subject: Considerable Compensation Achieved In Crosswalk Accident Claims [print this page] Considerable Compensation Achieved In Crosswalk Accident Claims
Crosswalks should offer a safe area for pedestrians. They should give pedestrians a clear right of way. They are supposed to signal to drivers a region of the road where they need to exercise care. Normally, they are plainly designated. They are generally governed by traffic signs or light signals. However they fall short of guaranteeing pedestrians a safe area to cross . It is not unusual for attorneys who help victims of motor vehicle accidents to be approached by pedestrians who were hit by a motor vehicle while in a marked crosswalk. These matters usually have devastating injuries that can leave the pedestrian with lifelong impairments or possibly kill the pedestrian. Beneath we explore documented lawsuits with 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 some gives for her grandchildren. She was pushing a shopping cart as she was going to the store. The bus hit her and then kept going, running her over. The driver did not even notice she had hit a shopping cart and had run over the victim until passengers in the bus started screaming for her to stop the bus. The victim suffered multiple fractures that included fractures to her rib, her spine and her pelvis. She will require hip replacement surgery. The law firm that helped the pedestrian indicated that they obtained a $1.25 million settlement.
Case 2: A driver was speeding in a heavily trafficked area of a large metropolitan city. There were many pedestrians in the spot. The driver was driving a rental car. The driver ran a red light and wound up striking a van. This forced the van into a crosswalk which was being crossed by a pedestrian. The pedestrian, a twenty five year old male, sustained a spinal cord fracture injury that left him with complete paralysis from the chest down. The law firm that hekped the pedestrian initiated legal actions against both the driver and the company that rented the car to the driver. The case went to trial with a judge upholding $20.3 million of the larger jury verdict. This included $10 million for future pain and suffering. The remainder covered the expense of medical care, past and future loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
Case 3: This claim report involved the driver of a school bus making a left hand turn at an intersection. While making the turn the bus ran over a pedestrian's foot. The pedestrian was a fifty four year old female who was walking across an intersection in a designated crosswalk. The driver failed to recognize what had occurred until bystanders got his attention and had him put the bus in reverse to free the pedestrian's foot.
The pedestrian sustained various serious injuries to her foot and leg. The pedestrian ended up needing a number of surgeries to both her foot and her leg. Eventually, though, she lost the leg to a below the knee amputation following which she experienced persistent phantom pain. The law firm that handled the personal injury claim published that the case went to trial and the jury gave the victim $5,900,000.
The case above demonstrate that many them take place in locations with significant 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 case, however, do tend to share specific things in common. The injuries are usually severe and leave the victims with lifelong impairments. Crosswalks are no guarantee of safety for a pedestrian. Drivers can be distracted even in obviously marked crosswalks. And certain drivers simply fail to observe the rules such as the speeding driver who ran a red light in the second case. Each of the case concerned major injuries and with the help of an experienced attorney on their side each of these plaintiffs achieved a substantial amount for their injuries.
