Pedestrian Accidents and Fatalities
By: Michael Buffton | Posted: 09th March 2011
On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 111 minutes. That indicates that over 4000 pedestrians are killed each year in the United States. Traffic safety is an inter-play between drivers and pedestrians, acting responsibly and obeying traffic rules. Sadly, it is human nature to act against rules at times, which can lead to devastating outcomes.
Pedestrian accidents often injure those who are most vulnerable such as school children walking to and from school, or elderly persons trying to cross busy streets. Another common type of pedestrian accident occurs when a car hits a pedestrian in the crosswalk because the driver is looking at traffic, and not at the pedestrian. Pedestrian accidents are almost always very serious. As a result, it’s extremely important to obtain full financial compensation so the injured person can receive the medical care and rehabilitation services they will need.
The first thing that is to be remembered when pursuing any personal injury claim is that it is in fact just that a personal injury claim. The plaintiff must have sustained some form of injury either physical or psychological as a result of being knocked down. Even where the driver has indeed acted negligently, even criminally so, one should note that with regard to the civil law, a potential plaintiff can only claim compensation for a personal injury loss or damage that he or she has in fact sustained. A near miss other than where it can be proved to have caused, for example, a severe psychological trauma is not sufficient to justify compensation being awarded. If you have not sustained a personal injury as a result of your accident you are, of course, still entitled to attempt to recover the costs of personal property etc. that may have been damaged or destroyed. The same principles apply i.e. the damage must have in fact occurred. A pedestrian accident attorney will be part of an accident law firm that will be able to give you valuable viewpoints about your case and information on how to handle your injury. The accident law firm will gather information about your accident needed to build a successful case and obtain compensation for your injuries. Often, when an accident lawyer is the one communicating with the company or other attorney, they will receive more serious and thorough responses than if you were contacting them. Working with an accident lawyer can help resolve your accident case faster, with less stress and anxiety.
A pedestrian must exercise reasonable care for his or her own safety. The care required of the pedestrian must be in proportion to the danger to be avoided and the consequences that might be reasonably anticipated. Contributory negligence may be assessed against a pedestrian if they failed to exercise such care and directly contributed to the cause of their own injuries.
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Tags: human nature, viewpoints, personal property, elderly persons, plaintiff, personal injury claim, traffic rules, pedestrians, financial compensation, informatio, psychological trauma, civil law, crosswalk