There is a huge disparity in the weight and size of a vehicle and a pedestrian, and vehicles are constructed out of metal parts compared to the fragility of flesh and bones. Simply surviving a collision with a car is a stroke of good luck; escaping with less-than-serious injuries can almost be perceived as miraculous.
Yet one pedestrian in Dartmouth did just that on a recent weekday. According to reports from law enforcement, at approximately 5 p.m., the 54-year-old pedestrian was struck by a truck driven by a 59-year-old. The accident happened in a Wyse Road parking lot. While the pedestrian suffered minor injuries, no medical treatment was sought at that time. Police are not planning to charge the driver with any offences.
Just a half hour later, a similar scene played out in Halifax. As a pedestrian made his way across a marked crosswalk on Lacewood Drive, a 72-year-old driver struck him with her vehicle. The man suffered some injuries; however, his condition is unknown and police continue their investigation into the collision.
Motorists have a duty, especially in crosswalks and low speed locations such as parking lots where there is plenty of foot traffic, to be on the lookout for pedestrians. One of the rules of the road is that pedestrians always have the right of way in crosswalks, whether they are marked or unmarked.
This doesn’t mean that pedestrians bear no responsibility for their own safety. If they dart out between two cars in an attempt to cross a street and wound up getting hit, the liability of the driver could be reduced. It can be quite difficult to determine degrees of liability in some instances, and often a legal professional can clarify the facts in preparation for a civil suit.
Source: The Chronicle Herald, “Pedestrians injured in Halifax, Dartmouth late Wednesday afternoon,” Oct. 22, 2015