Reno pedestrian hit by drunk driver dies

A 67-year-old woman local resident has died after she was recently hit by a car. Police arrested the man who hit her and charged him with a serious drunk driving offense.

It is, of course, never acceptable and always dangerous to drive while intoxicated. As our blog has discussed on many previous occasions, alcohol in even moderate quantities can make it very difficult for a driver to exercise the control and judgement necessary to operate a vehicle safely.

The interesting thing about this case is that, while the woman seems to have been crossing the street at a crosswalk, she was crossing in the face of a red light. The man who hit her actually had a green light at the time of the incident.

Police are continuing to investigate this drunk driving accident and have even asked members of the public to come forward, should they have information. However, this appears to be a situation in which both the driver and the pedestrian could have done some things better.

Particularly, since the driver was drunk, the family of the victim should not give up hope that they could be able to get compensation for the victim’s medical bills, funeral expenses, lost wages and the like. This is because Nevada has a modified comparative fault law, which means that if a jury finds the pedestrian less than 50 percent at fault, compensation would still be available.

Whether comparative fault is a viable avenue in this situation is really a question best answered by an attorney in the Reno area who has had an opportunity to review the details of this tragic case. A family could rely on this attorney for help understanding their options.