When drivers are not careful on the road, they might cause serious accidents. Unfortunately, pedestrians are often caught up in these accidents and severely injured.
Pedestrian accidents may happen anywhere that pedestrian walkways meet vehicle traffic. Intersections and crosswalks are common sites of pedestrian accidents, although they might also happen on sidewalks when drivers lose control of their vehicles. When filing a personal injury lawsuit as an injured pedestrian, you can usually sue the driver of the car that hit you. In some cases, multiple drivers have contributed to the crash, and you can sue more than one person. To support your claims, you need strong evidence, much of which will come directly from the crash site. You can recover damages for your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and more.
Drivers must share the roadways with pedestrians. If you were the victim of a pedestrian crash, our Alpharetta pedestrian accident lawyers can assist you in filing a lawsuit. For a free case assessment, call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357.
Common Causes of Alpharetta Pedestrian Accidents
Negligent drivers at intersections and crosswalks most often cause pedestrian accidents. These are locations where pedestrians are permitted to enter the road, and drivers are required to stop. Some pedestrian accidents also happen on sidewalks when drivers run off the road and may be especially severe. Our Alpharetta pedestrian accident attorneys can help you explore legal options after a collision.
Running red lights is a major concern when discussing pedestrian accidents. Redlights signal the drivers to stop so pedestrians may cross, but distracted drivers or those going too fast to stop in time might strike pedestrians in the intersection. In some cases, multiple drivers are involved. The first driver might stop at the red light, but a driver behind them might not, rear end the first driver, and cause an accident with a pedestrian in the intersection.
Drunk driving is another big problem on the roads, and many pedestrians are injured in alcohol-related crashes. Even drivers who claim only to be a bit buzzed are still a threat to pedestrians. An intoxicated driver’s reflexes are inhibited, and they might not react in time to stop for pedestrians.
Parking lots also see frequent pedestrian accidents. People often let their guard down in parking lots because they are off the road and driving much slower, but pedestrians may still be hit and seriously injured.
Liability for a Pedestrian Accident in Alpharetta
Liability for a pedestrian accident is not always clear. In some cases, only one driver is liable, but in others, multiple drivers contributed to the crash. Still, in other cases, the drivers feel the scene of the accident, and injured pedestrians have no idea who hit them. Our Alpharetta pedestrian accident lawyers can help you determine which person or people should be held liable for your injuries.
Whether one driver or multiple drivers are to blame, the elements we must prove to hold them liable remain the same. In most cases, liability is based on negligence. To establish negligence, we must establish the defendant’s legal duty of care and the action that breached that duty. We must also show that the breach was the direct cause of the accident and that your damages are real.
On the road, drivers have a legal duty of care to drive with reasonable safety under the circumstances while obeying the traffic code. This duty is owed to all other drivers and pedestrians on the road. A breach of this duty might involve a traffic violation, like running a red light. It might also involve driving while distracted or intoxicated.
Defendants often allege that some other force is to blame for the accident, not them. In many cases, the defendants argue that the plaintiff is responsible for the accident. To prove that the defendant’s breach of duty was the direct cause of the accident, we must be prepared to disprove these false allegations. Finally, we must establish that your damages and injuries are real, not hypothetical.
Evidence to Support Your Claims in an Alpharetta Pedestrian Accident
Your lawsuit cannot succeed without evidence. Evidence is the beating heart of any case, and the stronger evidence you have, the more likely you will win. Ideally, collecting evidence should begin at the scene of the accident. However, if you are too badly injured to do this, our Alpharetta pedestrian accident lawyers can help you piece together evidence later.
Photos and videos are extremely important to your case. If possible, you or someone with should take as many photos and record videos of the accident scene immediately after the crash. These recordings help preserve important details, like the defendant’s vehicle, witnesses, and details about the accident location.
We will also need your medical records to establish your injuries in court. Lawsuits are known to take a long time, and your injuries might be healed by the time we get to your trial. To prove the existence or severity of your injuries in court, we need your medical records.
Witnesses are one of the most important sources of evidence we can gather. If people saw your crash, we need to figure out who they are and where we can und them. The more people who can testify about what they saw, the better.
Available Damages in Alpharetta Pedestrian Accident Cases
A lawsuit’s main purpose is to claim damages for your expenses. Economic damages relate to real money you have spent or lost because of the accident. Non-economic damages are those that did not come at a financial cost but still took a physical or mental toll. Our Alpharetta pedestrian accident attorneys can help you calculate your damages and hopefully maximize compensation.
Medical bills are some of the most common sources of economic damages in accident cases. After being struck by a vehicle, injured pedestrians often have severe injuries. In many cases, injured pedestrians cannot fully recover and must live with permanent disabilities. The treatment for these injuries is very expensive, and the driver should be made to pay.
Non-economic damages often include the pedestrian’s mental and physical pain and suffering. As said before, injuries in pedestrian accidents are often catastrophic. Injured pedestrians tend to endure a lot of physical pain and psychological trauma, and these damages deserve compensation.
Call Our Alpharetta Pedestrian Accident Lawyers for Help Now
After being hit by a car, you deserve compensation for the severely painful injuries you have endured. Our Alpharetta pedestrian accident lawyers can help you get justice. For a free case review, call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357.
