Crosswalk Safety and Pedestrian Fatalities - A Difficult Case When The Driver Is Sober

Thanks to Beckley Mason for this guest post on pedestrian safety in crosswalks. The article is very timely as the Charlottesville Daily Progress just had a special feature about pedestrian accidents at the University of Virgina. The article came only a few days after a bicyclist was struck in a crosswalk.


Across the country, crosswalk laws are designed to protect pedestrians and encourage drivers to act cautiously and responsibly around intersections. Drivers and cyclists are expected to slow down and stop when a pedestrian wants to cross the street, and to generally cede right of way to the more vulnerable people. But a car, even traveling at 25 miles per hour, is harder to control than you might think. So pedestrians have a responsibility too, and aren’t protected by the law for crashes in which they leave the curb without giving approaching drivers a chance to see them and slow down.

According to California law, the driver's liability is mitigated by pedestrian's "duty of using care for his or her safety. No pedestrian may suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard."

This provision is a necessity, but it creates a strange dynamic when it comes to fatal pedestrian crashes in which the driver is sober. Here’s a relatively common scenario in fatal pedestrian crashes: at night, so the driver has a harder time making out pedestrians, and away from busy or well-lit intersections, so few witnesses besides the driver and the victim see the collision. In such an instance, if the driver was sober and there is no hard evidence that the driver was distracted at the time of the accident, criminal charges are almost never pursued an in civil court, a plaintiff's verdict is not a foregone conclusion.

Take a recent case in Portland, Oregon. Two women were killed in the second lane from the crosswalk by a driver going the speed limit at night. The position of the crash implies that the women were well into the crosswalk at the time of impact. Also, the driver passed by four signs warning of crosswalks and received a call near the time when the collision occurred. All these signs point to culpability on the part of the driver. However the jury ruled that there simply was not enough evidence to prove the sober driver was indeed distracted. In the end, the civil trial jury did not give a verdict in favor of the families of the deceased women
Certainly, every case and every jury are different. The laws that are in place are the best attempt to create a fair system. What this case reminds us is that crosswalks present a dangerous situation that requires the full attention of both drivers and pedestrians.
Beckley Mason writes a street safety blog for GJEL Accident Attorneys.


Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Repeat of Deadly Weekend Car Crashes in Charlottesville

Perhaps it is the lovely fall weather in Charlottesville that is causing such mayhem on our highways. Veteran's Day weekend has been highlighted by several deadly crashes in the area. The sad part of this report is that the deaths were preventable. A deadly car crash on I-64 claimed the life of a truck driver who was not wearing his seat belt. The restrained driver of the smaller car survived. The obvious lesson is to wear your seatbelt. In another accident, the two passengers of a drunk driver were killed. The drunk driver survived. Another obvious lesson, don't get in a car with a driver who has been drinking. The purpose of this post is not to cast blame, but to spread caution. The highways and roads of our communities are dangerous when simple precautions and safe driving techniques are not used. Don't be a victim. Think before you drive and as you drive.

Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Car Accidents Cost 300 Billion Dollars

Charlottesville Personal Injury Lawyer

The number is correct. Car accidents cost Americans 300 billion dollars a year. The average cost per car accident is over $1500. Obviously, there are a lot of car accidents every year in this country, and so insurance companies and personal injury lawyers are kept very busy. Interestingly, Northern Virginia contributes a hefty portion of the 300 billion dollar total each year with over 7.4 billion dollars in car accident costs. Since the Washington D.C. area is the worst in the nation for traffic congestion, this statistic is not a surprise. Is there an easy fix that will reduce the annual cost of car accidents. Probably not as 90% of car accidents are due to driver error. Smart technology may be a long term solution as advances in technology that improve driver awareness may reduce accident totals. For instance, a leading cause of driver error accidents is the failure to maintain lane position. Smart technology can detect such a problem and warn the driver to regain control of the vehicle. Another hope lies in the reduction of drunk driving offenses. A million people a year are injured by drunk drivers. Again, new technology may help as ignition locks are increasingly used to prevent drunk drivers from starting their cars. But as for now, if you are the victim of a car accident, the best option is to call us for a free consultation.

Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Tired Drivers Cause Car Accidents

It is a fact. Tired drivers cause car accidents. The tired driver might be a truck driver pulling a trailer or maybe a college student heading home after exams. Some experts claim that as many as 60% of drivers on the road are driving drowsy. That statistic fits in with the portrait of our nation as being chronically sleep deprived. At some point in our driving careers, 36% of us will fall asleep at the wheel for a few seconds. This phenomenon is called microsleep and it is scary to realize how far a car or truck can travel in just a few seconds at 65 miles per hour. It is recommended that the long distance driver stop every 2 hours or 100 miles to stand up and stretch for a few minutes. Driving more than 500 miles a day is also not recommended.

Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Skiing Accidents in Virgina

Virginia skiing accidents (and snowboarding accidents) resulting in a personal injury are the subject of many questions under Virginia law. Unlike some states where skiing is major industry, Virginia skiing and snowboarding resorts are few in number and fairly small in size. Some local resorts are Wintergreen, Massanutten and the Homestead. Virginia does not have a comprehensive skier responsibility statute or other laws aimed at ski resorts and their operation. One general statute that does affect ski resorts concerns the operation of lifts used to transport skiers and snowboarders. These lifts are subject to regulation as an amusement attraction ride and have to conform to certain standards. Unfortunately, most personal injury claims involving skiers and snowboarders take place on the slopes of the ski resort. In such cases, the ski resorts often assert two primary defenses, contributory negligence and assumption of risk. In Virginia, proof of these defenses can lead to dismissal of a claim. In a ski or snowboard accident, it is vital to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible so that an investigation can be launched quickly. For example, many ski resort employees are seasonal and move on after the ski season ends. Our law firm has handled ski injury cases in the past and we know the issues involved in such cases.

Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Drunk Driver Car Accidents In Charlottesville and Albemarle

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Two weeks ago in the Charlottesville area, a drunk driver caused a head on collision car accident that killed the driver of one car and seriously injured several passengers. This tragic case is not an isolated instance of drunk driving causing a car accident. Each year in this country, over 17,000 people die as a result of drunk driver car accidents. Recently, in Albemarle Circuit Court, a drunk driver pleaded guilty to two counts of maiming as a result of drunk driving. Another recent case in Albemarle Circuit Court involved a college student who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a drunk driving accident that severely injured a construction worker. These are local examples of drunk diver car accidents that contribute to the national picture of over 1 million injuries a year caused by drunk drivers. Such a staggering statistic does not get the attention it deserves. To put the numbers in perspective, the terrorist attacks on New York City killed over 3,000 people whereas each year there nearly 6 times that many people being killed by drunk drivers. We spend billions of dollars on homeland security to prevent another Twin Towers tragedy but only a fraction of that amount is spent on fighting the much greater threat of drunk drivers. It is also a threat that is much more real for every driver on our roads. It is a daily problem across the country and deserves just as much attention as terrorism prevention efforts. Imagine the effect of every car being equipped with an ignition lock that tested for alcohol in your breath before allowing the vehicle to start. Do you think such an investment would result in a dramatic drop in drunk driver car accidents? It is a sentencing option for habitual offenders. Would it be too much of an intrusion on our lives to have such equipment in every new car?

Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm
Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Car Accidents and Fatality Statistics

Personal Injury Lawyer Charlottesville

Car accidents result in over 100 deaths every day. In Charlottesville, the last week has brought news of several fatalities resulting from car accidents. Over the last 25 years, over 1 million people have been killed in car accidents in this country. That amazing statistic ties is the result of an average of 40,000 deaths per year from car accidents. Nearly half of that yearly number is the result of drunk drivers causing the car accident wrongful death. And yet, most people think that they are fairly safe when traveling on the road. That perception of safety is not very accurate. The average driver has a 1 in 9 chance of being involved in a car accident each year. Such odds do not engender a feeling of confidence for me when I get in my car, even though I think I am a good driver. We should all think about our driving habits and the care that we take when driving in order to avoid becoming an addition to these statistics. So the next time your cell phone rings while you are driving on a busy road, think before you pick it up and get distracted. Do you want to become one of the 40,000?

Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm
Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro