Pedestrian & Crosswalk Accidents

Were You Hit By A Vehicle?

Car crashes claim tens of thousands of lives every year, and while anyone involved in one of these accidents is at risk of serious injury or death, pedestrians are the most vulnerable. Drivers are legally required to give the right of way to pedestrians, but far too often they choose to act recklessly or fail to identify the people in their path. Whether these pedestrians are walking on the sidewalk, across a crosswalk or in some other seemingly protected area, they deserve to feel safe from a potential crash. When a driver forcibly takes this safety away from them, then they deserve the chance to file a lawsuit to recover compensation to cover any medical bills or damages incurred from the accident.

Texas Crosswalk Law

Texas Transportation Code Chapter 552.003 outlines the legal protections a pedestrian using a crosswalk enjoys. Drivers must yield to pedestrians when:

• There is no traffic signal, and the pedestrian is on the same half of the road as the oncoming vehicle or is close enough to that half to be in danger if the car continued along its current path.

In addition, oncoming vehicles may not drive around a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk ahead of them.

The actual causes for nonfatal and fatal pedestrian crashes, as included in TXDoT campaign a for pedestrian safety, are:

• pedestrians who do not yield right of way to vehicles
• motor vehicle drivers who do not yield right of way to pedestrians
• distracted drivers
• speeding.

Pedestrians do not have the same level of protection people in motor vehicles enjoy, placing them at far greater danger during an accident. If you were seriously injured, our personal injury attorneys at Fleming, Nolen & Jez are ready to help you fight for and secure the compensation you need. Since we first opened our doors over 35 years ago, our attorneys have successfully recovered verdict awards and monetary compensation for our clients, and are committed to providing each new client we accept with the same level of passionate legal representation that has earned us national recognition. Contact us today to begin planning out the steps you need to take.

How Much Danger Are Pedestrians In?

According to a report put together by the non-profit group the National Complete Streets Coalition at Smart Growth America, Texas is the 10th most dangerous state in the country for pedestrians, and Houston, TX is the seventh most dangerous metropolitan area for pedestrians in the nation. Researchers created what they call the Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) to measure the risk of commuting on foot in each city and state, and set the national average at 52.2. The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area scored a 119.64 on the PDI scale, with over 1,000 deaths in the 10-year stretch researchers studied and countless more injured.