Who Is at Fault in a Pedestrian Accident?

Unfortunately, pedestrian accidents occur on a regular basis and can have long-term consequences. In addition, it is very complicated to navigate a personal injury case involving pedestrians.

With that being said, do not be discouraged. If you were injured by a motorist (severe or minor), you do have legal rights. As you seek legal representation or are still considering pursuing legal action, it’s important to determine one major factor… 

Who is at fault?

The key concepts that will help you understand who was at fault in a given pedestrian accident are negligence and duty of care. Understanding these will help you find the right attorney who can help guide you through your case.

Defining Negligence and Duty of Care

With any collision involving a pedestrian, several factors will determine who was at fault. Most of them depend on the circumstances at the time of the accident. You have to consider the circumstances, such as whether one or both parties were negligent in the accident. As a pedestrian, were you jaywalking? Did the driver run a red light?

Negligence is the failure of a given individual or party to use the expected amount and type of care that a reasonable person would give in the same situation. That’s also called “duty of care” — the expectation that someone will take all necessary steps to prevent harm to another person.

So, how do you apply these rules to a pedestrian accident? You have to look at the behavior of each party. Usually, the details of the accident will provide a great deal of information about this.

Types of Pedestrian Accidents

Accidents involving a vehicle and a person who isn’t in a vehicle take a few typical shapes. But all of them generally center on inattention on the part of the driver.

Your pedestrian accident may have involved one of the following:

• General loss of control: This is when the other person hit or sideswiped you in any way because they were swerving or otherwise not in control of the vehicle
• Crosswalk collision: This is when you were legally in a crosswalk and the person in the vehicle failed to give you the right-of-way and hit you
• Backup accident: This is when the other party’s vehicle was reversing, particularly in a parking lot, and you were hit while they were backing up

In any of these specific situations, there are multiple factors at play. However, the most notable is the duty of care the driver would have had toward you as a pedestrian. In most situations, it’s the driver’s responsibility to watch for pedestrians.

Aggressive driving can also be a risk factor when it comes to pedestrian accidents. If inattentiveness was not to blame for the pedestrian accident, then aggression could have been the reason. This would also result in the driver being at fault.

With that said, it is important to keep in mind that the driver’s lawyer will attempt to make you appear like the negligent party.

That’s why you should know about the concept of shared fault. To be well-versed on the subject, working with an experienced car accident lawyer is your best option.

Working Through Shared Fault

As you can probably tell, with some types of pedestrian accidents, fault can be shared. This depends a great deal on the level of negligence exercised by each party. It also depends on what the witness testimony says about what happened.

When it comes to the duty of care, your responsibility as a pedestrian is to watch for dangerous situations and follow the traffic laws that apply to you. If a witness can say that you were running in front of the vehicle, jaywalking, or otherwise interrupting the regular traffic flow, that can weaken your case.

This is why it is so crucial to have a skillful pedestrian accident lawyer defend you. They can ensure that you have all of the details that speak to the truth of your situation, and make it clear that you were not at fault for someone else’s negligent behavior. The right attorney will work toward a favorable outcome. If possible, this will not bring comparative negligence into the equation. Instead, it will be indicative of what you’ve experienced, not putting any of the blame on you.

Work With a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

If you’re in search of a pedestrian accident lawyer who will prioritize your health and award you ideal compensation, then contact DK Law. We exclusively take on motor vehicle accidents and work on a contingency basis, so you pay nothing until we win your case.

Here’s why we are the right choice for your pedestrian accident. You can also schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.