There is a constant increase in the number of pedestrian deaths involved in car accidents. It is easy to understand why this is an alarming trend since collisions between vehicles and pedestrians can easily lead to serious injuries and even death. In fact, you can get a serious injury even if the car was driving at 10 miles per hour.
If you were the driver involved and you hit a pedestrian, what you do will be very important in the future. Even if you are shocked and afraid, make sure you do the following:
- Get all injured people to a location where they are safe. Do not administer any extra medical treatment except what you should in emergencies, like CPR.
- Contact the police, medical care providers, and insurance providers. When a police officer arrives, only give truthful statements.
- Exchange contact information. However, do not do anything else except taking phone numbers, names, email addresses, and information about insurance policies. Talking too much with anyone can lead to problems.
Keep in mind that if you face criminal charges, like when caught driving under the influence, the best thing you can do is to contact criminal defense attorneys. When you are injured and someone else is to blame, a specialist like the pedestrian injury lawyer is better suited for the case.
Determining Fault
All pedestrian car accidents revolve around the concepts of fault and negligence. Basically, it is negligence that determines fault. To put it as simple as possible, the party that did not exercise reasonable care is the one that is most likely at fault.
Complications appear when both the pedestrian and the driver were at fault. For instance, we can have a pedestrian that is illegally causing the street and a driver that is speeding. In such situations, the situation is treated differently, based on state and local laws.
There are states in which when the pedestrian had some fault in the accident, it is impossible to recover damages. In other states, fault is compared to decide who can receive compensation.
Insurance Company Findings And Police Reports
Police officers will always stake statements from pedestrians, drivers, and witnesses. This is done to determine fault. Preliminary findings can be done on the spot. Alternatively, a detailed investigation will be conducted.
Inside the police report, you can find information about who was at fault. However, with insurance companies, findings can be disputed. Adjusters are usually at the scene and analyze what happened by themselves. When you think that the auto insurance company is not fair, a personal injury attorney will help you to get the compensation you deserve.
Conclusions
At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember about pedestrian accidents is that insurance companies might make the situation really complicated. You need to make sure that you always hire an experienced attorney whenever you are faced with problems in your claim. This will help you much more than you initially think because most insurance companies do want to take advantage of your lack of legal knowledge.