Who is at Fault in a Jaywalking Pedestrian Accident?

Almost everyone has jaywalked at some point in their life. Maybe at first, you are very diligent about making sure there are no cars even in sight, but after enough jaywalking, you tend to get a little lax with making sure things are safe. This is where jaywalking becomes dangerous as well as illegal.

Jaywalking is illegal for a very good reason. If you get hit at a crosswalk, usually it is because a car was going a little too fast. However, in jaywalking cases, often a car isn’t slowing down at all, which can lead to catastrophic injury or even death. In these cases, you or your family may be able to file a personal injury case for compensation, but can you even recover damages if you were jaywalking?

California law states that a pedestrian must yield the right of way to motor vehicles if they are crossing anywhere other than a crosswalk. However, this does not mean that a pedestrian will have no right to damages if they were injured while illegally jaywalking. California is also a comparative negligence state, which means that if the driver also shared a percentage of the fault in the accident, they may be able to pay a percentage of the damages. Unfortunately, if you are determined to be more than fifty percent at fault for the accident, you cannot recover damages and you may need to pay for the other parties injuries.

Jaywalking is something you shouldn’t be doing, but people still do it. However, it can make pedestrian accident cases much more difficult, which is why you need a skilled attorney on your side to make sure you can and should pursue damages for your injuries. If you have been in a pedestrian accident in the greater Los Angeles area, contact us today.