Pedestrian Accident Lawyers in Chandler

Establishing Fault in a Chandler Pedestrian Accident

Chandler is one of the most beautiful suburbs of Arizona, and this makes for a lot of foot traffic and unfortunately, many pedestrian accidents. While many people think of pedestrian accidents involving a vehicle and a pedestrian, many times pedestrians can be injured in non-vehicular accidents, as well. Poor maintenance of faulty sidewalks and parking lots, and construction or debris over and or along walkways can all cause pedestrians to stumble and sustain injuries.

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Establishing Negligence

When pedestrians are hurt in accidents, whether it’s by a vehicle or property defect, they can seek compensation if that person’s negligence caused or contributed to the accident. Negligence can typically be defined as the failure to do or not do something that another person in a similar situation would do (or not do) in order to prevent others from experiencing injury or harm. Negligence is always necessary to prove in pedestrian accidents, and in order to do so, the plaintiff (person making the claim) must prove that the defendant (driver, or other person at fault):

• Legally owed a duty of care to the pedestrian under the circumstances
• Failed to exercise that duty of care
• That lack of care caused the pedestrian to get into an accident, and,
• That the plaintiff was injured or harmed as a result

Of course like in many Chandler accident cases, there might be more than one party at fault. Fault may rest with a driver and/or with the parties responsible for maintaining the sidewalk, road, parking lot, or other location they injured themselves.

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Pedestrian Accidents Involving Vehicles

When a vehicle strikes a pedestrian, the outcome of the case will typically depend on the duty of care expected by both the driver and the pedestrian. Even when it seems very clear who was at fault, the courts will look at the reasonable care taken by both sides when determining negligence.

Drivers of course, must exercise a reasonable duty of care at all times and when they don’t, even if it’s just for a second, it could be determined as being negligent. There are a number of cases when drivers are found to be negligent. A few of them are:

• Distracted driving
• Driving at excessive speeds
• Failing to give pedestrians right of way at crosswalks
• Ignoring traffic signs and signals
• Turning without signalling
• Ignoring weather and/or traffic conditions
• Driving while impaired/under the influence of drugs or alcohol

In addition to the standard duty of care drivers have, they have a special duty of care to children. Because children are smaller and not as visible as adults, drivers must exercise a special duty of care and drive with extra caution when they are in an area where they know children might be, such as in school zones or in park areas.

Of course, pedestrians also have a duty of care and as mentioned, the courts will take this into consideration. Pedestrians may be found negligent of exercising reasonable care when:

• They’ve ignored intersection signs and signals
• They’ve entered traffic and disrupted the flow
• They’ve failed to cross at clearly marked crosswalks
• They’ve jumped into traffic, or in front of a vehicle

When it’s not a driver that’s involved in the pedestrian accident, but rather the injury sustained was due to faulty sidewalks, parking lots, or driveways, the owner of the property can be found at fault for negligence. When this is the case, the owner may have:

• Created the condition, whether intentionally done or not
• Knew of the condition and yet didn’t fix it
• Neglected to discover the unsafe condition even though a long period of time had passed and a reasonable person would have noticed

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Speak With a Chandler Pedestrian Accident Attorney Today

There are many different causes of pedestrian accidents, and when one happens, it’s not always clear who’s at fault. And even when it is, it can be difficult for pedestrians to recover damages in Arizona. That’s why you need the experience of The Husband & Wife Law Team working for you. We’ve fought pedestrian accident cases in court before, and won, and we want to be able to do the same for you. If you’ve been hurt in a pedestrian accident, call our Chandler car accident attorneys today at (480) 496-7310. We’re available to review your case and help you get the compensation you deserve. Our legal services are provided to our clients on a contingency fee basis - no fees unless we win.

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