If you were hurt in a pedestrian car accident, you may have suffered serious injuries. Before you can get damages from insurance or a lawsuit, you typically need to prove the vehicle and its driver were what caused your crash.
For a driver to be at fault, you need to show that they caused the accident by breaching a legal duty that they owed you. This usually means a traffic violation, such as running a red light or failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. You can prove this through your testimony, though additional evidence, like other witness testimony or even security camera footage of the accident, is going to make your case stronger.
For a free review of your accident case, call the Columbia, SC pedestrian accident lawyers at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers today at (803) 451-4000.
Elements of Fault in a Pedestrian Accident
To prove that someone else was at fault for a pedestrian accident case, you can certainly prove that they hit you intentionally. However, most car accidents are, indeed, accidents.
Instead, you prove that they caused the crash through “negligence” by proving these four elements:
Duty
You have to show that the defendant owed you a legal duty. This is usually based on traffic laws, such as the duty to drive below the speed limit or the duty to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.
Breach
You have to show the driver breached a legal duty. If they did everything right, they cannot be sued for a crash, even if a true accident did still occur.
Causation
The breach the driver committed must have been what actually caused the crash. If another driver’s mistakes, an auto defect, or a dangerous road condition were responsible, there may be other at-fault parties to sue instead of or in addition to the driver.
If, no matter what the driver did, the accident would have been unavoidable, then we cannot say that their breach of duty actually caused your accident. That would be a true accident or a “freak accident” that no one is legally at fault for.
Damages
Any injuries or financial costs you face because of the accident are sufficient to prove that you suffered damages in the crash. These harms and the physical, mental, and emotional effects of the accident would be the amounts you total up and claim as damages in your case.
What Traffic Laws Affect Fault in a Pedestrian Accident?
Pedestrian accidents are often caused by violations of traffic laws.
Common Violations
Our Blythewood, SC pedestrian accident lawyers commonly use these kinds of traffic violations to prove pedestrian accident cases:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Drunk driving
- Running red lights/stop signs
- Failing to yield.
Distracted driving is an especially common issue in pedestrian accidents. Drivers are hard-pressed to see a pedestrian at all if they are more focused on their phone or other distractions.
Crosswalk Laws
In South Carolina, we also have crosswalk laws that may be used to prove fault in a pedestrian accident:
- If there are no traffic signals, drivers must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks under S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-3250.
- If a car is stopped at a crosswalk to let a pedestrian go, another car cannot come up from behind and pass them under 56-5-3130(d).
- Outside of marked crosswalks, pedestrians yield to drivers under 56-5-3150.
Other Safety Rules
Although they are not “the law,” standards for what a reasonable driver and reasonable pedestrian should do could also be important. For example, just because it isn’t explicitly illegal to speed up to get through a crosswalk before the pedestrian gets to your half of the roadway doesn’t make it okay; that could still be quite dangerous and unreasonable.
South Carolina provides a number of safety tips from the Department of Public Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that drivers and pedestrians should be aware of to keep everyone safe.
What Evidence is Used to Prove the Driver’s Fault in a Pedestrian Accident Case?
To prove fault, you need evidence. The first three are the most common pieces of evidence you will use, but the following are also important, if available:
- Your testimony
- Proof of damage to the vehicle that hit you (damage appraisals, photos, etc.)
- Your medical records showing injuries consistent with a car accident
- Other witness testimony
- Accident reconstruction reports
- Security video, dash cam footage, or even cell phone video of the crash.
FAQs for Proving Fault in a Pedestrian Crash in South Carolina
What if I Was Jaywalking or Partially at Fault?
Partial fault from the victim is allowed in injury cases in South Carolina. There is no requirement that you be “totally innocent” to sue.
In fact, you can be up to 50% responsible and still recover damages. However, partially at-fault victims lose damages proportionate to their share of fault.
What is the Burden of Proof?
The “burden of proof” is the rule that says the victim/plaintiff needs to prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence. The defense doesn’t need to prove anything; if the victim cannot meet their burden of proof, then the defense wins.
Meeting the “preponderance of the evidence standard” in a pedestrian accident case means that you have successfully proven that, all things considered, it is more likely than not that the driver was at fault.
How Much Time Do I Get to Investigate the Crash Before Filing My Injury Case?
Most car accident cases are investigated briefly before filing. You do not need to know everything about what happened and how it happened before filing, but our lawyers do need to spend at least a few weeks researching most car accident cases so that we can draft a proper complaint. S.C. Code Ann § 15-3-530(5) – the statute of limitations – gives you up to 3 years to file.
However, additional time to talk to witnesses, request evidence in the defense’s possession, and subpoena other relevant evidence comes during the “discovery” stage of your case. This takes place after filing but before trial. Discovery usually lasts a few weeks or months.
Can You Sue Multiple Drivers for a Pedestrian Accident?
Sometimes pedestrian crashes happen because two drivers were driving dangerously or because one was too busy looking out for what a dangerous driver was doing that they didn’t even see you walking. Car accident claims can be filed against multiple drivers, and each one can pay for their share of the total damages.
Call Our South Carolina Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Today
For help with your potential case, contact the Lexington, SC pedestrian accident lawyers at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers today by calling (803) 451-4000.
