In an accident involving a car and a person walking on foot, the pedestrian is usually the one who suffers. Car accident victims are most likely to be the driver, who has no car around them or airbags to protect them from the damage that a negligent driver could cause.
To get fair compensation, you might consider filing a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance. However, the insurance company could deny their driver’s fault or try to blame you for the accident, potentially denying your claim. To get compensation at the full value you deserve, it is often important to work with an experienced attorney.
Call the pedestrian accident lawyers at Howe Law today at (844) 876-4357 for a free case evaluation on your potential pedestrian accident claim.
Proving the Driver’s Fault in a Pedestrian Accident Case in Vestavia Hills
Pedestrians can claim compensation from the insurance company or through a lawsuit filed against the at-fault driver. In either case, the driver is usually represented by their insurance company’s lawyers, who will fight tooth and nail to keep their driver from being deemed at fault. Because fault is such an important issue, it is important to understand how fault is determined, how you prove it, and how the defense will often try to claim you were actually at fault. It is also incredibly important to have your own pedestrian accident lawyers to help you prove the defendant’s fault.
Elements of Fault
In a personal injury claim – which is usually what a pedestrian accident case is filed as – the victim has the burden of proving their case. The elements you need to show are known as duty, breach, causation, and damages.
To show the defendant’s duty, you have to point to some law or standard the driver was obligated to follow. Often, this is an objective standard, known as a “reasonable person” or “reasonable driver” standard. Aside from the duty to follow traffic laws, drivers have a duty to drive as a reasonable driver would. To prove breach, you show that they violated that duty or failed to use the proper care or skill for the situation.
The causation element requires you to prove that the driver’s actions actually caused the crash rather than someone else’s actions or some intervening cause. Lastly, there must be damages related to the crash or else you have nothing to sue for.
Proving Fault
Plaintiffs (victims) have the “burden of proof” in a civil injury case, meaning that their lawyers need to provide the evidence and convince the jury that the plaintiff’s claim is true. Unlike criminal cases where the case needs to be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt,” civil injury cases use a “preponderance of the evidence standard.” This is essentially a 51% standard; the jury needs to agree that your claim is more probable than the defendant’s defense is.
Victim-Blaming and “Contributory Negligence”
In Alabama, the law does not allow victims who shared any shred of responsibility for their own injuries to sue someone else for damages. That means that if the court finds that you are even so much as 1% at fault for the pedestrian accident that injured you, you will lose your case.
Defendants often try to point to things like illegal crossing, failing to look both ways before crossing the street, jaywalking, and other similar conduct to blame pedestrians for their own injuries. This usually goes to the causation element discussed above: the defense will claim the victim’s own actions caused the crash, not them. Our lawyers will similarly defend you by showing that it truly was the defendant’s fault and that your actions did not actually contribute to causing the crash.
However, it is important to be careful what you say or else the defense will use even casual apologies or other similar statements as evidence that you admitted fault, even if that is a big logical jump.
Common Traffic Violations that Cause Pedestrian Accidents in Vestavia Hills, AL
Accidents with pedestrians can happen for a number of reasons. The most common involve drivers who enter crosswalks when they are not supposed to or drivers who fail to drive safely around pedestrians. The following are some common causes of pedestrian crashes in Vestavia Hills:
Running Red Lights and Stop Signs
At intersections with or without crosswalks, drivers are supposed to stop at the line or edge of the roadway that crosses theirs. If there is a marked crosswalk or an area where pedestrians are supposed to walk, that means stopping before that any time there is a red light or a stop sign. If a driver fails to stop altogether, they can be at fault for any injuries they cause to pedestrians crossing the road at the intersection. Even if the driver stops but does so too late or pulls up too far, they can also be at fault for bumping into anyone or running over anyone’s foot at the stop.
Parking Lot Accidents
In parking lots, cars and pedestrians often have to share the space. This means it is up to drivers to be extra careful when backing up and to check for pedestrians stepping out from between cars. If a driver hits a pedestrian in a parking lot, the crash might not be as serious as a crash at full speed, but it can still cause serious injuries. Drivers who speed in parking lots are especially culpable when they cause crashes.
These crashes are especially dangerous for children, who could suffer catastrophic injury even at low parking lot speeds.
Hopping Curbs
Drivers who take a turn too sharp or speed around a blind corner might hop the curb and drive up onto the sidewalk or past a berm. If they do so, they are illegally driving off the road and should be held liable for any pedestrians they hit.
Drunk Driving and Hit and Run Crashes
Drunk drivers, especially at night, are often responsible for hitting pedestrians. These crashes often turn into hit and runs, potentially because the driver was too intoxicated to even recognize that they hit someone. Our lawyers can help victims and their families seek justice for these kinds of pedestrian accidents.
Call Our Pedestrian Accident Attorneys in Vestavia Hills, AL Today
For a free case review with Howe Law’s pedestrian accident lawyers, call (844) 876-4357 right away.
