London, May 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

An infographic published by Accident Advice Helpline highlights the horrific accident figures involving pedestrians on our roads.

The Pedestrian Facts infographic is also designed to advise pedestrians on how they can remain safe and avoid becoming a tragic statistic.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140725/698073 )

During 2013, 24,033 pedestrian casualties were reported. Of this number 18,637 were slightly injured, but 4,998 suffered serious injuries and tragically 398 were killed.

Even though the number of those killed was 5% down on the previous year and the figure for serious injuries down 10%, these statistics still make disturbing reading.

Another alarming statistic is all but of 2% of pedestrian accidents occur in urban areas. The biggest cause of these accidents is vehicles colliding with pedestrians. Almost 60% of accidents which led to a death involved a car, rising to nearly 75% for those who suffered serious injury.

The age groups of pedestrians killed or injured tends to depend on the time of year. Children are most at danger during the spring and summer months when they are more likely to be walking to school or playing outside. Weekdays, when the youngsters are walking to and from school, are also main danger periods. Those figures tend to drop during August when the schools are closed for the summer holidays.

For adult pedestrians the most dangerous periods are reported to be between October and January when the hours of darkness are the longest and people are commuting in the dark. Around a 1/3 of accidents involving adult pedestrians occur in the hours of darkness, double that in incidences involving children.  

Pelican crossings are meant to be safe places for people on foot to cross the road, but this has not proved to be the case. In fact pedestrians have a higher chance of suffering injuries when using them.

In order to help slash the number of injuries while the crossing the road the Pedestrian Facts infographic offers several tips. They include using recognised crossing points, choosing a crossing point where the road is easily visible and where motorists can see the pedestrian. And as final warning pedestrians are informed that they are four times more likely to be killed when hit by a vehicle travelling 40mph than one at 30mph.

The message to all pedestrians is: "Be careful and stay safe."

SOURCE Accident Advice Helpline