Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Lancaster, SC

Pedestrians in South Carolina include people walking, running, pushing strollers, and those on skateboards, roller skates, and wheelchairs. Pedestrians are required to use sidewalks when sidewalks are present. Pedestrians should walk on the shoulder of the road facing traffic if no sidewalk is present.

Motorists should be especially alert for pedestrians at intersections, stoplights, and crosswalks. Motorists should stop at intersections so as to leave the entire marked crosswalk available for pedestrians. When entering an intersection on a green light, a motorist making a right or left turn at an intersection is legally required by S.C. law to make sure no pedestrians are in the way. Motorists who are turning on green should yield to pedestrians in the cross street.

Pedestrians include people with impaired vision, and disabled people in wheelchairs and using tricycles and quadricycles. Blind pedestrians have special protection under South Carolina law. The law requires drivers to stop and yield the right of way to a pedestrian who has entered a street using a white cane or a guide dog.

Drivers should observe lower posted speed limits in school zones during certain hours when students are arriving and leaving the school grounds. Most pedestrian fatalities involving children occur during school hours. School children may act impulsively and dart into the road without checking for traffic.

Motorists have a responsibility to yield to pedestrians. But pedestrians should not assume a motorist will stop. If you are crossing a crosswalk on foot, you should make sure the motorist stops before stepping in front of the vehicle. Do not assume that the motorist sees you just because you see the vehicle.

Pedestrians need to be able to hear approaching cars and should not wear earphones or headphones in both ears that can mask traffic noise.

What Kind of Compensation is Available in a Lancaster Pedestrian Accident Lawsuit

People who have been injured in pedestrian accidents and are considering taking legal action often ask the question: How much is my accident claim worth?  The answer to the question is the value depends on several important factors including:

• The extent of your injuries
• The contributing factors to the pedestrian accident, and whether the pedestrian was partly at fault
• The insurance policies available to provide compensation

Attorney David Blackwell will carefully assess the injuries you have sustained from the pedestrian accident and how the injuries will affect your enjoyment of life in the future and your ability to work and earn a living.

Depending on the extent of your injuries, you may seek compensation for:

• Medical costs, including emergency room care, hospitalization, rehabilitation, follow-up doctor appointments, prescription drugs, wheelchairs, walkers, and other assistive mobility devices.
• Lost wages for the time you missed work because of the injuries sustained in the pedestrian accident.
• Reduced earnings capacity if your injuries will leave you fully or partly disabled and limit the type of jobs you can do in the future.
• Pain and suffering.

It is difficult to predict immediately after a serious pedestrian accident how your injuries will affect your life and what your long-term medical needs will be. That makes it crucial not to agree to a quick settlement before you understand the extent of your present and future medical expenses. It is important that you concentrate initially on getting all the medical care that you need, seeing rehabilitation specialists as needed, and carefully following the doctor’s orders.

Common Types of Pedestrian Accidents

• Child Running Out into Street — This type of pedestrian accident often occurs in residential areas when a child chases a ball or a pet into the street without giving any thought to oncoming traffic.
• Older Adults — Older adults are at greater risk of pedestrian accidents. They often move more slowly and require more time to cross a road. They may be unable to get out of the path of an oncoming vehicle.
• Walking Beside Road at Night — Night is an especially dangerous time for pedestrians walking or standing beside rural roads and highways in South Carolina.
• Hidden by Parked Cars — A common scenario in pedestrian accidents is a child or adult walking out into the road from behind parked cars. Drivers should slow down and drive cautiously when driving down streets lined with parked cars.
• Vehicle Turning into Path of Child — A child may assume that a WALK sign or green light indicates it is safe to cross an intersection and not notice a car turning.
• Child Hidden from View by School Bus — South Carolina requires traffic in both directions to stop when school buses are stopped and have their stop sign activated to warn of students getting on or off the bus. A driver who tries to pass a stopped school bus may hit a child who is trying to cross the road. Students who must cross the street after getting off the bus should walk to the edge of the bus, look both ways and wait for the bus driver to signal that it is safe to cross.
• Vehicle Backing Up in Parking Lot or Driveway — Each year, many children are injured and killed in backup accidents in driveways and parking lots. Small children behind a vehicle may not be visible to a driver backing up and children may not recognize backup lights as warning lights.
• Children Hidden by Ice Cream Truck — Excited children may run into the street to flag down an ice cream truck without paying attention to traffic. Drivers should slow down and pass stopped ice cream trucks with caution.