Most drivers are unaware of the fact that generally any intersection is considered to have four crosswalks, whether they are painted on the street or not. If you asked the average North Carolina driver to describe a crosswalk, they might respond that a crosswalk has painted lines and flashing signs indicating if it is safe to walk. However, this is not true under North Carolina law. The pedestrian’s right of way is exactly the same whether the lines are painted on the street or not.
If you were hit by a vehicle as a pedestrian, the following will be extremely important to your North Carolina Personal Injury case:
1. Did you see the vehicle that struck you before the impact?
2. How far away was the vehicle?
3. Did the driver brake?
4. What were the conditions outside?
5. What color clothing were you wearing at the time of the accident?
6. Were you walking, running, or standing when you were struck?
7. Was anyone with you at the time?
8. Do you know who may have seen the accident or talked to the driver?
9. Did the police interview you and, if so, what did you say?
10. Did you talk to the driver? What was said?
11. Did you say anything about your injuries at the scene to anyone?
12. How did you leave the scene?
13. If you left by ambulance, how long were you in the hospital?
14. What did the doctors say about your injuries?
15. Did you give any version of the accident to the doctor or nurse at any time?
16. What color clothing were you wearing at the time of the accident?
In almost all Auto vs. Pedestrian Personal Injury cases, an accident reconstruction expert will be necessary. The expert can help your attorney to compute the speed of the defendant’s vehicle versus the likely speed of you as the pedestrian. As a rule, a car travels a foot and half per second for each mile per hour of speed. A car traveling only 30 mph will go 45 feet every second. A pedestrian, on the other hand, will go 3 or 4 mph, or about 10 times slower.
By recreating the scene, we can easily illustrate the tremendous advantage an alert driver has in seeing and avoiding a pedestrian. If you were injured in an Auto vs. Pedestrian accident, you may consider speaking to a Durham Personal Injury Attorney to help determine if you were lawfully in a crosswalk at the time of the accident.