Pedestrian Accidents

We read in the paper this week news articles about various traffic incidents involving pedestrians. In one case a drunk driver hit a pedestrian who was walking in a crosswalk at an intersection. The drunk driver apparently ran the stop sign running over and killing the pedestrian. In another case, again, a pedestrian was in a crosswalk and a driver simply failed to pay attention to the situation and ran over the pedestrian, seriously injuring the victim.
Big cities are dangerous because there are many cars and many pedestrians occupying the same spaces. Unfortunately, pedestrian accidents will occur and typically because it is a car verses the human body, the individual is seriously injured and/or killed. Pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks and cars should always yield to them but reality teaches us that this is not always the case. When a drunk driver is involved, of course, all bets are off.
As is true of any other automobile collision or car wreck cases, the at fault driver will be responsible for the damages inflicted upon the innocent pedestrian. Unfortunately, in many cases, the at fault driver has either no insurance or limited insurance and the pedestrian’s chances of recovery therefore are dependent upon the financial responsibility of the driver involved in the incident. If the pedestrian has uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, this can also be a potential revenue for recovery in any pedestrian injury case.
As is true of any other car accident case, in any case in which a pedestrian is seriously injured, counsel should be contacted as soon as possible so that eyewitnesses can be interviewed while their memories are fresh. The more serious the incident the greater the need for consultation with counsel as a thorough investigation while facts are fresh may be necessary in order to protect long term lost wages and provide for the payment of medical expenses.