Victims of pedestrian accidents sustain severe injuries compared to other traffic crashes. When a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle, they are vulnerable to severe injuries like spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and bone fractures. In such accidents, determining the party at fault is crucial though it can be challenging. Usually, drivers have more power on the road than pedestrians, but pedestrians can also be liable for accidents. Determining financial and legal responsibility or liability requires a thorough case evaluation by a professionally trained attorney.
In this blog, we will explore ways of finding liability in a pedestrian accident. You should not give up after an accident because you, as a pedestrian, might not be liable for the accident. And you would need an experienced Los Angeles personal injury lawyer to help determine the liable parties, so you can be fairly compensated.
Driving Laws for Pedestrian Safety
According to the general negligence principle, every driver on the road has a duty towards pedestrians. These duties include:
- The general duty of a driver towards pedestrians — The driver must always have the vehicle under control to keep pedestrians safe from injury.
- Motorists should anticipate the pedestrians’ presence — A motorist should always assume that the road is clear. They must be on the lookout even if they are within the law to avoid causing harm to a pedestrian.
- A driver should always maintain reasonable standards on the road — Drivers are expected to exercise a standard of care the same way a normal person would if they are put in a similar situation.
- The duty to look out for crossways — The motorist, must check and notice any crosswalks.
- It is the duty of the motorist to predict that a passenger may panic — A motorist is expected to maintain a certain distance to keep away from hitting a pedestrian who may unexpectedly panic.
- A large group of pedestrians increases the driver’s duty of care — If there are many pedestrians on the road, the driver is expected to be more vigilant.
- The duty to watch out for crosswalks — According to California law, every motorist must look out for any crosswalks around.
- The driver has every right to think that the pedestrians will observe the traffic laws — just like everyone else, motorists have the right to everyone will play their part to avoid causing collisions, including passengers.
How to Determine Fault in a Pedestrian Accident
To determine the liable party when a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle, you have to look at the driver’s actions and the pedestrian’s actions at the time of the accident.
What Was the Driver Doing When the Accident Happened?
To know if the motorist was at fault, it is essential to investigate what they were doing before the accident. You may watch for things like:
- Is there anything that could have distracted the driver, or was his full attention on the roadway?
- What was the driver’s speed? Was he driving at a safe speed or overspeeding?
- Where was the motorist driving his vehicle? Was it at an area designated for pedestrians or a place they are legally allowed to?
If the driver was doing everything right, they might have little to no fault at all. But if they were on the wrong side, they may have all the liability for the accident.
What was the Pedestrian Doing Before the Accident?
Just like in the driver’s case, an attorney will also ask questions to determine if you were at fault for the accident. They may ask questions like:
- Was the pedestrian following laws?
- Did the pedestrian have the right of way?
The pedestrian may not be at fault if they had the right of way and followed all the laws.
Actions that May Prove the Driver’s Liability for a Pedestrian Accident
The driver may be found liable for the accident if they violated the following vehicle codes.
Driving on the Wrong Side
If the driver were driving at the wrong side of the road at the time of the accident, they would be held liable. Even though the pedestrian has to stay alert and on the lookout, it does not apply when driving on the wrong side.
Speed
Even though a driver is legally allowed to drive at a certain speed, they still have to keep their cars under control so that they may be able to stop or avoid an accident.
If a driver driving at reasonable speed would have avoided the accident, the driver may be found liable for the accident. If the driver were also overspeeding, they would also be found liable for the accident.
Note that it is not the driver’s duty to move at a slow speed or suddenly stop at the highway to avoid collisions except in school zones.
Overtaking a Vehicle Stopped for Pedestrians
According to the California Vehicle code law, if a vehicle is stopped at an intersection or a crosswalk, whether marked or not, to allow a pedestrian to cross the road, no vehicle should pass or overtake the stopped car.
Even though the pedestrian is crossing outside a crosswalk but is given way by another driver, you will be at fault for the accident if you pass the vehicle and accidentally hit the pedestrian.
