Last week we told you about a person who was critically injured in a car accident in Los Angeles. This comes as new statistics show that pedestrian related car accidents increased in 2010. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which monitors transportation related accidents across the country to determine the cause of accidents and issues recommendations to help prevent accidents, released the new data late last year.

The NHTSA says that the number of pedestrians injured across the country increased a staggering 19 percent, increasing to 70,000 people, up from 59,000 in 2009. The data also show there was a 4.2 percent increase in the number of pedestrian deaths. These numbers are alarming, and experts say they have yet to determine the cause of the increase.

According to the USA Today, there are a few possible causes to this increase. Cities across the country are building wider roads, with more lanes of traffic, and are moving more cars on the roads, without pedestrians in mind. These roads often aren't engineered to support the safety of pedestrian traffic.

New housing trends also might be contributing to the increase in pedestrian accidents. More people are moving places where they can walk to shopping areas, work and grocery stores. This increase in pedestrians in one area often comes without improved safety for those who choose to walk to their destinations.

All of these things might be contributing to an increase in injuries and death, but drivers still need to be paying more attention. With all the technology that distracts drivers, people are paying less attention to driving their vehicles. These distractions will most likely lead to more car accidents. Every day we are learning more about how destructive these distractions are.

Source: USA Today, "As U.S. road deaths drop, more pedestrians getting struck," Larry Copeland, Dec. 8, 2011