An auto-pedestrian accident happens when a driver in North Carolina strikes a person who is traveling on foot with their vehicle. There are numerous ways that these tragic incidents can happen, with some causes resulting from driver negligence and others from pedestrian inattention. When drivers are inattentive or otherwise distracted while operating their motor vehicles, their risk of colliding with pedestrians increases.
Just as distracted drivers hit other cars, trucks and vans, they may also hit people who are in crosswalks, getting into their street-parked cars or even on sidewalks and out of roadways. Anytime that drivers take their eyes off of the road to look at their smartphone, a passenger or other in-vehicle distraction, they elevate their risk of hitting someone or something else in the road.
Collisions with pedestrians can also happen when drivers violate traffic laws. It is expected that drivers will yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and will abide by crossing signals that may give pedestrians permission to safely enter roadways. Running red lights, speeding and otherwise operating vehicles in unsafe and unpredictable manners can contribute to pedestrian accident incidents.
A pedestrian accident can leave a victim with devastating and life-altering injuries. Not all pedestrians survive collisions with cars, and their loved ones are then left with the very difficult task of rebuilding their lives without the support of those who were lost. The personal injuries that a victim suffers in an auto-pedestrian crash may be compensable, depending upon how a crash came to happen. After suffering harm in an accident with a vehicle, a pedestrian victim may want to seek the help of a personal injury attorney to begin evaluating their possible claims for damages.