Suddenly Moving a Stopped Vehicle
This is one of the most common causes of pedestrian accidents. The California law warns drivers not to move a vehicle from a stopped position until there is reasonable safety to move the vehicle forward or backward. A driver may be found liable if they suddenly moved their vehicle from a parked position and hit a pedestrian.
Neglecting the Duty to Sound a Horn When Necessary
Every driver in California has to sound a horn when necessary to ensure safety on the road or to warn of the vehicle’s approach.
If a driver fails to sound a horn and there is a reasonable belief that a pedestrian is about to cross in front of them while driving at a higher speed, they may be found liable if they collide with the pedestrian.
However, for a driver to be found liable in this case, they must have known the danger the pedestrian was in, and any reasonable driver would have sounded their horn.
Turning a Vehicle at an Intersection
Every driver must alert the pedestrians of their approach if they are making a turn on a crosswalk that is either marked or unmarked by sounding a horn.
If violating this leads to an accident, the driver may be found liable.
Sudden Obscured Vision
Even with obscured vision, a driver still has the duty of care. If a sudden blurred vision made a driver colliding with a passenger, the driver would still be liable for the accident regardless of the factors that led to the obscured vision.
If the driver cannot see a pedestrian on the crosswalk, they must reduce speed and be vigilant to avoid hitting a pedestrian.
Parking Illegally
Vehicles that have been parked illegally have been linked to pedestrian accidents before. There are circumstances in which a pedestrian can take legal actions against an illegally parked car. These situations include:
- If a pedestrian or another driver cannot see an oncoming vehicle due to an illegally parked vehicle
- If the vehicle is parked on the sidewalk and the pedestrian has to risk walking out of the crosswalk to find a way through
- A driver has double-parked, which increases the pedestrian’s risk
Drunk Driving
It is illegal for a driver to operate a vehicle while drunk in California. It affects the driver’s vision and the ability to think correctly.
In the past, drunk driving has been among the primary causes of most road accidents, including pedestrian accidents. If a drunk driver hits a pedestrian, they may carry the full liability of the accident.
In the above instances, the driver will be liable for causing the pedestrian accident, but the driver and pedestrian may share liability in some scenarios.
Actions that May Prove the Pedestrian’s Liability for a Pedestrian Accident
There are specific actions that the pedestrian may engage in, making them liable in a pedestrian accident. These actions include:
Failing to Use Reasonable Care
Every pedestrian must obey the traffic rules. Pedestrians are also expected to make extra careful observations before entering a street to ensure favorable traffic conditions.
If you decide to enter a street without looking in the direction which may have an oncoming vehicle and you end up being hit, you will be held liable for the accident.
Walking In front of a Vehicle
The law prohibits the pedestrian from crossing a street when an approaching vehicle is traveling at high speed.
A driver’s duty of care does not apply in this case since the driver has the right to think that a reasonable pedestrian will not step in front of an oncoming vehicle.
If you are hit in a similar occurrence, you will be liable for your injuries.
Intoxicated Pedestrians
Pedestrians cannot use intoxication to justify their actions. Intoxication may be treated as negligence. But being intoxicated does not necessarily put the pedestrian at fault. The defendant must prove that the accident resulted from the pedestrian’s intoxication.
Jaywalking
When pedestrians do not have the “right of way,” they are usually jaywalking. In other words, a pedestrian is said to be jaywalking when they walk in a place they are not legally allowed to without minding the danger of the approaching vehicles. The two main types of jaywalking include:
- Walking outside a crosswalk
- Crossing the street in the middle.
If a pedestrian is hit by the car while jaywalking, they are held liable since the driver has the right to assume that no person can be in that location of the road since it is illegal.
Other actions that can make the pedestrian liable include:
- Operating a mobile phone while crossing the road or walking in the street.
- Wearing very dark clothes at night
- Chasing after an object like a ball that fell into the street.
