Jacksonville Pedestrian Accident Attorneys
Our Jacksonville pedestrian accident lawyers are helping seriously injured since 1978. Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at the Abbott Law Group, P.A. for a free consultation.
Pedestrian accidents in which one or more pedestrians are injured are all too common occurrences in this day and age.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in 2013, over 4,700 pedestrians were killed in car accidents in the country. This averages to just about one pedestrian car accident death every two hours.
In addition, more than 150,000 pedestrians were injured and treated in emergency room departments in non-fatal car accidents in 2013. The CDC estimates that pedestrians are 1.5 times more likely to be killed in a car accident than any passenger occupants of a car. While many of these pedestrian deaths and injuries occur in urban areas where there are no pedestrian crosswalks, and at night, there are still way too many pedestrian and bystander injuries and deaths in this country. Pedestrian fatalities have been steadily increasing since 2009 according to a pedestrian accident report from Smart Groth America.
When a pedestrian is injured, or when one loses a close family member in a pedestrian car accident, he or she may be legally entitled to compensation for past and future medical bills, pain and suffering, loss of income and future earnings, and lowered quality of life. Contact an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer at Abbott Law Group today for a free case evaluation to determine if you may be legally entitled to compensation.
Civil Liability for Pedestrian Car Accidents
When a pedestrian is injured or killed as a result of a car accident, he or she may be able to recover damages in civil court for the injuries suffered if the at-fault driver was negligent in causing or contributing to the accident.
Negligence may be established when the at-fault driver fails to act as a “reasonably prudent” driver in the same or similar circumstances. To establish that the at-fault driver did not act in a reasonably prudent manner in a pedestrian car accident, the pedestrian who was injured must show that:
- The driver had a legal duty to fulfill in regards to the pedestrian
- The driver breached this legal duty in some way
- The driver directly or approximately caused the injuries that the pedestrian suffered
- The pedestrian suffered damages in relation to those injuries
This legal formula may seem pretty straightforward; however, attorneys and insurance agents for the driver will often attempt to reduce the driver’s liability by arguing that the pedestrian was also negligent. Drivers will say that the pedestrian was wearing dark clothes at night, which made it impossible to see him or her, that the pedestrian was crossing the street where there was no crosswalk, or that the pedestrian was walking in the road rather than on the sidewalk.
The terrible thing is that these attempts to lower the driver’s liability for the pedestrian’s injuries are often accepted by the courts and are successful. This is the reason, among many others, why it is vital to find an experienced attorney to handle a legal claim after a pedestrian car accident occurs.
Pedestrian Car Accident Lawyers
Pedestrian car accident lawsuits typically hinge on who breached their legal duty of care owed to the other while on the road. Drivers and pedestrians are legally responsible for exercising reasonable care while using the road, and the courts will look at many elements and factors in determining who is at-fault in a pedestrian car accident.
The car accident lawyers of Abbott Law Group will fight to ensure that the pedestrian’s perspective of the accident is seen and heard by the court. If you or a close family member were injured or killed while crossing the street or walking on the road, our attorneys will fight to obtain the maximum compensation to which you may be legally entitled.
Abbott Law Group’s team of car accident attorneys and professional have over 30 years of experience litigating car accident cases involving pedestrians and bystanders. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.