Law Library | Attorney Advertising | Financial Services | Affiliate Program | Blawg
Find the Right Lawyer Now:
Hit by a Car while Jaywalking Lawsuit
In a lawsuit involving a person who was hit by a car while jaywalking, the doctrines of negligence, contributory negligence, and comparative fault come into play.
Every person has a duty to act in a reasonable manner to avoid causing injuries to others. If a person fails to act reasonably, and through this failure, causes harm to the person or property of another, he or she has committed negligence. That person is then responsible for compensating the victim for whatever harm he or she caused.
However, there are some defenses. For example, if the plaintiff (the person bringing the negligence lawsuit) was himself not acting reasonably, and this contributed to the injury, the defendant can use this to reduce or eliminate liability. The theory is that nobody should be forced to pay for injuries that are actually the fault of the person who was injured.
There are 2 basic approaches to this defense: contributory negligence, and comparative fault.
Under the contributory negligence theory, if the defense can show that the plaintiff was at all culpable, there is no liability, no matter how much at fault the defendant was. Consider this example: a person is jaywalking (which is, in itself, careless behavior), and is hit by a car whose driver was speeding, talking on his phone, and reading the newspaper, and adjusting the radio at the same time. Most would agree that the driver is more to blame than the pedestrian, even though they are both at fault. However, under a theory of contributory negligence, the jaywalking pedestrian would not be able to recover any money.
Under a theory of comparative fault (which is used more commonly), the jury would be instructed to look at the relative degrees of fault. Using the same example above, suppose a jury finds that the driver was 80% at fault, and the jaywalking pedestrian was 20% at fault. The jaywalking pedestrian would then be able to recover 80% of his damages (medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc.). In such cases, it is up to the jury to decide exactly what percentage of fault each party bears, and modify their award accordingly. If the pedestrian was jaywalking, it is very unlikely that they would find that he or she bears none of the fault. The exact percentage of fault borne by each side would depend on the facts of each case.
Consult a Lawyer - Present Your Case Now!
Find the Right Lawyer Now:
Did you find this article informative?
