In cases involving a pedestrian accident it is all too common for the defendants to argue that the pedestrian, not the driver, caused the accident. This tactic of blaming the victim can, however, backfire on the defendants. By preparing the case thoroughly, taking it all the way through trial, and respecting the jury's intelligence and common sense, the attorney representing the victim expose the defendant's position for what it truly is - as an attempt, against all the evidence, to avoid liability.
Consider the case in which a transit bus making a left turn was involved in a pedestrian accident. The bust had a green light at the time when it took the turn. It hit a female pedestrian who was crossing the street at a crosswalk. She had a crossing signal at the time. She had been in the crosswalk for approximately 9 seconds and had walked some 28 feet into the crosswalk when she was hit by the bus. The front left corner of the bus struck her right side.
The impact knocked her to the pavement. As she was lying face down the left front tire of the bus ran over her upper right thigh. She lost her leg in an above the knee amputation. She suffered from severe phantom limb and stump pain which prevented her from wearing a prosthetic. She was thus permanently confined to a wheelchair.
The driver of the bus tried to blame the victim claiming that the victim walked into the side of the bus and that although he constantly scanned the roadway he did not see the victim prior to the accident. The case went to trial where a witness testified to observing the driver speaking to
passenger and looking to his right immediately after the bus hit the victim.
During trial the driver finally admitted that he was at fault for the accident. The transit authority liability expert also admitted that the investigation had shown the driver was at fault. The transit authority police officer who investigated the accident admitted to concluding that the driver had failed to yield to the pedestrian and that the pedestrian had been in the crosswalk. Even the operations spokesperson for the transit authority admitted that the driver had not followed the transit authority's bus training guidelines. Yet despite all this evidence the transit authority continued to insist during trial that the victim caused the accident.
The law firm that handled this matter reported that at the conclusion of the two-week trial the jury found the driver was solely responsible for the accident and awarded the victim $3,987,000. As of the law firm's report the transit authority filed a Motion for New Trial which was pending.
Defendants sometimes believe that if they simply keep blaming the victim and keep minimizing the victim's injuries - if they just say it often enough - they will be able to put enough doubt into the minds of enough members of a jury that they will win at trial, or at least greatly reduce the amount for which they will be liable. In this case the transit authority's driver, liability expert, police officer, and even their operations spokesman all eventually admitted that the driver was at fault and yet the transit authority continued to blame the victim.
But juries are too smart and have too much common sense to fall for that tactic. When presented with the evidence they will come to the correct conclusion.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on catastrophic injury cases. To learn more about how a pedestrian accident attorney can help you just visit his website at www.vehicle-accident-law.com.
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