Paducah, Kentucky Pedestrian Accident Attorneys
Defending Your Rights to Compensation
As an individual, you should be able to walk in your neighborhood or cross the street without worrying about being hit by a motorist who is not practicing safe driving habits.
Unfortunately, many motorists do not practice safe driving habits. More than 220 million Americans subscribe to wireless telephone services, and it is estimated that 80 percent use their phones while driving.
Approximately 100,000 pedestrians are killed or injured by negligent drivers each year in the United States. If you or a loved one has been injured while on a sidewalk or crossing the street, call our Paducah pedestrian accident attorneys today.
The pedestrian accident attorneys at Katz Law have decades of experience helping clients recover damages through aggressive representation. Drivers should be held accountable for their failure to drive safely and for altering your life.
Call (270) 778-5110 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation today. We haveover 25 years of legal experience that we can use to strengthen your claim.
Types of Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian accidents are common everywhere, but especially in cities and urban areas with a lot of traffic. They are most often the result of human error, which is why many victims are able to hold drivers responsible for negligence.
Common types of pedestrian accidents include:
- Vehicles backing into pedestrians, which can occur in a parking lot or driveway when drivers fail to check their mirrors
- Vehicles that sideswipe pedestrians who are walking on the side of the road
- Jaywalking
- Pedestrians attempting to cross when vehicles are making left turns at intersections
Can a Pedestrian Be at Fault in a Car Pedestrian Accident?
A pedestrian can be at fault for a car pedestrian accident since they are also required to follow laws when entering or crossing the road. Some of the most common scenarios where a pedestrian can be found at fault are:
- A pedestrian was crossing against the traffic signal
- A pedestrian was crossing the road outside a crosswalk
- A pedestrian was walking where pedestrian access is clearly not allowed
Determining pedestrian accident liability can be a complex process as there are many factors that need to be considered. If you have been injured, contact our Paducah pedestrian accident attorneys to learn how we can help you today.
Pedestrian Laws in Kentucky
To say “there’s a war on” between motorists and pedestrians is far too dramatic, but some tension always simmers under the quiet surface of Kentucky roadways. Drivers shake their heads as pedestrians break the law strolling in the road, while pedestrians shake their heads for not getting their rightful right-of-way.
So, here is a quick look at some of the more controversial or little-understood laws for where, when, and how walkers should walk and when pedestrians may not get the right of way.
Emergency Vehicles Laws
In the state of Kentucky, laws specifically prohibit emergency vehicle drivers from driving recklessly and putting pedestrians in danger. Even if emergency vehicles are responding to calls, they still owe a duty of care to pedestrians, and their line of work doesn’t excuse them from driving carefully.
Motorists Often Must Defer to Pedestrians
Cars have plenty of responsibilities ethically and under the law to give pedestrians plenty of room to go on their way. For example, Kentucky law says that when a pedestrian is walking across the street, the “vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be.”
This means that if pedestrians are crossing the street, drivers must give them the time and space to do so. Though pedestrians are required to yield to cars in all other areas besides designated crosswalks, vehicles are still not allowed to speed through areas where pedestrians are nearby.
Additionally, when you drive behind a driver politely doing the right thing by letting pedestrians cross at crosswalks (marked or unmarked), you cannot drive around the stopped vehicle.
Very sensibly, the law is clear that drivers must take “care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian” and “exercise proper precaution upon observing a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated person upon a roadway.” Likewise, drivers must “yield the right-of-way to any blind pedestrian carrying a clearly visible white cane or accompanied by an assistance dog.”
Pedestrians Laws
Just as drivers must follow federal and state safety laws while on the road, so too must pedestrians follow their own set of laws when they cross the street, walk on the side of the road, and more.
Most pedestrian rules are designed to protect pedestrians from motor vehicle drivers. While pedestrians enjoy a wide berth to keep them alive, laws exist to penalize them if they break the law and live to pay the fine.
- Pedestrians must give vehicles the right of way when crossing the road anywhere that is not a crosswalk (marked or unmarked). When they do cross the road, they cannot take a diagonal route, but instead must go straight across, you might say, except in special situations where the road markings and the like instruct pedestrians to go diagonally.
- Where there is a sidewalk, pedestrians must use it. Where there is no sidewalk, they can walk on the shoulder as far from the road as they reasonably can.
- A pedestrian altered by drugs or alcohol “to a degree which renders himself a hazard” can only use a sidewalk or stay wherever they are.
- No pedestrian can go around, under or over a railroad crossing gate when it is closed, closing or still opening. They just have to wait.
- And for perhaps a variety of reasons, nobody can stand in the road to ask for a ride or “for the purpose of soliciting employment or business from the occupant of any vehicle.”
While Kentucky laws require pedestrians to be aware of the public areas in which they can walk, and attempt to protect pedestrians from motorists, these laws can only protects pedestrians if they are followed, many pedestrian accidents are caused by motor vehicle drivers each year.
Recovering Your Losses
Pedestrian accidents often result in catastrophic injuries, as pedestrians have no protection when they are struck by vehicles, and the weight, size, and force of an oncoming motor vehicle can cause significant internal injuries. Catastrophic injuries are injuries that can prevent individuals from performing the tasks and duties at work and in their personal lives they were able to do before the accident.
They’re often permanent injuries and require lifelong care and treatment. Common catastrophic injuries include paralysis, spinal cord injuries, neck injuries, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), amputations, and broken bones.
More serious injuries are more expensive to treat. Crushed limbs can cost thousands of dollars in surgeries, burns require skin grafts, and ambulance rides and hospital stays quickly add up to significant amounts owed to medical providers.
Our Paducah pedestrian accident attorneys understand that no one is prepared to have to shell out that much money to treat injuries they did not cause.
Our team has been able to recover millions of dollars in damages, including:
- Medical bills, such as the costs of medications, hospital stays, physical therapy, and more
- Lost wages or future earning capacity
- Disability
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage
Families who lost a loved one in a pedestrian accident in Kentucky can also secure compensation to pay for funeral and burial expenses, as well as the loss of income and loss of companionship. Our team strives to help injured clients get back on their feet through fierce advocacy.
The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can get to work to fight for you. The experienced Paducah, Kentucky pedestrian accident attorneys at Katz Law can determine who is liable and hold them accountable for their actions.
Contact our Paducah pedestrian accident attorneys if you believe your accident was caused by negligence at (270) 778-5110.
