Liability in Long Island Pedestrian Accident Cases
Given the nature of the accident, pedestrians can sustain serious or fatal injuries, including spinal cord damage, broken bones, internal injuries, and severe head injuries. It may be important that you file a claim related to liability in pedestrian accidents as soon as possible. A dedicated liability attorney in Long Island may be able to help you make the strongest pedestrian accident case possible.
Who Decides Pedestrian Accident Claims?
The authorities make an initial decision as to who is responsible. There are other possible hearings that take place depending on how serious the accident is. In the end, a jury has the final say when one brings a liability claim for injuries from a pedestrian accident.
What Determines Liability
The jury, while looking at the police report, will try to determine the following:
- Did the person walk or run across the street?
- If a traffic light was nearby, did the person walk with the light or against the light?
- Did the person walk through the crosswalk or outside the crosswalk?
- Did the person walk between two cars?
- Did the person walk late at night without any reflective clothing?
- Was the car speeding?
While not a comprehensive list, all of these scenarios factor into determining liability in a pedestrian accident case. Pedestrians can also have liability issues triggered against them, for not walking in the intersection or walking against the traffic signals, among other scenarios.
Factors of Liability in Long Island
The speed of the vehicle will always determine the liability in a Long Island pedestrian accident case. If an individual is going beyond the speed limit, that increases their liability tremendously. For example, if a person is driving the speed limit of 20 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood but there are children in the area, the driver should have been driving below the speed limit. Speed is always a factor in determining accidents.
Using a cell phone, receiving a text, looking down, speaking to an individual, or sunlight flashing in a person’s eyes would all have an effect on the driver’s liability. If a driver was in the act of committing a traffic violation, it is solid evidence that the driver may have been negligent. While not always the case, evidence of a traffic violation can be a strong indicator that the driver was distracted.
Benefits of Help From a Lawyer
An attorney establishes liability by looking at the photographs, seeing if there were any witnesses and what their versions of the accident are, taking the deposition of the driver, looking at the credibility of the driver and learning what the environmental circumstances in the area were, among other factors.
Contact a Long Island Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
If you experienced an accident while walking anywhere, you may want to consider filing a claim as soon as you are able to do so. An experienced Long Island lawyer may be able to provide assistance in navigating issues relating to liability in pedestrian accidents that arise with your claim.
