Handling Car Accidents With Pedestrians

Pedestrian accidents are one of the many unfortunate car crashes that happen every year and cause injury to those involved. Sometimes it is hard to know who is at fault for these types of accidents, but there are some circumstances in which you can only blame the pedestrians, like if they enter the street without looking both ways first. Pedestrian laws are a little different from other types of accident rules because they can be difficult to enforce and assess fault in an injury claim. If you’re considering taking on a pedestrian accident case, here are 4 points about what you should know before pressing ahead:

Who Is At Fault?

When a pedestrian is injured in a car traffic accident, the onus of proof falls on the pedestrian to show that the driver was at fault. This means that if you are handling a pedestrian accident claim, you need to have strong evidence that proves your case, like eyewitness accounts or photographs showing road conditions (such as potholes).

Pedestrians are often the first to call for backups when they are injured, especially if they were hit by a motorist who is not familiar with the area or has had too much to drink. If you include this fact in your legal arguments, and have other evidence that proves the driver was at fault, you should have a pretty good chance of winning your case.

The Way Pedestrians Are Treated By Insurance Companies

While insurance companies always want to avoid paying any settlement for accidents, they are also not in the business of financing the funeral of an accident victim. If a pedestrian was not at fault, your lawyer may be able to get an unqualified insurance company to settle your case without even paying you the whole amount upfront. To get a fair settlement, you may need to sue the pedestrian in a personal injury lawsuit and then ask for full compensation with interest.

Injured Pedestrians Need To Be Able To Prove Fault

In many car accident cases, the victim will only have the memory of the accident that caused their injuries. Then they will need to bring in eyewitnesses or gather physical evidence to prove a claim of fault. It is very hard for a pedestrian to get someone else who wasn’t there, and who was not injured in the crash, to come forth and share their memory of what happened.

How To Show Fault In A Pedestrian Accident Case

Fault in a pedestrian accident is not easy to show. Most drivers are either driving very slowly or stopping at signals that are controlled by traffic lights. It can be hard to prove that they were careless or negligent if they have slowed down and stopped before entering the crosswalk, but you may have a case based on the driver’s failure to look both ways before entering the crosswalk.

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