If you see a pedestrian near an intersection, always slow your vehicle so you are better prepared to stop if the pedestrian enters the street. When a pedestrian enters the crosswalk or the street in front of you, come to a halt. Stop even if you have a green light. Stop even if the person on foot is crossing on a “don’t walk” sign. The pedestrian’s safety in traffic is the most important factor.
Protecting Bakersfield Pedestrians as You Drive
Drivers travel in large vehicles with metal frames, seatbelts, and airbags. They have some protection in a crash. Those who walk about Bakersfield have much less. Pedestrians would generally have some light clothing and shoes for protection in a collision. Not much to safeguard their wellbeing.
Pedestrians struck by SUVs can face an impact with the front of a car, and with the glass windshield. They can also be knocked to the pavement and be left in the path of other vehicles to suffer being run over.
This difference in protection between drivers and pedestrians is why drivers bear more of the responsibility to prevent accidents at intersections. The responsibility is identified in the California Vehicle Code (CVC).
CVC 21950.
“(c) The driver of a vehicle approaching a pedestrian within any marked or unmarked crosswalk shall exercise all due care and shall reduce the speed of the vehicle or take any other action relating to the operation of the vehicle as necessary to safeguard the safety of the pedestrian.”
What to Do When a Disabled Pedestrian Is in an Intersection
Vehicle codes also ask that drivers pay full attention to intersections to be able to spot a pedestrian with a disability. Additional care should be shown to any disabled person on foot or using a mobility aid.
Motorists should monitor for the signs of a blind pedestrian. This might include spotting someone with a white cane or using the aid of a guide dog. Drivers should slow down and expect the consequences of not showing this care can be enormous. In California, any driver who strikes a blind pedestrian can face criminal charges, large fines, and even jail time.
Drivers must also give those on crutches, in wheelchairs, and using knee scooters additional time to get across an intersection. Being forced to cross 8 and 9 lanes of traffic, like at the big intersection at Stockdale Highway and Old River Road, those with mobility issues may need more time than a walk signal gives them.
Be prepared to wait, and never come to a stop in an intersection on the crosswalk. This forces pedestrians to travel around you and take a longer trip.
Who Is Liable In a Pedestrian Accident at an Intersection?
Bakersfield drivers should always yield to pedestrians, even if they are crossing the street in an unsafe spot, outside of a crosswalk. Preventing a devastating collision is the most important concern. It’s why drivers can be found at fault, or partially at fault, in many pedestrian accidents.
Drivers and their insurers are often held accountable for the pedestrian’s medical bills and lost income while they can’t work.
Pedestrians also have a responsibility to follow traffic and pedestrian signals, and can be held responsible for accidents. For instance, they shouldn’t step into the street in front of a moving vehicle that’s so close, the driver wouldn’t have a reasonable chance to hit the brakes and come to a full stop.
In California, the driver and the pedestrian can share the blame for an accident if both parties acted recklessly. However, even if the pedestrian is assigned some of the blame, victims could still be awarded recovery help. It would just be reduced by the level of fault the pedestrian had to accept.
Do I Need a Bakersfield Pedestrian Accident Lawyer?
If you come away from a pedestrian collision with only some very minor injuries, you might not need the help of a lawyer. But when the injuries are serious, say a hip injury or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), it’s a good idea to talk to a lawyer in a free consultation. An attorney would be able to help you take on a giant car insurance company, and in many cases, earn you more.
A lawyer is also helpful when you are being blamed for your accident. Our lawyers can help you collect evidence showing a driver was fully to blame. Or if you must accept some blame, we will fight to make sure your percentage of fault is as low as possible.
Contact Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield to schedule a confidential, no-obligation review of your case.
If you do need a strong Bakersfield pedestrian accident lawyer to help earn what you need for a full recovery, you won’t need any money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement check that a car insurer must write for you.