Lifestyle

5 Dangerous Leading Causes of Pedestrian Injuries

Published

3 years ago

November 22, 2022

The public sphere is filled with thousands upon thousands of pedestrians, especially in crowded cities. While being out in public is typically perfectly safe, some actions can put you into dangerous situations and legally sketchy territory. By understanding the types of actions that lead to pedestrian accidents, you can do your best to effectively avoid them. To assist you, here are five of the most dangerous leading causes of pedestrian injuries:

1. Substance Abuse

Intoxication can lead people to do dangerous things and can make us unaware of the environment around us. Every day, intoxicated individuals find themselves either harming someone, or themselves, through a pedestrian accident. You’ll walk less safely, and have poor judgment when intoxicated, so you’re more likely to ignore traffic rules, and go onto properties that are shut off and unsafe. If you or a loved one have been injured in a pedestrian accident due to an intoxicated individual’s actions, you should contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. For those suffering from addiction and abuse issues, there is help out there that can guide you through defeating your addiction cycle.

2. Being on the Road

Being a pedestrian on a roadway is incredibly dangerous. You should stay off the roadways at all times unless you are using a legal and clearly-marked crossing. Otherwise, you put yourself, and everyone else on the road, at risk. Being considerate, and staying aware of your surroundings, is crucial, after all. Not only is being on the roadways as a walking pedestrian illegal, but it can cause you to suffer serious bodily harm. Even at slow speeds, being hit by a vehicle can cause immense, life-changing injuries (and even death). No matter what situation you’re in, you should steer clear of the roadways if you’re not in a vehicle.

3. Improper Crossings

Part of staying safe as a pedestrian is following the traffic laws that are set up to protect you. When you’re at a crosswalk or some other type of crossing area, you need to follow signs and signals perfectly. Even if you think you can get across the road before any vehicle comes, you may be misjudging how much time you actually have. Not only will you be putting drivers in a hazardous scenario (along with yourself), but if you’re improperly crossing, you’ll be breaking the law. Jaywalking is often seen as no big deal, but there’s a reason it’s against the law. You’re causing chaos that’s preventable, and which can put yourself and others at risk of serious injury.

4. Poor Visibility

You’ve likely noticed that nearly every public space that you’d want to be in is properly lit. There’s a reason for that. Poorly lit public areas are a major safety risk, and people who are harmed due to a poorly lit public space can sometimes bring litigation against the property owner. When a space is not properly lit, it makes pedestrians targets for criminals and makes it difficult for pedestrians to see where they’re going. A lack of visibility greatly increases the chance of slip and fall accidents, as well as other dangerous happenings. Staying in well-lit public areas will help keep you safe from accidents, and people who would harm you if given the chance.

5. Reckless Behavior

There are few actions pedestrians can engage in that are as devastating and potentially dangerous as general reckless behavior. Running, fighting, and other forms of being belligerent in public spaces can cause huge disruptions and even injuries. Additionally, this type of disruptive, aggressive conduct is against the law in many states. These laws are set up to prevent unstable or aggressive individuals from creating a toxic or threatening atmosphere in public spaces. It’s always important to treat your environment, and fellow human beings with respect, after all. By acting appropriately, and even-headed, you’re also able to understand your immediate surroundings more effectively, which helps protect you from any dangerous behavior from fellow pedestrians.

Keep Public Spaces Safe

By avoiding these five types of disruptive and dangerous behavior, you can do your part to keep our country safe. When you’re injured through the reckless or illegal actions of another person, a quality pedestrian accident lawyer can help you find the justice and restitution that you deserve. Meanwhile, you must behave in a way that keeps other members of the public feeling safe, secure, and at peace. Doing so will help keep you out of trouble, and prevent you from suffering serious injuries in a pedestrian accident.

Lifestyle

Kat Marie Alvarez: Where Innovation Meets Regulation

Published

11 mins ago

January 23, 2026

Michelle Langton

Regulation is often thought of as a limitation, yet in healthcare, it also serves as a foundation for building models that endure. For Kat Marie Alvarez, Founder and CEO of KATALYST & CO, the framework of rules established by agencies like CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) and the OIG ( office of the Inspector General) create opportunities to design systems that are compliant, ethical, and transformative. Her approach demonstrates that regulation can be a platform for innovation when it is interpreted with both technical rigor and vision.

Kat’s 25-year career reflects this philosophy. A former nurse who advanced into executive leadership and strategy, she has led $2.7B+ P&L operations, advised on over $5B in healthcare transactions, and guided value based organizations including Innovacare, Cano Health, WellMed, Centene, and Humana through periods of exponential scaling. Her perspective combines clinical, financial, and regulatory experience, giving her a unique ability to design structures that support integrity and accountability while driving measurable outcomes.

Turning Statutes into Strategy

For Kat, regulation serves as a framework for building smarter and more ethical models. She interprets CMS guidance and OIG rules as levers for innovation, using them to advance integrity and accountability. With the CMS V28 risk adjustment model, Alvarez refined coding practices, strengthened clinical documentation, and structured risk frameworks that reward accuracy and elevate standards of care. In addressing RADV audits, she crafted strategies that protect stakeholders while keeping patient outcomes at the forefront. She aligns compliance, cost, and care in equal measure. Her current work as a contributor to the CMS IDea Challenge, an initiative focused on strengthening the foundation of trust in our system, further echoes her commitment to advancing regulations in ways that unlock innovation while safeguarding the integrity of care.

Her interpretive approach brings discipline and vision to every challenge. She engages stakeholders to redesign workflows that meet regulatory requirements and enhance the patient experience. Each policy becomes a mechanism to strengthen accountability and operational precision, shaping a system that is both compliant and humane.

Innovation Built Within Boundaries

At KATALYST & CO, this interpretive approach is carried into every project. Kat has integrated predictive analytics and AI-driven tools into care models, with safeguards that ensure interventions remain clinician-led and ethically sound. For example, AI flags in chronic disease management are connected to human-led actions that improve patient care. The result is a model that benefits from technology while preserving accountability and clinical integrity.

Staffing and infrastructure provide another example of her philosophy in action. By leveraging offshore BPO operations in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe, KATALYST & CO extends capacity for health plans and providers. These expansions are carefully designed to meet data security, licensure, and jurisdictional requirements, ensuring that global reach is paired with local compliance. It is a system that balances scale with responsibility.

The Art of Influence Through Alignment

Kat often describes her role as translating complexity into clarity. Whether she is working with payers, providers, or investors, she builds consensus by grounding ambitious strategies in the language of statute. Value-based care models, utilization management programs, and clinical frameworks are designed to prove compliant ROI for stakeholders while maintaining patient focus.

Her approach begins with people. In integrations, partnerships, and platform builds, she respects legacy strengths, listens to frontline voices, and creates systems that are not only efficient but also trusted. This ensures that compliance does not feel like restriction, but like a structure that supports innovation and adoption.

Redefining the Future of Compliance and Care

KATALYST & CO is scaling with $10M in initial funding, expanded international operations, and a growing advisory portfolio. Under Kat’s leadership, the firm is showing how regulation can be a foundation for both innovation and durability. She demonstrates that lasting progress in healthcare is achieved by leaders who know how to design systems that are bold, ethical, and deeply human.

By approaching regulation as a guide rather than a limitation, Kat Alvarez is building models that prove compliance and innovation can move forward together. Her formula ensures that the future of healthcare is shaped not only by ambition, but also by trust and responsibility.