit a pedestrian’s pelvis, abdomen, chest, or even upper torso. This first impact can cause broken bones, internal bleeding, organ damage, and brain injuries before the person even falls to the ground. A tall, upright grille can also send a lot of force straight into the body instead of letting the person move up onto the hood.
NHTSA has specifically identified pedestrian impacts with the front of vehicles as an important safety concern and has pursued vehicle safety measures aimed at reducing head injuries to pedestrians. The agency has reported that pedestrian fatalities involving frontal impacts occur frequently with multipurpose passenger vehicles and other larger vehicle categories.
One of the most frightening aspects of a pedestrian collision involving a large SUV or pickup is the possibility that the victim will be knocked down directly in front of the vehicle. If the driver cannot stop immediately, the pedestrian may then be struck by the undercarriage or run over by one or more tires.
At that point, the accident no longer involves a single impact. The pedestrian may experience an initial collision with the front of the vehicle, a second impact with the pavement, and a third crushing event when the vehicle passes over the body. Each stage can produce a separate set of injuries.
Crushing injuries can damage the chest, abdomen, pelvis, legs, and internal organs. They may cause complex fractures, vascular injuries, severe blood loss, spinal injuries, traumatic amputations, or organ failure. Even when a pedestrian survives, the medical consequences may involve numerous surgeries, lengthy hospitalization, rehabilitation, assistive equipment, home modifications, and permanent physical limitations.
The shape of the front end can influence the direction a pedestrian’s body travels after impact. IIHS research has found that tall, blunt-fronted vehicles present greater risks to pedestrians than lower vehicles with sloped front ends. One reason is that a high impact point can push a pedestrian forward and downward instead of causing the person to rotate onto the hood.
That distinction matters enormously in a serious injury case. A pedestrian thrown onto a hood faces the danger of head trauma, fractures, and secondary impact with the road. A pedestrian pushed downward may face those injuries plus the additional danger of being dragged, caught beneath the chassis, or run over.
When I examine one of these cases, I want to understand exactly how the collision occurred. Damage to the vehicle, photographs, surveillance recordings, dash camera footage, skid marks, witness accounts, vehicle data, and the pattern of the victim’s injuries may all help reconstruct the sequence of events.
Children can be especially vulnerable around large SUVs and pickup trucks because their bodies are shorter and may be positioned below the driver’s direct line of sight in certain circumstances. A tall hood can also mean that the front of the vehicle strikes a child much higher on the body relative to the child’s overall height.
For a small child, an impact that would strike an adult near the pelvis may strike the child’s chest or head. The child can then fall directly in front of the vehicle and be at risk of being run over. The study examining front-end vehicle height found that children were among the groups whose survival probability was particularly affected as vehicle front-end height increased.
These crashes can occur on public streets, but they can also happen in parking lots, apartment complexes, shopping centers, driveways, school areas, and other locations where motorists and children are close to one another. In a child pedestrian case, I look carefully at driver visibility, vehicle speed, the driver’s attention, the surrounding environment, and whether the driver exercised appropriate care before moving the vehicle.
Schaumburg has extensive retail, restaurant, office, hotel, and entertainment areas where vehicles and pedestrians routinely interact in parking lots. Parking lot crashes may happen at relatively low speeds, but low speed does not necessarily mean minor injury when an SUV or pickup knocks a pedestrian down and then passes over the person’s body.
Drivers backing from parking spaces, turning through parking aisles, pulling forward from stopped positions, or entering pedestrian areas have a responsibility to watch for people around their vehicles. The physical size of a vehicle does not excuse a driver from exercising reasonable care.
Evidence can become especially important in parking lot cases because fault may initially be disputed. Store cameras, parking lot surveillance systems, vehicle cameras, photographs, eyewitness testimony, and electronic vehicle data can sometimes establish where the pedestrian was located and how the driver approached.
Illinois law provides important protections for pedestrians. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1002, when traffic-control signals are absent or not operating, a driver generally must stop and yield to a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the driver’s half of the roadway or approaching closely enough from the opposite half to be in danger.
Illinois law also requires turning motorists at green signals to yield to pedestrians and bicyclists who are lawfully within an intersection or adjacent crosswalk. These rules can become significant when determining liability after a pedestrian is struck by an SUV or pickup while crossing a road.
A citation issued to the driver can be important evidence, but an injury claim does not necessarily depend on whether police issued a ticket. I look at all available evidence to determine whether the driver failed to keep a proper lookout, drove too fast for existing conditions, failed to yield, drove while distracted, or otherwise acted negligently.
A person who survives being run over may face far more than emergency medical expenses. Serious orthopedic injuries can require repeated surgeries. Spinal cord damage may cause permanent limitations or paralysis. Brain injuries can affect memory, concentration, personality, speech, employment, and independent living.
For that reason, I do not evaluate a catastrophic pedestrian claim only by adding up the bills that have already arrived. The future consequences may be much greater. A claim may involve anticipated medical treatment, rehabilitation, medication, mobility devices, home care, reduced earning capacity, lost wages, disfigurement, disability, pain, emotional suffering, and loss of normal life.
Where permanent injuries are involved, accurately documenting those future losses is particularly important. Settling before the long-term medical picture is understood can leave an injured person responsible for substantial expenses that develop years after the accident.
Unfortunately, some pedestrians do not survive these crashes. Illinois’ Wrongful Death Act allows an action when a person’s death results from a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have supported a claim had the person survived.
A wrongful death claim can involve more than funeral expenses. The law allows qualifying surviving family members to pursue damages associated with the losses caused by the death. The circumstances of the family, the decedent’s age, earnings, relationships, and other factors can all affect the damages involved.
When an SUV or pickup kills a pedestrian, I also investigate whether the death resulted from the initial impact, the secondary pavement impact, the vehicle running over the victim, or a combination of these events. Understanding the complete mechanics of the crash can help explain why the injuries were fatal and how the driver’s actions caused the loss.
Two pedestrian accidents occurring at the same speed can produce very different injuries depending on the vehicles involved. Vehicle height, hood geometry, grille shape, bumper position, weight, braking, and the pedestrian’s height can all affect the collision sequence.
That is why a serious pedestrian claim involving an SUV or pickup should not automatically be treated like an ordinary car accident. I may examine vehicle measurements, photographs, medical records, impact locations, road evidence, electronic data, and available video to determine precisely what happened.
The goal is to connect the physical evidence to the injuries. If the pedestrian was knocked beneath the vehicle and run over, proving that sequence may help explain otherwise unusually severe fractures, crushing injuries, internal trauma, or death.
When an SUV or pickup strikes a pedestrian, the height and design of the vehicle can help explain why the injuries are so severe. If the victim is knocked beneath the vehicle and run over, the resulting case may involve catastrophic injuries, permanent disability, substantial future medical expenses, or wrongful death. I believe these cases deserve a detailed investigation that looks beyond the police report and determines exactly how the collision occurred, why the driver failed to avoid it, and how the impact caused the injuries.
If you or someone in your family was struck or run over by an SUV, pickup truck, or other vehicle, contact our Schaumburg pedestrian accident attorney at SJ INJURY LAW by calling (847) 434-3555 to receive your free consultation. I can review what happened, identify potentially liable parties, preserve important evidence, evaluate the full extent of the injuries and financial losses, and pursue the compensation available under Illinois law.
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