Pedestrian Accident Scenarios in Clearwater
Many pedestrian accident scenarios in Clearwater are caused by those not crossing streets using the crosswalks. Jaywalking is considered illegal even if it is not often enforced. A person can walk between two parked cars, for example, and a vehicle driver does not have any idea that they are there until they see people walking in front of them. There are normally severe injuries because that vehicle driver does not have an opportunity to stop.
Crosswalks exist to ensure that pedestrians have a safe place to cross. Failing to use a crosswalk can have an adverse effect on the person’s case because they are crossing in a place that is not designed for the person to cross. A skilled pedestrian accident lawyer can give you clarity on how to avoid accident risks while walking in public.
Backing Up Around Distracted Pedestrians
When vehicles are backing up, drivers do not want to be distracted to ensure they do not hit anyone behind them. Sometimes, pedestrians are not paying attention to vehicles that are backing up and walk right into the path of that vehicle so the driver does not have the opportunity to identify that a pedestrian is there. They do not have an opportunity to stop before making an impact with the pedestrian. It is a jury question to determine whether or not the person who was struck acted reasonably and whether the person backing up was doing it as safely as they possibly could.
Accidents Associated with Public Transport
Public transportation buses and public charter buses are around Clearwater all the time. Drivers are normally in tune with the pedestrian traffic. However, a pedestrian hit by a bus is a catastrophic or fatal event because of the mass of the bus. When a person is hit by a Ferrari or by a bus, the person is hit. Pedestrians are obligated to stop for most school buses and public buses. Many times, people are frustrated, in a hurry, and try to swing around the bus not recognizing that people are exiting that bus or are going to be coming out from in front of the bus when they come up the door.
What Accidents occur at Stop Signs?
If a person does not make the stop sign, the person very well may be at risk of hitting people coming through the intersection. It is a violation of law because it is a failure to observe a traffic device or signal. It is potentially very dangerous because of the higher rate of speed that the car may be moving when it comes into contact with the pedestrian.
Collisions on Private Property
Where the injury occurred will dictate whether or not a property owner or property management group might be responsible for some of the injuries sustained by the person that was injured. Sometimes the fault of an accident lies outside of the driver that was involved. Some pedestrian accident scenarios in Clearwater are a result of the poor design of a parking lot. It could be a foreseeable consequence because the owner or operator that controls the lot has knowledge of a particularly dangerous condition and does not do anything to protect the public from that risk of harm.
Parking Lots
Parking lots are technically not roadways for Florida’s purposes. Recognizing that there is significant pedestrian traffic in parking lots, an individual has to be conscious that cars turn in and back up in that area. From the perspective of the driver, they need to be more careful about a pedestrian walking while backing up or turning to avoid consequences.
The most dangerous pedestrian accident scenarios in Clearwater are often cars going into and coming out of parking lots. Since they are so focused on the traffic coming around them, they fail to yield to pedestrians that are walking on the sidewalk. Many people are hit when a car is trying to go into a parking lot and the drive is focused on the traffic coming towards them and fails to realize that a pedestrian walked in front of them and in front of a curve cut.
Turning Right On red
Cars turning right on red can also be very dangerous because a lot of times the driver’s focus is on the traffic coming from their left. They are trying to make sure that they do not hit other vehicle and sometimes a driver can disregard looking back to the right to make sure that no pedestrians crossed in the crosswalk. When a person is turning right on red, a pedestrian has a walk light. This is another accident scenario involving pedestrians in Clearwater.
Turning Left Across Intersection
Similarly, when cars are turning left across an intersection, they are worried about the oncoming traffic and the various directions they are coming from. Sometimes they lose focus that there are pedestrians that are crossing in front of them. While they are looking to the left or right, they turn not looking again in front of them to make sure nothing is there.
Impact of Streets with No Sidewalks
The occurrence of pedestrian accident scenarios in Clearwater where there are no sidewalks is prevalent in some parts of Clearwater since there are no sidewalks. Sometimes drivers are not aware that pedestrians have to share the roadway with them. The drivers do not proceed as if there are no sidewalks because they are in their car on the road. Thus, when a pedestrian that comes into their lane, they have a tendency to be injured.