Pedestrian injuries and fatalities, mostly as a result of being hit by a motorized vehicle, remain stubbornly high in Massachusetts. Around 60 to 70 pedestrians die every year and around 1600 are injured. These numbers have hardly changed over the last two decades. Nationwide, the risks of being a pedestrian are certainly not any better. A pedestrian is injured every 8 minutes and a fatality occurs every 113 minutes across the U.S.
If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident or a family member has been killed as a result of a collision with a vehicle, it can be challenging and emotionally exhausting claiming compensation from the at-fault party. This article explores how liability is determined in a Massachusetts pedestrian accident, how a personal injury claim can be made and what to do if you have been hit as a pedestrian.
Why are pedestrians injured and killed?
A minority of pedestrian accidents are caused by slips and falls on uneven or faultily designed sidewalks and roads, but the majority of accidents are due to being hit by a car or other motorized vehicle. In the event of a collision, pedestrians are far more likely to be badly injured because they have no protection, unlike occupants of vehicles. Even motorbike riders, who also may be responsible for pedestrian accidents have the advantage of a helmet.
Most pedestrians are hit when crossing a road or walking alongside a road or highway without a sidewalk. More accidents happen at night than they do in the daytime. Occasionally, terrible accidents occur when pedestrians are hit when they are waiting for a bus due to an out of control vehicle or when a driver is distracted or drunk.
Who is to blame when a pedestrian is injured or killed?
Although it may be obvious that pedestrians are far more likely to be hurt in any collision with a vehicle, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the vehicle driver (or rider) is always at fault. For example, if a pedestrian suddenly walks out across a road where there is no controlled crosswalk, or is actually walking at night wearing dark clothes along the edge of a road, then there may be nothing that the driver could have done to prevent a collision. Generally, anyone who drives a car, truck or bus or is riding a motorcycle should take all precautions to avoid a pedestrian accident. This is especially important when navigating around busy city streets where there may be a higher density of pedestrians and near schools where children may run out at any time.
Of course, pedestrians also need to act responsibly, use sidewalks and crosswalks wherever they are available, only cross a road at a controlled crossing when permitted, try and avoid walking along a busy highway at night when there is no provision for pedestrians and use easier to see clothing if night walking is necessary.
Determining who is actually liable after a pedestrian accident can be a difficult process and it is important to be aware of Massachusetts comparative negligence rules, which will be explored further below. Pedestrian injuries are typically severe, meaning that medical treatment and potential loss of earnings while recovering can be very significant. It is advisable to seek help from an experienced personal injury attorney when considering claiming compensation to help you prepare a claim and negotiate with the at-fault party’s insurer.
Explaining Massachusetts’ modified comparative negligence rules
In any accident in which someone is injured or property damaged, liability and compensation is determined by the state’s comparative negligence rules. Basically, as long as you have not been to blame for more than 50% of the accident you should be entitled to compensation. The amount of compensation is calculated according to each party’s percentage fault, but no compensation will be awarded to anyone with more than 50% fault. If you are judged to be 20% at fault, for instance, you should be awarded 80% (100% – 20%) of the compensation claimed.
To take a simple example, if you were the pedestrian and you were hit on a crosswalk in the middle of the day and the crosswalk signals clearly showed you had priority, then you should be awarded 100% of the compensation you have claimed. However, if you were hit on the same crosswalk when you tried to cross when the signal was for you to wait, then you may be considered to be partly responsible for the accident. How much compensation you may be able to claim in this example depends on other factors which also have to be taken into consideration: what speed was the driver of the vehicle that hit you doing as it approached the crosswalk, was there any element of distracted driving or illegal amounts of alcohol or drugs detected. The complexities can make it challenging to try and make a claim without help from an attorney.
Compulsory insurance for Massachusetts drivers
All drivers in Massachusetts must have a minimum of $25,000 bodily injury insurance in the event that they are responsible for injuring another person, including pedestrians, in an accident. Some drivers may have additional, i.e. extra insurance, in case of an accident. Unfortunately, pedestrian injuries are often serious and $25,000 may be insufficient, even if the at-fault driver’s insurer is ready to pay out. That means that recovering the full cost of a serious accident through a carefully calculated personal injury claim which takes into account all costs you have incurred and may be likely to incur in the future.
For family members who have lost a loved one due to a pedestrian accident, the prospect of making a wrongful death claim against an at-fault driver can be intimidating. In these circumstances, it is very important to get legal help from a personal injury attorney who has handled these sorts of claims successfully before.
What to do after a pedestrian accident
Every accident is unique and it is quite possible that you may be so badly injured that you can do nothing until you receive emergency medical care. Nevertheless, typical steps that are advised after any pedestrian accident are as follows:
- call the police, or ask a bystander to call police who will come to the scene of the accident, take details and compile an accident report which will be invaluable if you make a claim;
- seek medical help as soon as possible, even if you think your injuries are minimal;
- get the driver’s name, contact details, license plate and name of the insurer;
- seek contact details of any eye witnesses who may have witnessed the accident;
- take photos if possible of the accident scene;
- do not contact the at-fault driver’s insurer directly yourself – leave this to your attorney;
- contact a personal injury attorney with experience in pedestrian accident claims.
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