Pedestrian Accidents

In 2003, pedestrians made up 11% of the total deaths caused by automobile accidents. In other words, more than one in ten deaths caused by automobiles involved pedestrians, not other cars. To lay a foundation for the rest of the article, we will first discuss the nature of pedestrian accidents.

In addition, we will describe ways to avoid accidents. Nobody wants to be involved in a pedestrian accident, no matter what the benefits are. The easiest way to avoid the long, draining pedestrian accident lawsuits and resource-depleting lawyer bills is to not get in a pedestrian accident in the first place.

Finally, we will go into detail about what to do if you have been involved in a pedestrian accident. As this is most likely of the greatest interest to the most people, the majority of this article’s body will be devoted to describing what you should do immediately after an accident. Then we will discuss finding a good lawyer, proving who was at fault in the accident, what you can expect in compensation for your injuries, and what ethical matters should be considered.

With that said, we would like to begin by laying out the foundation of this article. Many pedestrian accidents occur every year, and the mortality rate is very high, which should be a major concern for anyone either on foot or behind the wheel.

In 2003 alone, nearly 5,000 pedestrians were killed in automobile accidents. Since only about 70,000 pedestrians were injured or killed in accidents that year, this number represents a startling 7% mortality rate. For those of you prone to stepping out onto a street without looking, it is a good thing to remember that you have little better than a one in ten chance of surviving a pedestrian accident.

If you live in a rural area, you may be thinking that you don’t need to worry, because there is little traffic. However, just because the odds of a pedestrian accident are reduced, the odds of a fatality are almost doubled, or about a 20% chance.

For the parents out there, it is a good thing to remember that the highest-risk group of all is five to nine-year-old males, who are prone to darting blindly into the street in chase of a ball or other object of interest. Among this age group, the mortality rate is about 8%, so be careful to watch your children at all times.

Finally, there is the group with the highest mortality percentage. Fortunately, and not surprisingly, this group also happens to be at the lowest risk for a pedestrian accident. Senior citizens are very rarely involved in pedestrian accidents, most likely because by then they have developed common sense, and do not need to be told what we are about to tell you.

Much has been written on defensive driving, but we will first focus on the pedestrian’s role in his or her own safety. Much of this is common sense, but having it written out clearly for you can literally be a lifesaver.

First and foremost, you must learn not to trust the driver. Just because there is a stop sign doesn’t mean that the car will stop. Just because that little flashing sign says “walk” doesn’t mean you should dart blindly into traffic. In these instances, it is imperative that you make sure the driver sees you, and has come to a complete stop. The difference between blindly putting your faith in someone you don’t know and taking your life into your own hands may be the difference between a nasty pedestrian accident and a perfect day.

Never cross in the middle of a block. Drivers aren’t looking for pedestrians in the middle of the block, and parked cars can all but obscure even a cautious pedestrian. It’s only a few hundred feet to the nearest intersection, and that can save you from traveling much further to the nearest hospital.

And last but not least, be sure to wear reflective clothing when walking in the dark. Even white clothing can only be seen from one to two hundred feet away in the dark - even when illuminated by the headlights of a car. It is almost no extra trouble for you to wear a reflective vest or armband, and it is highly effective at preventing pedestrian accidents.

The driver may think he doesn‘t need to be as careful, because he is the one that will, in all likelihood, walk away from the accident without a scratch. However, negligent drivers involved in pedestrian accidents will undoubtedly find themselves shoveling money over to the pedestrian plaintiff by the barrelful.

For many of you, it is already too late, and you have already hit someone in a pedestrian accident. No doubt you are wishing by now that roles were switched, and you were the one with the broken arm. For those of you who haven’t shared this fate yet, here are a few simple tips to ensure that you stay on the road and out of the courtroom.

Again, much like pedestrian safety, most of this is simply common sense. Unfortunately, common sense seems to be a diminishing element on the highway in this day and age. Things like talking on the cell phone, reading a map while driving, or paying more attention to the passengers than to the road are all things that everyone knows aren’t smart, yet they do anyway.

Obviously, you should obey all traffic laws. If you happen to be speeding, or didn’t stop at a stop sign when the accident occurred, you are clearly in the wrong, and your chances of coming out on top of the lawsuit diminish to zero. So keep it at the speed limit, pay special attention to intersections and crosswalks, stop completely at stop signs, and don’t drive under the influence.

Other than that, be extremely careful during dawn and dusk hours, where the glare of the sun can make pedestrians all but invisible. While the pedestrian may be at fault for walking at night without reflective gear on, it is your fault for not seeing them while the sun is still up, even if it’s shining right in your eyes. The bottom line is, don’t get in an accident in the first place - especially a pedestrian accident.

With that said, we can now move on to what most of you are probably interested in: What to do in case of an accident. Obviously, call 911 if anyone’s injured and apply first aid. But we’re talking about what you should do after the initial panic.

The number one thing you should focus on is writing everything down. Every detail you can recall about the accident should be put down on paper. The sort of injuries you received should be documented, and any other effects of the crash, such as lost wages due to your injuries. Also, try to note exactly what the other party involved in the accident said when you talked to them afterward.

If you plan on filing a claim, be sure to collect evidence. Photographs, witnesses, anything and everything that can be used to build your case. Pedestrian accidents often happen in broad daylight and usually on busy roads. There is bound to be a plethora of witnesses around, so try to write down the names and phone numbers of as many as you can.