When Both The Pedestrian and The Car are Liable
In some cases, the pedestrian and the vehicle will be faulty for the accident. For instance, if a pedestrian is jaywalking, and a vehicle is overspeeding, and they crash. The pedestrian is at fault for walking in a place where they are not legally allowed to, and if the driver were driving at a reasonable speed, they would have seen the passenger and stopped the car before colliding. In this case, they both have the same fault.
Note that even if a pedestrian was intoxicated, the driver could be partially liable. If a pedestrian is intoxicated, and the intoxication causes them to stop on the street without minding the oncoming vehicles and they get hit, they will be liable for the accident. However, the motorist can still be partially liable if they were not paying attention and were overspeeding. This would be evident if the driver did not make any effort to stop the collision.
Other Parties that Could be Liable In a Pedestrian Accident
Apart from the driver and the pedestrian, other parties could be liable in a pedestrian accident. These parties include:
The Vehicle Manufacturer
A driver notices a pedestrian crossing and tries to stop the vehicle, but the vehicle fails due to some defect. For instance, if a vehicle’s brakes are defective and they suddenly fail to work when the driver is on the road, causing them to hit a pedestrian, the brake manufacturer could be liable for the injuries sustained by the pedestrian.
A Contractor or Government Agency
Some road construction and design can also attribute to pedestrian accidents. For example, if a driver hits a passenger at an intersection where traffic signs were timed wrongly, the contractor may be liable for injuries. Government agencies and constructors may be liable if a visual obstruction, missing signage, or insufficient space for pedestrians to walk.
Roads that are poorly constructed or poorly maintained pose a risk to pedestrians using them from time to time.
Is it Possible for a Pedestrian to Get Settlement in an Accident?
If you are hit by a vehicle and the vehicle is at fault for the accident, you are likely to get a settlement. But, the amount of settlement depends on various factors. Therefore, it is impossible to compare different instances and expect to have the same settlement amount.
Pedestrian Accident Injuries
The type of injuries sustained by a pedestrian in a pedestrian accident significantly impacts the pedestrian’s settlement. The minor the injuries, the smaller the settlement. Here are some of the common injuries that pedestrians suffer:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Broken bones
- Death
- Scrapes, cuts, and bruises
Factors that May Impact Settlement Amount
The major factor that affects settlement amounts is the severity of the injuries sustained. However, there are also other important factors like:
- The insurance adjuster’s competence
- The experience and skills of your personal injury attorney
- The effect the injuries will have on your daily life
- Whether the driver was entirely at fault
- Whether the injuries can heal completely
- The amount of time you missed from work
- The medical bills amount and the type of medical care you will need.
Damages You Can Sue for in a Pedestrian Accident
Regardless of whether you are the pedestrian or the driver, there are various damages that you can sue for if the other party is found liable for the accident. Some of these damages include:
- The emergency transportation cost
- The reimbursement of the wages you missed when you were injured and any wages you might lose in the future before you recover
- The cost of future treatments
- Medical bills
- The cost of any disabled modifications you may need to do to your car or home.
- Rehabilitation or any physical therapy expenses
If the pedestrian is found at fault for causing the accident may also be liable for any repair services to the vehicle.
How Long Should You Wait After Pedestrian Accident Before Filing a Claim?
Apart from a few exceptions, a case of severe personal injury should be brought forward within a year from the occurrence date in California. At times, the time can be extended to one year from the injury/case discovery date.
Also, note that if the case involves a public entity, it should be brought forward within six months from the accident.
If the case involved a minor and did not involve any public entity or medical malpractice, the minor has until their 19th birthday to bring the case forward.
Find a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me
If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, regardless of whether you are the driver or the pedestrian, it is essential to seek help from an experienced personal injury attorney. If you are in Los Angeles, contact The LA Personal Injury Law Firm for legal help. We will do our best to negotiate the best settlement possible. Contact us today at 310-935-0089 for a free consultation.
