The Liability of the Driver in a Pedestrian Accident

Pedestrian accidents are one of the many forms of personal injury accidents that are currently happening in the United States. In 2009, 4,092 pedestrians were killed and more or less 59,000 others were injured. The pedestrian fatalities make up 12 percent of all traffic fatalities recorded in the United States. About 48 percent of pedestrian accidents were because of alcohol consumption by either the driver or the pedestrian.

Hitting a pedestrian can be a very bad experience for both the person on foot and the driver. It is important to be acquainted with the thought that liability still stands on the driver of a certain vehicle hitting a person even if there are no witnesses involved. Moreover, running over and leaving the accident scene immediately can result to more problems..

Generally, civil liability is the main issue of pedestrian mishaps. However, if the driver, who is held liable for the accident leaves the scene, he or she can be cited for criminal charges against hit-and-run. Even if there are no witnesses, traffic enforcement will respond to the accident scene and would try to determine who caused the problem. If the driver stops after running the person over, the driver has a chance to evade criminal charges.

However, the driver can be held liable in the civil aspect, especially if the pedestrian sustained injuries. The pedestrian may sue the driver for negligence after he or she receives medical treatment or that the injuries which was sustained are permanent and there is no way the pedestrian can recover from it.

In the negligence lawsuit, the injured pedestrian must prove that the driver failed to exercise due care under the situation. He or she must also prove that the driver had a “duty of care” towards any citizen and that the driver breached that responsibility, therefore causing physical and/or mental injuries. Since this is a negligence lawsuit, the injured party can receive monetary compensation for any losses he or she sustained because of the accident.

Negligence in this type of mishap depends on the state statutes. For example, the State of California follows the pure comparative negligence decree, in which both parties cannot be 100 percent liable for the accident, and that there is a percentage of fault for the both of them. To further know more about liability issues that may surround pedestrian accidents, it is important to contact an injury attorney Los Angeles.

Anderson - About Author:
Macky Anderson is web content writer by profession. He graduated from a reputable university with a degree in history. He writes articles regarding legal topics like Los Angeles Injury Lawyer, Wrongful Death Attorney and everything about the law.

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