Without a doubt drivers need to pay more attention and the penalty needs to be higher for if they hit a pedestrian or cyclist. This needs to be a charge of vehicular manslaughter because it happened in a crosswalk, even if the driver had a green light.

That said, driving as defensively and alert as you can isn't always going to prevent an accident. I had a friend hit a pedestrian on 64 by the boulevard exit a few years back who was drunk and walking on the highway at night. My brother-in-law was driving down 301 at dusk and a pedestrian ran across the street without looking and got hit by his sideview mirror. Obviously these are highways and not pedestrian areas but still highlight the fact that you can't always punish the driver if they are driving defensively and the pedestrian is being reckless.

In the city is obviously a different issue, the streets are poorly designed, the speed limit is rarely enforced and people run red lights. They need to make it safer for pedestrians and if a driver hits a pedestrian due to negligence it needs to be at minimum a class 1 misdemeanor even if there is no injury.

But if you're following the laws and a pedestrian walks out between 2 cars with their head down, headphones on, without checking the street, not at a crosswalk, you can't put the blame on the driver.