When Pedestrians Are Badly Injured By A Car While In A Crosswalk

Are you safe by following the rules and using a crosswalk to cross the street

? You make sure that you cross a street at a marked crosswalk. If only there were a guarantee that drivers would follow the rules and give pedestrians in a crosswalk the right of way. Cases involving pedestrians injured by a motor vehicle accident while in a crosswalk are part of the caseload of any attorney who handles motor vehicle accident cases. These cases often involve devastating injuries that can leave the pedestrian with long-term disabilities or even take the life of the pedestrian. Below we discuss two reported cases involving pedestrian injuries:

Case 1: In this case a bus hit a pedestrian while she was crossing the street in a crosswalk. The victim was a 50 year old woman on her way to buy her grandchildren some gifts. She was pushing a shopping cart as she was going to the store. The bus struck her and then continued to run her over. The driver of the bus failed to realize that she had both hit a shopping car and had also run over a pedestrian. It was not until passengers started yelling for her to stop the bus that she came to understand what was happening. The victim suffered multiple fractures. She had rib fractures. She had pelvic fractures. She had a spinal fracture. She will need hip replacement surgery for her hip fracture injury. The law firm that handled this case reported that they obtained a settlement of $1,250,000 on behalf of the victim.

Case 2: While in a section of a large metropolitan city the driver was speeding. There were a large number of pedestrians in the area. The car involved was a rental car. As he went into the intersection while running a red light he slammed right into a van. The force of the impact forced the van onto the crosswalk just as a 25 year old male pedestrian was crossing the street at the crosswalk. The accident left the passenger with a thoracic level spinal cord dislocation resulting in complete paralyzes from the chest down.

The law firm that represented the victim filed suit on the victim's behalf against two defendants - the driver and the car rental company. The case went to trial with the judge upholding $20.3 million of the larger jury verdict. This included $10 million for future pain and suffering. The rest covered the cost of medical care, past and future loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering.

Case 3: In this case the report indicated that as a school bus made a left hand turn the driver failed to yield the right of way to a pedestrian. The pedestrian was a 54 year old woman who was walking across an intersection in the designated crosswalk. The bus not only ran over the pedestrian's foot, its wheel actually pinned the pedestrian's foot. The driver did not even realize what had happened until bystanders got his attention and had him back the bus up to free the pedestrian's foot.

The cases above show that many cases happen in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic. The vehicles can be cars, buses, even trucks. The victims can be young, middle aged or elderly. They can be male and they can be female.

The cases, though, all seem to share two basic things. First, crosswalks are no guarantee of safety. Drivers are easily distracted. In the first case above the driver did not even realize she had caused an accident and had run over a person. In the second case the driver was speeding and went right through a red light. In the third case bystanders had to get the driver to back up so that as to release the pedestrian's foot pinned under the vehicle. Victims of pedestrian injuries of the type illustrated in these cases should seek out the assistance of a highly skilled and experienced motor vehicle accident lawyer.

by: Joseph Hernandez

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