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Pedestrian v. Car Accidents

Written by jeffreyhoward on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

Here in Chapel Hill, we probably have a LOT more pedestrian activity than most towns in North Carolina. With 25,000-ish students centered around Franklin Street, and many of them living off of nearby roadways and walking to bus stops, pedestrian v. car accidents are very much a concern. So let’s talk about some issues with pedestrians and automobiles.

RIGHT OF WAY…A CONFUSING QUESTION

Look to the light to see who has the right of way. That will pretty much always set the stage. However, NC law is a little mushy on this, because once a pedestrian is in the roadway, drivers have a duty to yield, even if the pedestrian shouldn’t have been there. This sounds crazy, but it’s not when you think about it; we’re just not allowed to kill people simply because they’ve made poor decisions. Having said that, what we have to do is what a “reasonably prudent person would do in the same or similar circumstances.” So that means if I’m going the 65mph speed limit on I40 at night and a dude walks across the road and I don’t see him in time to stop, that ain’t my fault. Conversely, if I’m on a 35mph street and someone jay walks, I can’t speed up to run them over, either.

YOU, OTHER DRIVERS, AND PEDESTRIANS

One of the tricky issues I see come up is when there’s a multi-lane street with a pedestrian crossing. When you’re driving and the car in the lane next to you stops for a pedestrian, YOU have to STOP TOO! I know, I know. I loathe rules that allow other people to make decisions for me. But this one makes sense. Once someone has stopped for a pedestrian, it’s best to just let them get across safely and not have to play real life Frogger.

CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE

This is the worst. Watch this vid for a more detailed description, but the short version is if a victim is even 1% at fault, they can’t get ANYTHING from the person who is 99% at fault. This is NOT the case is 46 other States in this fine Union, but here we are. This is a huge problem for most pedestrian claims in that there’s often an allegation that the pedestrian may have had the right of way, but they could have avoided the accident. There’s a counter to this, usually, but it’s all silly. This, however, is the NUMBER ONE REASON YOU SHOULD GET AN ATTORNEY IF YOU HAVE AN ACCIDENT!

Call me for help with any injury claim. 919-929-2992.