The National Highway Pedestrian Safety Administration has revealed that about forty two percent of every accidents that involves pedestrians happens when without proper crosswalks but the truth is walking inside of a crosswalk doesn’t really guarantee that you would be safe. One would think that the painted, bright lines would keep them safe while on foot but it doesn’t really stop a car from hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk. In most cases, the driver is always the guilty one and this means victims are free to ask for compensation.
In the state of California, drivers are obliged to stay away from the crosswalks which pedestrians take whether they are marked or not and not just staying away but they are also advised to reduce their speed levels when approaching crosswalks. Staying alert is also very important because pedestrians might enter the way and what this means is that in majority of the cases where a pedestrian is hit by a car in a crosswalk, the driver is at fault and therefore, he goes on to bear legal liability.
The fact still remains that for a victim to get fair compensation, he or she still has to go through a very difficult process no matter how simple the case might be but one thing we want everyone to know is that there are lots of options any pedestrian that has been injured by a car can get to seek compensation.
Hitting A Pedestrian In A Crosswalk
When The Driver Is At Fault
In over fifty percent of accidents involving cars and pedestrians, the driver is always the one at fault and why is this so? Take California for example, the law has placed so much responsibilities on the shoulders of drivers when they hit a pedestrian therefore leading to these drivers bearing liability and also in California, the law states that pedestrians have rights of the way whether they crossing in a crosswalk that is marked or not. What this simply means is that drivers have to yield to pedestrians when they are crossing the street.
This doesn’t matter if the lines are painted or bright or if there is a flashing signal or not. If a car goes on to hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk then negotiating an insurance settlement that is being offered by the insurance company of the driver at fault is the easiest and quickest way a pedestrian can get to seek financial compensation. It is also necessary that victims should seek the advice of a legal counsel or attorney if they want to get the compensation that they deserve because insurance companies won’t make a better initial offer.
It is right for the victim to go ahead and get compensation for property damage, lost wages and also medical expenses but if it happens that the driver at fault here is uninsured then it falls to the victim to get compensation from his own insurance policy. Due to payout limitations, it will be impossible for such compensation to cover up for all of the expenses that you must have incurred because of the accident. In such case, a victim is also free to file a personal injury lawsuit against all the parties that are at fault.
Presenting such case to court would definitely help the victim in getting compensations which are bigger than the payout of any insurance company but one fact that you should have in mind is that court cases tends to get dragged for years and in some cases, there might not be a favorable verdict. As you can see, a simple accident where a pedestrian gets hit by a car in a crosswalk isn’t that simple to resolve. It becomes more challenging when the case involves a crosswalk that has no marking.
It is important for all cases to be individually treated and the wants, needs and losses of the victims should always be placed as the first and foremost. One last thing that you should know is there is nothing like an average settlement in a pedestrian car accident case because all cases are treated individually the same way the victims are treated individually. It is up to a very good attorney to calculate pain and suffering, lost wages. medical expenses and property damage in order to get fairly compensated.
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