subject: A Key Lesson For Attorneys Who Litigate Claims Involving A Pedestrian Fatality [print this page] Pedestrian accident cases commonly involve fatalities. As per a study from a few years ago, a pedestrian is killed in a motor vehicle accident roughly every 111 minutes. That is four thousand five hundred killed pedestrians each year. In handling a claim involving accidents in which a pedestrian was killed, lawyers should be aware of the nature of the damages that may exist in the given claim and to fully go after all potential assets that could be used for a settlement.
In one lawsuit, while attempting to turn left a driver slammed into and killed a 62 year-old man crossing the street. There was no dispute that the pedestrian had the right of way. The man died from the resulting injuries. Culpability was not denied in this lawsuit. The driver admitted to being at fault for the accident. There was no dispute that the driver's full coverage would be paid out. The defendant had an insurance policy with limits of only $15,000. The law firm that handled the case was able to reach a settlement on behalf of the victims adult children that included the drivers policy limits plus $1,000,000 from the insurance policy covering the employer of the driver. They were able to do this by demonstrating that at the time of the accident the driver, while he was driving his own automobile, was heading to a store to buying starter fluid for his employers truck. They established that the driver was acting within the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident and thus reached the employers insurance policy for the additional $1 Million.
In the second case, a pickup truck struck a ninety year old male pedestrian who was walking on a sidewalk. The pickup, which weighed a ton, was backing out of a construction site when it hit the pedestrian. And hitting the pedestrian, the truck ran over him, and then pulled forward, running over him a second time. The victim did not survive the accident. The law firm that handled this matter on behalf of the victims adult children brought claims against the driver, he drivers employer, the developer at the site, and the contractor. The developer settled for $200,000. The contractor settled for $150,000. Even though the driver's employer did not deny liabity if the driver were liable, the employer argued that the driver was not liable because the real cause of the accident was the developer who failed to have a lookout person at the location as the driver was backing up. The law firm took the case to trial and the jury awarded the family an additional $1.3 Million.
These 2 claims illustrate one of the key lessons that attorneys representing the families of victims of motor vehicle accidents should learn and apply. Attorneys ought to investigate the case so as to identify all potential defendants. In addition to the driver, other potential defendants include (1) employers and anyone who (2) owns any of the vehicles involved in the accident, (3) contributed to the accident or who can (4) be vicariously liable. Applying this lesson could make a major difference in the amount recovered on behalf of the family of a pedestrian killed in a motor vehicle accident.
