Atlanta Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Pedestrian Accident Attorney Protecting Atlanta Injury Victims’ Rights

Drivers should pay attention.  And pedestrians should feel safe when they cross the street.  Yet pedestrian deaths in the United States have reached a 28-year high. That trend holds true in Georgia. Patch reported that deaths spiked in their 2018 report of pedestrian accidents. The Governors Highway Safety Association recently found that Georgia has the 16th highest rate of pedestrian accidents in the nation.

In Fulton County, pedestrians account for almost one-third of traffic accident fatalities. That statistic is about double the national average. The National Complete Streets Coalition ranked Atlanta the 8th most dangerous metro area for pedestrians.

Collisions with pedestrians cause serious injuries. Drivers are surrounded by a steel cage. Pedestrians have no protection at all. Our Atlanta pedestrian accident lawyer helps victims and their families rebuild their lives after serious or fatal accidents.

Why Are Pedestrian Accidents Increasing?

Experts point to several factors that account for the increase in fatal pedestrian accidents. More people than ever before are either choosing to walk to work and to neighborhood restaurants, or are riding rideshare scooters. That increase in pedestrian traffic accounts for part of the increase in pedestrian deaths.

At the same time, Atlanta is a car-centric community. Traffic congestion encourages frustration that leads to aggressive driving. Pedestrians pay the price. An Atlanta car accident lawyer or pedestrian accident attorney then gets involved to handle a case when an individual gets hit.

The popularity of SUVs and pickup trucks means that larger, heavier vehicles are increasingly likely to strike pedestrians. Many auto manufacturers are discontinuing the production of regular cars and are opting to only produce SUVs.  Pedestrians are less likely to survive a collision with an SUV.

Driver distraction is also a growing problem. While GPS devices and modern dashboard displays give drivers more information, they also divert a driver’s attention from the road. Smartphones are a much bigger problem. Even though Georgia in 2018 took the right course of action in banning the use of cell phones while driving, many drivers still break that law and use their phones when they shouldn’t.  That is the epitome of distracted driving.  Drivers who scroll a contact list or read a text cannot see, or simply overlook, pedestrians who are crossing the street.

Drunk drivers, speeders, and fatigued drivers also contribute to pedestrian deaths. Any violation of a traffic safety law is an act of negligence. When drivers are careless or reckless, our pedestrian accident attorneys help victims and their families recover compensation.

How Does Tobin Injury Law Help Injured Pedestrians?

Our team of Atlanta personal injury attorneys helps victims of serious injuries. We do not take more cases than we can handle. While some firms push clients to settle quickly so they can move on to the next case, we counsel our clients to take their time and focus on healing.

Pedestrian collisions result in hospital bills and continuing medical care. We help accident victims obtain the compensation they need to pay those bills and to assure that they can pay for future healthcare.

Injured pedestrians usually miss work while they recover from their injuries. They often find that disabling injuries make them physically incapable of returning to the same work. We help accident victims rebuild their lives by obtaining compensation to replace lost income and to pay for vocational rehabilitation. Victims should also be compensated for lost earning ability when they will never earn as much as they did before the accident.

We also help injured pedestrians rebuild their emotional lives. Anxiety and depression accompany every serious physical injury. This is a component of what is called “pain and suffering.”  Compensation makes it possible to achieve comfort, security, and peace of mind. Injury victims use compensation to enhance the quality of their lives and make up for the pain and suffering they endured.

Are Pedestrians at Fault?

According to AJC, more than 130 pedestrians died in Georgia on the road, in the first half of 2018. Pedestrians have the right of way and are blameless when they are in a crosswalk and obeying a walk light. The statutes that address pedestrian rights are found primarily in Georgia’s Official Code sections starting at O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91. That law says that pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk.  There are additional laws that say that even if a pedestrian is outside of a crosswalk, the driver may still have to yield.  At a minimum, drivers are supposed to pay attention at all times and so even if a pedestrian is crossing the road where he shouldn’t, that pedestrian may still have a case if he gets struck by a driver.

Georgia is a modified comparative negligence state.  Modified comparative negligence means that Georgia law allows accident victims to recover compensation when they were less than 50% at fault. Their compensation is reduced in proportion to their share of fault. So for instance even if a pedestrian should not have been where he was, and he is allocated some blame, let’s say 25% blame, he can still win his injury case and whatever compensation he wins would be reduced by 25%.

There is little that pedestrians can do to avoid drivers who run red lights or turn right on red without yielding to pedestrians who are lawfully crossing the street the driver is entering.

When pedestrians cross against a light or outside of a crosswalk, they might share the blame for the accident. However, a pedestrian’s carelessness does not give drivers a license to run them over. Drivers have a duty to watch the road and to avoid any accident that is reasonably avoidable.

Our Atlanta pedestrian accident lawyers use their experience to predict how juries will allocate fault. We use those predictions and our skills as trial advocates to obtain verdicts and fair settlements for our clients.

Tobin Injury Law – Your Atlanta Pedestrian Accident Attorney

We represent pedestrian injury victims and their families regarding accidents in Metro Atlanta and throughout Georgia. To learn how we can help you, contact our Atlanta pedestrian accident lawyer at 404-JUSTICE (404-587-8423) or reach out to us via email. We are available 24/7 and we never charge to answer an accident victim’s questions.