Have you been injured as a result of an accident while you were walking?
A pedestrian can be injured in a variety of ways while walking.
For example, the most common type of such accident that Pittsburgh pedestrian, wrongful death and auto accident attorney Bernie Tully sees are people hit by cars.
There are 3 IMPORTANT points to keep in mind concerning pedestrian accidents.
First and most important, it is not your fault.
Many times a pedestrian victim will come into our office after being hit by a car and say ” I just didn’t see the car”. They assume that somehow it is their fault. HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT THE CASE.
Why? Because the driver of a car has a duty to pay attention and watch what is in front of him or her.
I often tell clients in these situations that it is just as much the fault of the driver as anyone else.
I also tell clients that a car versus a pedestrian is an unfair fight.
A car weighs several thousand pounds. A person walking on the street may weigh less than 200 pounds. The person walking is going to lose that fight for sure.
Also, pedestrian injuries fall under the umbrella of slip and fall cases.
Pittsburgh slip and fall, pedestrian, wrongful death and auto accident attorney Bernie Tully has a large volume of slip and fall cases. Hopefully that means I am very experienced in these types of cases since I have been doing them for over 25 years.
The basic rule of slip and fall injury cases is this; You are not required to be looking at the ground the entire time you are walking.
Say, for example, you are walking in downtown Pittsburgh during lunch time. Many people are out and about walking around during the lunch hour. There may be a rise in a pavement due to wear and tear of winters here. As a result of that, you catch your heel on the uneven rise in the pavement, fall and are seriously injured. Maybe you require knee surgery as a result of the slip and fall.
Whose fault is it, yours or the store owner’s? After all, businesses like McDonalds or Pizza Hut have a legal duty to make sure their property is in a safe condition.
By not checking the condition of their sidewalk those businesses could be legally responsible for your surgery.
I is also important to remember that the condition of that sidewalk did not get that way overnight. It was a very gradual thing and the business owner had a duty to inspect his property.
We are going to talk about the final 2 important points concerning pedestrian accidents tomorrow. But for now the most important point to remember is that if you are injured in a pedestrian accident you may have a valid legal claim regardless of whether you feel you were paying attention or not.
It is the job of Pittsburgh pedestrian, slip and fall, wrongful death and auto accident attorney Bernie Tully to determine whether you have a valid legal claim.
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the attorney