Pedestrian Accident Claims
When you consider road traffic accidents, the most common vision is that of when two vehicles collide. However, there is little consideration of accidents in which a pedestrian faces considerable harm – which is often both serious and distressing.
A pedestrian accident is best understood as a road traffic accident which involves a person on foot and a person in a vehicle.
Addressing the rights of pedestrians is critical to achieving justice and ensuring that our journeys, no matter the distance, are safer to all.
Pedestrians are considered by the Ministry of Justice as ‘vulnerable road users’, alongside motorcyclists, pillion passengers, wheelchair users, cyclists, and horse-riders. The vulnerability of pedestrians is reflected in the lack of protection that they have when using roads and pavements.
The UK government outlines that the road users most at risk from road traffic are pedestrians, with particular consideration to children, the elderly, and the disabled.
Severe Injuries
The vulnerability of pedestrians as the ‘most at risk user on the road’ often leads to an increased chance of being involved in accidents and sustaining more severe injuries.
When two cars collide, both parties have increased protection from the cars metal body. For this reason, the Department for Transport found that vulnerable road users had the highest user casualty rate in 2020.
Road users must ensure that they maintain a duty of care to each other. There are necessary and basic standards of conduct in which road users should adhere to, reducing the chances of harm. Unfortunately, rules that people ‘should’ adhere to is not the reality for many road users, with many breaching the duty of care towards their fellow citizen.
Regardless of the severity of your accident, if you were hit by a car as a pedestrian, and it was caused by the negligence of another road user, you can seek compensation for your injuries.
The most common examples of driver negligence which lead to pedestrian harm include:
- The failure to stop at traffic lights or pedestrian crossings,
- Distraction by electronic devices for example, using their mobile phone or a sat nav whilst driving,
- Reckless driving,
- Speeding,
- Failure to look,
- Loss of control,
- Overestimate the speed of a pedestrian,
- Ignoring a stop sign,
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The majority of pedestrian-vehicle accidents occur on urban roads, this is due to higher population densities which ultimately results in a greater number of interactions between vehicles and pedestrians.
Pedestrians aged 10-19 accounting for the majority of cases in which they were killed or seriously injured, followed closely by the age group of 20-29.
Compensation
General damages are an element of compensation that you obtain for the pain and suffering you have endured. Your suffering may not just be physical, any emotional trauma is also taken into consideration. The compensation you are able to claim may include special damages.
Special damages claims aim to cover the financial losses related to your injury.
The losses you have sustained as a result of your accident could include a loss of earnings for taking time off to recover, or even being unable to work altogether; the price of mobility support; adjustments that have been made to your home where your injury necessitates this; travel costs that you have had to make because of your injuries (for example journeys to and from the hospital).
There is, however, a time limit to when you can claim for compensation. You have 3 years to make your claim from either the date of your accident or when you became aware of the severity of your injuries.
Local Personal Injury Solicitor
Your chosen solicitor will often review whether your case has a reasonable chance of success, they do so by determining whether: you were owed a duty of care, which is almost always a resounding yes; the driver breached a duty of care by being negligent and as a result, an accident occurred; what injuries you had sustained and the extent of these injuries as a result of the driver’s negligence.
You may not have doubts that your accident was caused by the negligence of another party, however you will need evidence to substantiate this claim. Getting adequate details of the vehicle involved is essential; you will need the model of the car, its colour, and its registration number.
Furthermore, you should get the drivers name and insurance details. If you can, taking photos and obtaining CCTV footage of the accident scene is very useful to your claim.
You should identify a witness on the scene to provide a statement if the person responsible denies liability. Filing a police report would also strengthen your claim.
Finally, providing evidence of the extent to your injuries can be done by evidence in medical records. If you did not have to get to hospital by ambulance, you should certainly make your own way there to ensure your injuries and subsequent treatment are on record.
Motor Insurers Bureau
There will be instances in which you may not have all the evidence as outlined above. For example, a hit and run incident may leave you with limited information about the vehicle and driver because they did not stop at the scene.
This prospect is very distressing; however you can still attempt to file a claim with limited evidence. Even where the driver may not have insurance or cannot be identified, a scheme by the Motor Insurers Bureau, funded by levies on insurance premiums, allows claims to be processed and paid out.
No Win No Fee
A No Win No Fee agreement, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) in the legal world, is an arrangement between a claimant and solicitor. In simple terms a ‘No Win No Fee’ arrangement means that you will not pay a fee if your claim is unsuccessful.
“No Win No Fee“ typically our personal injury clients pay up to 25% of the amount recovered in compensation, although this will be subject to the individual circumstances of the claim and the actual fee may be less than this.
Why Choose Stonehewer Moss Solicitors?
If you are injured in an accident you will want the best team of experts who know personal injury law and are highly qualified within this area. Its crucial to obtain the very best solicitors as this can be a critical factor in obtaining the maximum compensation you deserve. Selecting the right solicitor will greatly increase your chances of winning your claim.
At Stonehewer Moss Solicitors we have years of experience dealing with high value complex claims. Our solicitors know the laws and regulations that exist to protect you which is all the more important to choose the very best.
Talk to one of our personal injury claims specialists
Call us on freephone 0800 434 6544 or 01606 87 22 00
CONTACT US ONLINE.
We can help you by
- Securing early payment of compensation to cover urgent financial commitments such as mortgage/rent, medical expenses etc.
- Obtaining compensation for your injuries to cover short term and future costs.
- Recovering any loss of earnings and other expenses you may have incurred.
- Dealing with the defendant and their insurers.
- Providing you with access to specialist rehabilitation care.
