Nevada pedestrian killed while crossing street

Nevada pedestrian killed while crossing street
On Behalf of Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney • Apr 28, 2014
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable people on Nevada roads. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, a pedestrian is injured in a traffic accident every eight minutes. A pedestrian is killed every two hours. Even as fatalities from car accidents have declined in recent years, pedestrian fatalities have shown increases.

Recently, a woman was struck by a car and killed while walking across a street in Fernley, about a half-hour’s drive from Reno. Police said the 63-year-old woman was in or near a marked crosswalk at about 8:30 p.m. when a Cadillac sedan struck her.

Police said the 49-year-old driver of the Cadillac was cooperating with authorities in the investigation. The driver’s two children were in the car at the time of the accident, police said. Alcohol was not considered to be a factor in the accident, police said.

Under Nevada law, when someone is killed due to another driver’s negligence, the victim’s family members may be compensated for their monetary damages through a wrongful death lawsuit. To show that the driver was negligent, the plaintiffs would have to show that the driver failed to exercise a reasonable level of care, and that the injury occurred because of that lack of care.

The fact that a car hit a pedestrian does not necessarily mean that the driver was negligent. Pedestrians also have a duty to act reasonably, and a pedestrian who darts across a busy street on a dark night may be deemed to have acted unreasonably. If that is the case, a court may find that there was nothing that a reasonable driver could have done to avoid the crash. However, if a pedestrian was struck while using a crosswalk at an appropriate time, this is strong evidence to show that the driver caused the accident through negligence.

A Nevada attorney can help the injured or their families to understand their rights and legal options after a terrible accident. An award in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit cannot turn back time, but it can help the injured and their families to cope with the aftermath of an accident.

Source: KTVN.com, ” NHP Identifies Woman Killed by Car While Crossing Fernley Street ,” April 15, 2014