One matter I talk about in my state and local government class is how cities are designed. A number of cities, particularly big ones like Dallas and Houston, have a large problem with sprawl. This means that citizens pretty much have to use some form of transportation to get places (e.g. grabbing food, shopping). Aside from the environmental problems associated with large amounts of gasoline-slurping cars, another issue that arises are pedestrian accidents.
Leading causes of pedestrian accidents
In those big cities, there is a fairly large part of the population that has no choice but to walk down the road. In this era where drivers have been the most distracted that they have ever been, the amount of pedestrial injuries caused by motorists have reached critical levels. The pedestrian accident leading causes correspond to people being on their phones when they drive, drunk and drugged individuals getting behind the wheel of their car, and individuals going out on busy thoroughfares and highways.
Cities have statutes about what sort of signage and visual elements need to be present in crosswalks and areas where there will likely be a goodly amount of pedestrians , which can include the use of a modern digital signage platform. In fact, the more marketplace-based city districts may privilege the rights of walkers more than they would to people who are driving. In those situations, anyone that is accused of causing damage to a pedestrian would have to showcase multiple extenuating circumstances to explain why the action had to occur.
A Mini Case Study: Driver A hits Pedestrian 1
For example, if a person (pedestrian 1) was injured because the driver (driver A) thought that they would be hit by another person in a car (driver B), there may be some additional liability assigned to driver B. This is not to say that the person directly causing the accident should be legally absolved from responsibility, but I could imagine a situation in which both drivers had some fraction of restitution to make to the injured party.
As real-life ends up being messier than a brief example, any person that was walking and ended up being injured needs to locate responsible and reliable legal representation. Start off by setting up an appointment and provide all relevant information you can. In most situations, there will be a police report – ask the department to provide you with a copy of that report. Armed with these two sources of information, the lawyer can then discuss with you the possibility of bringing a case and how likely a positive account will be.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
As with all of my posts about legal topics, I am not a lawyer. The suggestions I make here are purely intended to be helpful advice rather than anything official. Make it a point to seek legal representation if you have any questions or concerns, as firms will be best able to take care of your problems. I am particularly interested in hearing more from individuals that have had to go through a personal injury civil case.
