{"id":1659,"date":"2019-10-30T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T10:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2019-10-30T10:00:58","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T10:00:58","slug":"pedestrian-lawyer-auto-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/pedestrian-lawyer-auto-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedestrian Lawyer &#8211; Auto Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>How much can a pedestrian sue when hit by a car?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While you will need to speak with a personal injury lawyer\nfor an answer specific to your situation, the general rule of thumb for\nRiverside County and San Bernardino County is based on three major factors with\nthe goal of \u201cmaking the injured person whole again\u201d \u2013 while this might sound\nlike the children\u2019s story of Humpty Dumpty falling from his wall, the following\nis an outline of the major compensation factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Will you be out of work?<\/strong> If so, how much\nincome loss will you experience as a result of the accident (since the accident\nand in the future). Will you have to retrain or look for a different career?<\/li><li><strong>Will you have medical expenses?<\/strong> If so,\nfuture expenses will need to be evaluated as well.<\/li><li><strong>Will you have long term limitations?<\/strong>\nOften described as loss of enjoyment of life but can also include pain and\nsuffering.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Damages are meant to compensate the injured person for all\nharm that was suffered \u2013 both past, present and future. It is often difficult\nto understand how a financial payment can help someone heal from such a\ndevastating accident, but this is how the legal system works. It is important\nto work with professionals in evaluating the extent of injuries as initial pain\nand discomfort often mask long-term issues. If not included in the original\nclaim, it may be difficult to revisit should a future issue arise that was\nunforeseen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Can the pedestrian be at fault?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In most cases, the driver of a vehicle will be at fault.\nHowever, there are situations where the pedestrian caused the accident to\nbecome eminent. Should the pedestrian be found at fault for the accident, they\nwill not be able to sue the driver nor the driver\u2019s insurance company. In most\ncases for a pedestrian to be at fault, there must be significant evidence\nshowing negligence of the pedestrian, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Entering traffic on foot without using proper areas such as cross walks<\/li><li>Using a cross walk when it is not the designated turn for the pedestrian<\/li><li>Using  a street or highway while under the influence of alcohol or drugs<\/li><li>Using where pedestrian access is prohibited (posted on all freeways in California)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Shared Fault \u2013 What is that?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes it is clear that both the pedestrian and the\ndriver have contributed to the accident. In this situation, it is referred to\nas a shared fault. Examples of this may be someone jaywalking but being hit by\na driver that was speeding or distracted with their mobile phone and unable to\nstop in time to avoid the accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Comparative Negligence \u2013 Where both people share fault<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>California, like the majority of states, follows the legal\ndoctrine of comparative negligence. In this system, the injured pedestrian can\nstill sue the driver when both parties are at fault. However, the pedestrian\nmay only sue for a percentage of the amount for which they were not responsible\nfor the fault of the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Determining the percentage of fault of any accident has\nserious implications and a personal injury lawyer provides guidance through the\nentire process. An example of comparative negligence that is often cited is\nwhen a distracted driver struck an intoxicated pedestrian in a crosswalk while\nthe \u2018do not walk\u2019 light was illuminated. The accident caused significant\ninjuries of the pedestrian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this hypothetical situation, the driver was texting, but\notherwise was driving the speed limit and stopped to assist immediately at the\nscene. The pedestrian, intoxicated, was using the cross walk, but during a time\nwhich the \u201cdo not walk\u201d light was illuminated. In this situation, the driver\nshould not have been on the road, but the pedestrian also should have not been\non the crosswalk, and also could have prevented the accident by not walking\ninto the vehicle\u2019s path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A jury may determine the fault to be 2\/3 driver and 1\/3\npedestrian citing that the pedestrian should have seen the driver and avoided\nthe situation all together, but that ultimately it was the driver that failed\nto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Assuming the total damages awarded was $1 million, the\npedestrian would be able to sue for 2\/3 of the amount, approximately $667,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Closing Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind this is all hypothetical and your case will be\ndifferent. A personal injury lawyer will have the experience and empathy to\nunderstand the nuances of your situation and recovery. Contact attorney Harshbarger\nLaw to answer your questions with a free consultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How much can a pedestrian sue when hit by a car? While you will need to speak with a personal injury lawyer for an answer specific to your situation, the general rule of thumb for Riverside County and San Bernardino County is based on three major factors with the goal of \u201cmaking the injured person [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harshlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}