Finally, try to contact a pedestrian accident lawyer as soon as possible. Many states have a statute of limitations on the time between the accident and the filed claim. A good accident attorney will know all about this, and will be able to help you not only file a claim before the statute is up, but also do everything you can immediately after the crash that might help decide who was at fault.

In fact, any good pedestrian accident lawyer is more valuable than a hundred articles like this one. A good accident attorney in your state should be well versed in all your states traffic laws, as well as experienced in ways to obtain information after an accident.

An attorney should be contacted as soon as possible, so that you can be advised every step of the way. If possible, you should contact an accident attorney while still at the scene of the accident. This way, your attorney can get to the site as soon as possible, and possibly catch a few witnesses lingering around, as well as snap photographs of the scene that would be most effective in a courtroom.

Should the accident prove too serious for you to be able to contact a lawyer from the scene, it is still imperative that you contact the pedestrian accident attorney as soon as possible, in order to beat the statute of limitations. Once contacted, your attorney can take it from there.

Finding a good plaintiff’s lawyer within your price range is no problem whatsoever, as almost all plaintiff’s attorneys merely take a share of the damages, and won’t charge a dime if you lose the lawsuit. This ensures that all the cheap and sloppy competition is knocked out of the race, leaving only good lawyers. Their percentages may seem exorbitant, but damages are tax-exempt, so you still walk away with a much fatter wallet.

As is often the case with pedestrian accidents, things probably happened too fast for you to really remember who was at fault. These tips should help you find out, but the best source of information regarding finding out who was at fault is obviously going to be your lawyer. Pedestrian accident lawyers aside, we have decided to provide you with a few things that you, personally, can do.

Look up your state traffic laws; was the driver disobeying any of them? For example, did the driver fail to stop at a stop sign or give you the right-of-way at a crosswalk. Different states have different laws, and it is highly unlikely that the driver wasn’t negligent in at least one small way.

Obviously, if the driver was driving under the influence, either drugs or alcohol, the responsibility is going to be almost 100% on his side. Even if you blindly dashed out into traffic, the chances are that a dead sober driver could have prevented the accident, or at least changed the outcome in your favor.

If the car was speeding at the time of the accident, the pedestrian is also rarely at fault. Few people carry radar guns with them, but once again, witnesses can vouch for you, if it seemed like the car was going too fast. Too fast doesn’t necessarily mean over the speed limit. If the driver was driving with a complete disregard of the weather conditions, such as going 35 mph on a sheet of ice, that is another instance of negligent behavior on the driver’s part.

So you’ve been injured, the driver was at fault, and you are bringing a lawsuit against the driver. What exactly can you expect to receive for damages? While damage laws vary from state-to-state, we have laid out a few of the more common damages below.

What many people are surprised to learn is that even their medical bills are covered in the lawsuit. Whether the bill is simply a few hundred dollars for the treatment of some bad bruises, or hundreds of thousands for the lifetime treatment of a permanent and serious injury, the cost is going to be covered in the lawsuit.

In addition, lost wages are going to be compensated for in the lawsuit. For example, an injured construction worker won’t be able to work for quite a while, if he winds up with a broken knee or crushed ribs. For every hour he can’t work, the defendant is required to repay what he would have earned, had he been working.

The third and final form of economic damages that you can receive is property damage. For a pedestrian, this is usually very little. If your $400 dollar ipod was crushed in the accident, or the internal workings of your priceless Rolex scrambled beyond repair, you can even receive compensation for these. But property damage, medical bills, and lost wages almost never come out to the million-dollar figures that pop up when talk turns to pedestrian accident lawsuits.

What really makes the money flow is non-economic damages. Non-economic damages consist of things like disfigurement, permanent disability, loss of family, stress, depression, and other forms of emotional damage. Even things like strains on family relations and embarrassment can be compensated for.

With all this talk about money being thrown around, people often forget decency, and milk the system for all it is worth. Many people honestly don’t realize that filing a false claim is unethical. They may think they’re just working the system for a little extra money. However, if not out of consideration for the driver, you should still be careful out of consideration for yourself.

Frivolous, unjust lawsuits that drastically deplete the insurance companies’ coffers mean only one thing. They have to make it back. The only way they can make back all that money they lost is by increasing their insurance rates. This translates to your own insurance rates going up, as well as everyone else‘s. However, if you have an honest claim, you should press charges, if only to get dangerous drivers off the streets, which may in the long run decrease insurance costs.

Fortunately, the odds that it was the driver’s fault are much higher than the odds that it was your fault. In pedestrian accidents, it is always the pedestrian who, following simple laws of physics, comes out on the losing end of the collision. Obviously, a pedestrian needs to be more careful. How much more careful he or she actually was is usually decided in the lawsuit.

Often, a judge will decide just how much of the pedestrian accident was the driver’s fault, and how much was the pedestrian’s fault. If, say, the fault is split fifty-fifty, the pedestrian will only receive a fifty percent compensation. In this way, pedestrian accident lawsuits are usually fair and ethical.

As always, you should consult your pedestrian accident lawyer while trying to determine whether or not it was your fault. As many judges know, it is rarely the sole fault of either party, and your attorney can help decide just what percentage of the damages you should shoot for.

The bottom line of this entire article is simple: Don’t get involved in an accident in the first place. However, if you have already been in an accident, find a good lawyer as soon as possible.