Philadelphia Pedestrian Accident Lawyers sue drivers of cars and other motor vehicles who negligently caused pedestrians’ injuries and deaths. Negligent driving often causes pedestrian accidents and results in an estimated 5,000 deaths and another 64,000 injuries every year. When a driver carelessly causes a pedestrian’s injury or death, the driver may be liable for the injury or death in a negligence personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.
With nothing to protect a pedestrian from a car’s impact, the injuries a victim sustains can be catastrophic and have life-long consequences. Some of the many severe injuries pedestrians who are fortunate enough to survive these accidents sustain include:
- spinal cord damage
- limb loss
- traumatic brain injuries
- organ damage
- paralysis, and
- coma
Establishing a driver’s liability for a pedestrian accident can be far more complicated than many people realize. The assistance of an attorney experienced with pedestrian accident cases can be invaluable in your fight to obtain the compensation you deserve.
Heiligman & Mogul, P.C.’s, Philadelphia Pedestrian Accident Lawyers have the knowledge, skill, experience, and resources to successfully pursue these often challenging cases. We can protect you from unfair insurance settlements and help you recover costs of medical expenses, surgeries, hospitalization, wage and earning capacity loss, pain and suffering, and other past and future costs related to your accident.
Driver Negligence
Drivers owe the same duty of care to pedestrians as they owe to the drivers and passengers of other vehicles. A driver can be negligent per se in causing or contributing to a pedestrian’s injury or death if the driver was violating a state pedestrian law by failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk or lighted intersection when a pedestrian accident occurred.
A driver may negligently cause or contribute to a pedestrian accident by:
- driving while intoxicated, distracted, or fatigued
- speeding
- ignoring traffic signals
- failing to consider weather conditions when driving
- and violating other traffic rules or laws
Determining liability in cases involving pedestrians who were violating traffic rules (by failing to yield to traffic when walking outside of crosswalks, by walking against traffic lights, or by walking with rather than against traffic on roadways without shoulders) can be more difficult. Regardless of a pedestrian’s own (contributory) negligence, a driver may still be legally responsible for pedestrian injuries contributed to by the driver’s negligence. Recovery of damages may depend upon the percentages of fault attributed to both the pedestrian and the driver.
Child Pedestrians
Drivers owe an even higher duty of care to child pedestrians. A driver may be negligent for failing to take extra precautions for children’s safety when driving near a school, park, or any other area frequented by children or where children are present.
Depending on the circumstances, a driver may be found to have negligently caused a child’s injury by failing to drive under the speed limit or by doing anything that distracted the driver. A driver may be negligent per se for violating traffic laws related to stopped school buses.