Determining Liability in St. Petersburg Pedestrian Accident Cases
Car accidents can often be quite jarring. Accidents involving pedestrians often can be even more frightening. A pedestrian is defined as anyone who travels on foot. When these accidents occur, it can sometimes be confusing to discern who is liable for the accident. If you or someone you know has been involved in a pedestrian accident recently, contact a skillful attorney that can help with determining liability in St. Petersburg pedestrian accident cases.
Patterns Unique to Pedestrian Accidents
Some common fact patterns unique to pedestrian accidents are walking in the crosswalk or walking on the sidewalk and a car runs a red light or stop sign and hits the pedestrian. Additionally, if a car loses control or has a drunk driver and hops the curb and goes onto the sidewalk, it is common for a pedestrian to get hit on the sidewalk. Most of them revolve around somebody running a stop sign or a red light when a pedestrian is walking through a crosswalk or not noticing a pedestrian is standing on the side of the road. If it is a DUI accident, somebody hops a curb and it is a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk.
Who Determines if a Driver is Liable
The jury will decide if the case goes that far, but many times a law enforcement officer would come to the scene. If they ticket the driver for careless driving or failure to yield to a pedestrian, then usually the law enforcement officer can decide who is liable. It is law enforcement’s job to come and find out who is either criminally or civilly responsible for accidents that occur on the road. Then, if it goes to trial, the plaintiff is the party burdened with proving who is liable.
One can use the law enforcement report and the witness statements to show who was at fault for the accident. One has to show the jury who had the right of way, who was following the laws of the road, who was operating themselves or their vehicle cautiously, responsibly, and safely, and who was doing so negligently. All of the measures are necessary in determining liability in St. Petersburg pedestrian accident cases.
Requirements to Determine Liability
For determining liability in St. Petersburg pedestrian accident cases, one has to be able to prove that the driver has a duty and breached that duty, meaning they have a duty to drive carefully and responsibly as a reasonable person would. They breached that duty by driving negligently, not stopping at a stop sign, not stopping at a red light, or making an improper left turn, and that breach of duty caused injuries to the pedestrian that they hit.
Parties are always given the opportunity to make arguments regarding liability. It is who can show that the other party was at fault for the accident based on their accidents on the date of the accident.
Difference Between Liability in Pedestrian Cases Versus Car Accident Cases
It is a little bit easier to prove because the pedestrian always has the right of way. If someone hits a pedestrian because they were not paying attention or because something was going on, even if the pedestrian was on a crosswalk, the driver of the car is always going to hold some portion of liability unlike in a two-vehicle accident case. Pedestrians are rarely found to be liable. However, if a pedestrian were to wander out in the middle of a street has a blood alcohol level of .21, they may be found liable for that accident. For help determining laundry in pedestrian accidents, contact a dedicated attorney today.