What Constitutes a Pedestrian Injury Claim in Vancouver?

When a vehicle hits a pedestrian, it is a frightening matter. The accident is often very serious for the pedestrian and can result in life-change injuries or death, even if the vehicle was moving slowly. An unsuspecting pedestrian has virtually no protection from a motor vehicle, unlike the driver inside.
Young children and older adults are particularly vulnerable as they may be less aware of drivers on the road and are more likely to fail to pay attention to traffic signals and move outside of crosswalks. Accidents with elderly pedestrians are more likely to be fatal and this is because beyond age 70,
elderly pedestrians tend to cross intersections more slowly and have diminished reaction time, vision, and visual processing speed.

Where a Pedestrian Is Most Likely to Get Injured

Most pedestrian crashes occur most frequently in urban areas where pedestrian activity is most concentrated. As such more pedestrian fatalities occur in urban areas, on wide, busy arterial roads than in rural areas. A higher ratio of deaths to injuries occur, however, in rural areas because of higher speeds on rural roads and reduced access to emergency treatment facilities.

How a Pedestrian Gets Hurt

In collisions involving adult pedestrians, three direct impacts are typical:

• the lower leg region, which is impacted by the front bumper;
• the upper body, which usually comes into contact with the hood and/or windshield.
• the head, which also may come into contact with the hood and/or windshield.

Often there are two sets of injuries, from the initial strike from the vehicle and then the pedestrian falling to the ground. The injury severity will depend on the vehicle speed, the angle of the impact on the pedestrian, the part of the vehicle that impacts the pedestrian first, the part of the body that gets hit and the pedestrian’s centre of gravity.

While all kinds of injuries can result, the most common effects of a vehicle striking a pedestrian are head and brain injuries, injuries to the legs and pelvis, tibial plateau fractures, and ligamentous injuries of the knee. A personal injury lawyer in Vancouver can discuss the resulting legal implications from these injuries with you.

Eligibility for a Pedestrian Accident Claim

If the accident was caused by the driver’s negligence, you can recover your financial losses and compensation for pain and suffering through a personal injury claim. As the injured pedestrian or a family member of an accident victim, a Vancouver personal injury lawyer will be able to guide you through the process.

The amount of compensation available for your tort case will depend on the facts and the applicable law. A number of factors will affect your total settlement amount, including the severity of the injuries, the out-of-pocket medical expenses incurred, how much recovery can occur (if any), your rehabilitation expenses, the cost of future care, and matters such as your income loss to date and future loss of income as well as the impact the accident had on you personally and your family. Amounts for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life are assessed with a view to relevant case law in determining the range.

Your Vancouver injury lawyer at Paine Edmonds LLP can advise you about you case based on the unique circumstances of the accident. Even if you are partly at fault for the injuries that occurred (e.g., you did not have the right of way because you were crossing the road not in a crosswalk), you can expect compensation for accident if the other party had some liability. A pedestrian has a duty to look out for his or her own safety, but a vehicle that
strikes you is unlikely to avert liability.

If you are an insured person in BC struck by a motor vehicle, then you may also be eligible to claim Part 7 accident benefits from your auto insurance policy (or otherwise from the at-fault driver’s insurance policy if you are not insured through your own policy or a family member`s policy). Our injury lawyers in Vancouver can help you ascertain what benefits you can and must apply for as an injured victim in order to collect payments from ICBC.

How Paine Edmonds, Trusted Injury Lawyers in Vancouver, Can Help

If you or a loved one are a victim of a pedestrian accident in BC, you will want to hire an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer in Vancouver to protect you against ICBC and obtain the financial compensation you deserve for the accident. Of course, no amount of financial compensation will make up for a tragic personal loss and emotional trauma incurred, but our lawyers can fight for you and achieve what is fair and reasonable under the circumstances. Contact our lawyers in Vancouver at Paine Edmonds LLP at 1-800-669-8599.