Pedestrian Struck Crossing San Pedro Ave
A recent night proved tragic for a woman trying to cross San Pedro Avenue, just north of downtown San Antonio. She was struck while trying to cross the street, having just gotten off work and headed home. The driver did stop and attempt to render aid, but the woman still required transportation to a nearby hospital with serious injuries. Pedestrian accidents are all too common in San Antonio, and while the driver appears to have acted appropriately in this case, too many pedestrian accidents wind up causing injuries or even costing lives. If you have been injured by an allegedly negligent driver, you need an experienced attorney to help navigate the legal process with you.
High Rates in Texas
Texas traditionally has high rates of pedestrian accidents – partly because of its sheer size, but also because many Texas metropolitan areas are not well set up for pedestrian traffic. The think tank Smart Growth America, in its yearly Dangerous By Design report, names dangerous metropolitan areas, where infrastructure issues make it harder to walk or otherwise navigate a city without a vehicle. Most of the state’s major cities and metro areas – McAllen, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, and Austin – are listed in the top 50 most dangerous in the United States for 2019.
What this actually means is that these are the metropolitan areas that are most clearly designed for vehicles, rather than pedestrians. Lights may not last long enough for some pedestrians to make it across the road. Necessary crosswalks or curb cuts may be missing or damaged. The possibility of danger is higher in these metro areas than it should be because the city in question has not changed (and nor have its drivers).
Bringing Suit
If you have been injured in a pedestrian-vehicle accident, you likely have serious medical bills to contend with, given the difference in protection between a pedestrian and the driver or passengers inside a vehicle. If you believe that you have a case against the driver who struck you, you need to be aware of what has to be proven in court in order to prevail. You must be able to show that your injuries were a direct result of the defendant’s actions, with no other intervening cause, and you must be able to show that the defendant breached the duty to exercise reasonable care while on the road (in Texas, every motorist has a duty to everyone else on the road).
In addition, it is important to keep in mind that under Texas law, even if you are ruled to have been partially responsible for your own injuries, you still have the chance to recover in your case. Generally, Texas law states that if a plaintiff is ruled to have been more than 50 percent responsible for their own harm, they may not recover – but this means that if you are ruled to have been less responsible, you still may prevail at trial and win a monetary award. That award would simply be lowered by your percentage amount – for example, if you were held to have been 10 percent liable, any monetary award would be granted to you minus 10 percent.
Call a New Braunfels Pedestrian Accident Attorney
While no word exists as of this writing as to the status of the injured woman, it is important to know that unless one is lucky, a pedestrian accident can leave a person with serious, even life-changing injuries. Calling a New Braunfels pedestrian accident lawyer from the Bettersworth Law Firm can be a great help in navigating the legal process and trying hard to get you what you deserve. Call our offices today at 888-392-0039 for a free consultation.
Source:
https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/
