A Phoenix car accident resulted in a woman being run over after climbing out of her vehicle to check for damage, ABC15 reported.
Accident victims who are injured while outside their vehicle is not uncommon. Circumstances of such accidents are motorists, pedestrians or bystanders who are injured while standing at the scene of an earlier accident and motorists who are injured while changing a flat tire or standing next to a disabled vehicle.
Police report the woman was struck on Wednesday while getting out of her vehicle to check for damage after an accident at 19th Avenue and Osborn Road. That accident occurred when one vehicle t-boned another and was struck by a third vehicle.
The woman was reportedly run down by a passing motorist. Several witnesses helped lift the vehicle off her and she was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
The Arizona Department of Transportation reports that nearly 120,000 traffic accidents occurred in 2008, killing 842 motorists and injuring more than 37,000. The vast majority of accidents occurred in urban areas like Phoenix.
Urban crashes leave motorists at risk of a secondary accident as traffic continues to pass the scene while emergency personnel respond. Frequently, impatient or irritated motorists can act recklessly, which increases the risk of a second traffic accident and can put accident victims at increased risk.