Being a pedestrian is dangersous - according to NHTSA, "[f]ourteen percent of all traffic fatalities and an estimated 3 percent of those injured in traffic crashes were pedestrians."

There are several Arizona traffic laws that seek to protect pedestrians from motor vehicle accidents. First, A.R.S. § 28-792, requires a driver to yield the right-of-way by slowing down or stopping if need, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the same half of the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling or when the pedestrian is approaching so from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger. It also provides that if one car is stopped at a marked or unmarked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of another approaching car approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.

A.R.S. § 794, requires drivers to exercise "due care" it requires the driver of a vehicle to:

1. Exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on any roadway.

2. Give warning by sounding the horn when necessary.

3. Exercise proper precaution on observing a child or a confused or incapacitated person on a roadway.

Jay Ciulla is a lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona who often represents pedestrians in motor vehicle/ pedestrian collisions.