Pedestrian accidents have been on the rise for several years now. With more and more vehicles on the road, pedestrians are finding it increasingly difficult to safely navigate streets and crosswalks. This problem is compounded by distracted driving and a lack of awareness among drivers about pedestrian safety.
Unfortunately, pedestrians may suffer catastrophic injuries or death when they are hit by a vehicle. You must get a pedestrian accident lawyer to help you obtain justice and fair compensation. In this article, we will discuss lawsuits and legal remedies available to pedestrians who have been injured due to a driver’s negligence.
Contents
1. Negligence In Pedestrian Accidents
Negligence is the most common claim made by pedestrians against drivers in personal injury cases arising from car-pedestrian accidents. To prove negligence, an injured pedestrian must demonstrate that the driver breached their duty of care, causing injury or harm. The standard of care for motorists towards pedestrians varies depending on whether they are crossing at a marked crosswalk or not.
If there is no marked crosswalk, the motorist must yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian if they are crossing within an unmarked crosswalk or any portion of the roadway outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk. Suppose there is a marked crosswalk between two sidewalks across a street corner (i.e., an intersection). In that case, drivers should also give way to any pedestrian in that crosswalk until they have crossed over completely.
Factors that might affect fault in car-pedestrian collisions include speed limits at the scene of an accident along with visibility considerations like lighting conditions; weather conditions such as fog/rain/snow; traffic signals such as red lights/green lights/stop signs; distractions while driving – including cell phones; and medical emergencies such as loss of consciousness behind-the-wheel, etc.
2. Defenses That May Be Argued In Such Cases
Injured parties must understand some common defenses raised by vehicle owners’ lawyers after filing litigation against the driver responsible for an accident in which they were injured. Some of these defenses include the helpless doctrine, where the pedestrian simply walked out into traffic and collided with a car, or even comparative negligence. It could be argued that both parties are somewhat at fault for the accident due to the actions leading up to it.
3. Compensation For Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian accidents can cause significant injuries that may lead to ongoing medical expenses and loss of income (like if your client is unable to work immediately due to injury recovery) because of short or long-term disabilities. Injured pedestrians may seek compensation from several sources:
a). Insurance: If a vehicle hits you while you are walking, its owner might have insurance coverage such as bodily injury liability coverage, medical expenses coverage (MedPay), personal injury documentation coverage, etc., which should pay for a certain amount of costs like medical bills.
b). A Personal Injury Lawsuit: A pedestrian who was injured in an automobile accident due to another driver’s carelessness has every legal right against pursuing those at-fault parties for damages through a personal injury lawsuit. Moreover, speaking with attorneys who specialize in this type of case can help you understand how much compensation you might expect from the claim.
c). Social Security Disability Benefits: If someone sustains long-term disabilities after being involved in such an accident – needing ongoing care or perhaps even permanent psychological trauma – this person might qualify for Social Security Disability Income [SSDI] benefit payments.
4. Statute of Limitations
In most states here in the U.S., there’s typically a three-year statute of limitation on filing lawsuits on pedestrian accidents dating back to when the incident happened. Thus, all suits must be brought forward within this time frame — otherwise, they won’t be granted by judges presiding over them because they are now outside said deadlines under law.
Conclusion
Pedestrian accidents can cause devastating injuries that significantly impact victims’ lives long after the settlement/successful outcome of court cases. These accidents occur because drivers frequently ignore traffic rules and engage in distracted driving practices like texting while behind the wheel. As a result, it is essential to hold negligent drivers accountable for their reckless behavior by pursuing legal remedies available to injured pedestrians.
Pedestrians may seek compensation from insurance or file personal injury lawsuits to cover their medical expenses and lost income due to being unable to work properly, with a long recovery period on the horizon. Speak with experienced personal injury attorneys if confronted with such situations, as they can help minimize stress related to these issues – even going as far as letting you focus on healing completely instead of other aspects like legal papers/filings/insurance details, etc.
