In Pedestrian Crossing Cases, The Vehicle OperatorIs Not The Person Who Gets Hurt

John Cooper

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 312

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The human body is not designed to withstand an impact with a car. If you get hit at a crosswalk by an automobile, you are likely going to be seriously hurt. The lightest cars weigh several thousand pounds. Even if the vehicle is moving at a relatively slow speed, it may well break your bones if it hits you when you are crossing the street.

We are handling several pedestrian crossing cases right now. In each of these, horrible injuries were caused when a car ran over a person. Despite the severe injuries to a person, the insurance companies fight these cases hard, especially in Virginia. If you are in the crosswalk, you have the right of way. Cars are supposed to see you in the crosswalk and to drive accordingly. However, often drivers do not see what is there to be seen. Distracted drivers often run through stop signs and plow through intersections hitting pedestrians. This is especially true in suburban locations where drivers aren't as used to seeing people walking as they might be in a bigger city. Unlike New York City where pedestrians rule, in locations like Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, Virginia, drivers might not be as used to yielding the right of way to people walking.

Amazingly, the insurance companies attempt to blame the pedestrian for being the cause of the collision. For example, they will say that the pedestrian should have realized that the car was not going to stop. We certainly hope that not too many juries will be fooled by this argument. Although the pedestrian has to keep a lookout to make sure that he or she sees what there is going on around him, a person walking also has the right to assume that a driver is not going to run a stop sign until it is clear that they have already done so . The bottom line is if you are hit in the crosswalk, you have a good potential claim to make.