Yes. Drivers in Chico can be held accountable in pedestrian accidents, even if the victim wasn’t crossing the street in a crosswalk. The pedestrian’s level of compensation for any injury may be affected if they are found partially to blame for what happened. However, victims can seek help with medical bills and their lost wages and receive partial or full compensation.
How Can I Get Support If I Was Hit While Crossing in the Middle of the Street?
Pedestrian accident victims always have the right to sue a driver and seek compensation for their medical bills and lost income while they can’t work. This is true even if someone on foot is crossing the street outside of a crosswalk. It’s also true, even if the pedestrian was found partially at fault for the accident.
The only way a pedestrian couldn’t get injury support is if the victim was found fully to blame for the collision. This might be the case if a pedestrian stepped out in front of oncoming traffic with too little time or space to allow the driver to brake or swerve.
There’s also a third outcome. Victims may get a portion of accident compensation under the legal concept of “comparative negligence.” The term means that pedestrians and drivers are ruled to have shared blame in what happened.
A judge would assign both a percentage of fault, governing how much in support the victim could take home. If the pedestrian received 50% of the liability in the accident, an award could be made. However, it would be reduced by half due to the pedestrian’s percentage of blame.
Rest assured that a Maison Law Chico Bicycle Accident Lawyer would fight back on any blame that was assigned to the pedestrian. Our attorneys work to get the blame for pedestrians down as low as possible in these cases. And if a pedestrian wasn’t at fault in any way, that percent should be zero, leaving the driver with all of the blame.
Is an accident settlement reduced simply because the victim was jaywalking?
No. Generally, a pedestrian would have to have done more than just walk across the street outside of a crosswalk to receive blame.
California generally no longer allows those on foot to be stopped for “jaywalking” and doesn’t cite anyone crossing in the middle of the street unless it’s done in an unsafe manner. It’s effectively no longer illegal to jaywalk in California. It just has to be done safely.
Pedestrians might be found at fault if they step out in the street too closely to an approaching vehicle. If the driver was given no time to react and avoid a collision, they could avoid fault and avoid having to pay the victim’s recovery costs.
But drivers can still be found at fault, or partially at fault, in a pedestrian collision, no matter where it happens. This is because drivers are held to a higher responsibility when traveling around vulnerable people on foot. The danger to those on foot, without protection, is so high that drivers are expected to take extra care to keep them safe.
Motorists are required to take a few actions to show pedestrians care while driving:
- Drivers must always be monitoring for the chance of a pedestrian entering the road.
- They must slow down to a speed that would allow time and space to stop to avoid hitting a pedestrian
- Motorists must stop completely if they are at risk of striking a pedestrian
When drivers fail in this duty, they may be found liable for any collisions that occur.
Support for Chico Pedestrian Accident Victims
If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury in a pedestrian collision caused by a careless driver, discuss your case with a skilled Chico Pedestrian Accident Lawyer as soon as possible.
We help all local victims, including those hurt across Butte County. Accident victims should never be left to face the costs of recovery alone, no matter whether they were crossing in a crosswalk or not.
Contact Maison Law to make sure you are clear on the rights you have as a victim and the benefits that are available to you and your family. We offer a free, no-obligation case evaluation to all bicycle accident victims and their families. We want to make sure victims get the support they need to recover and return to the road again.
