When a car hits a pedestrian, it is only natural to make the assumption that it is the vehicle that is at fault. After all, cars are bigger than people, and should look out for pedestrians. So when people (pedestrians) are hit, the cars are almost always assumed to be at fault.
But that’s actually not how it happens, in a real pedestrian accident case. In fact, cases where people are hit by cars can be very difficult for the injured pedestrian to win, and a number of factors make these cases more complex than you may initially think.
Comparative Negligence
Like every other state, Nevada allows someone who is sued for negligence, to blame the victim, in full or in part, for his own injuries, or for causing the accident. That’s exactly the defense that many motorists use when they are sued for hitting pedestrians.
The Defense often has some validity to it; many times people walking don’t look out for their own safety. They may bolt in front of oncoming traffic. They may cross in areas that aren’t designated as crossing areas. They may ignore the pedestrian control signals. And when they do, the motorist will almost always blame the pedestrian.
Juries are not always sympathetic to pedestrians either. Many of us drive every day and understand the difficulties of navigating to avoid pedestrians. Many jurors may have had close calls, where they almost hit pedestrians that they believed were walking without care for their safety.
Proving Liability and Recreating the Accident
In most cases, liability is not clear cut; a car doesn’t usually just plow over a pedestrian legally crossing the street, and a pedestrian doesn’t just bolt out in front of oncoming traffic (although both do, on occasion, happen).
Often, the question of liability comes down to what is known as the last clear chance. Who, the pedestrian or the driver, had the last clear chance to see, and avoid, the other? Answering this question will often come down to minute details about exactly where both the pedestrian and the car were when the accident happened, how fast the car was going, whether the car tried to brake or stop, or whether the pedestrian was walking or running.
In some cases, there are video cameras that capture the incident, but where there are not, experts are left to piece together the accident based on physical clues. For example, the location of damage to the car can help an expert recreate the accident. The position of the pedestrian’s body after impact may also help recreate the accident.
In some cases, in litigation, the car’s data recorder (like an airplane’s “black box” but for a car) can assist in determining the car’s speed and direction at the time of the accident.
