71 Year Old Female Pedestrian Suffers Several Fractures In Motor Vehicle Accident And Settles For $300,000 From Driver
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-09-26 19:23:32 | Word Count: 627
It is simply astonishing the way in which individuals can deny liability in matters even though they are clearly at fault for having caused an accident.
Check one documented case in which a seventy one year old female was struck in a a motor vehicle accident. She was a pedestrian. She who was struck by a van and sustained a a fracture to the right occipital bone (the bone located at the lower back of the skull). She additionally suffered fractures to her right knee. The woman had to undergo open reduction with internal fixation surgery to repair the knee injury. Moreover, she suffered a subdural hematoma. She was half-way through a crosswalk that was controlled by a traffic light. The van that struck her had been stopped for a red light before driving into the intersection. The plaintiff alleged that when she started crossing the crosswalk she had a steady go signal which turned to a flashing red light as she was in the crosswalk and was struck by the van.
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The defendant took the position that he only entered the intersection after the light turned green for him. The driver even produced 2 witnesses to state that the light was green for the driver at the time the accident occurred. Many people, even some attorneys, might consider this as a case that would most likely end in a defense verdict. So, many lawyers would decline to represent the victim in such a lawsuit. The bulk of the evidence seems to be against the pedestrian. Or is it?
One law firm did handle this case. They took the position that regardless of whether the driver had a green light or not, the pedestrian was already in the middle of the crosswalk and thereby had the right of way when the defendant entered the crosswalk. He should have been focused on the woman in front of him rather than with the traffic light to his left. By taking this strategy the law firm published that it was succeeded in getting a settlement a little bit before trial for $300,000, the entire amount of the driver's insurance policy.
In this lawsuit the defendant and the insurance company blamed the victim for the accident. Basically they took the position that, irrespective of whether there was a pedestrian already in the crosswalk, the moment the light turned green the driver and not the victim in the crosswalk, had the right of way. They essentially argued that, if a person is too slow in crossing the street, drivers no not have to yield to them.
Not surprisingly the lawsuit settled before trial. But, as reported by the law firm that represented the victim, it settled only briefly before trial. Lawyers who represent injured pedestrians with lawsuits where the driver takes this kind of posture must prepare the claim as though they will have to take it to trial. It is sometimes the only thing that will lead the defendants to finally settle the case. In practice this means not letting the defendants position the lawsuit. In practice one way this may be accomplished is by understanding the impact, or conclusion, of the position taken by the defendants and showing how such a position would in reality lead to a very undersireable outcome. That way it may be possible to turn a loser into a winner.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting pedestrian accident cases. To learn more about pedestrian accident cases and about other vehicle accident cases including fatal car crash matters visit the websites
