4 Reasons Why Pedestrians are Frequently Hit on South Carolina Roads

The law regarding pedestrians on South Carolina roads is that cars have to come to a stop at crosswalks both marked and unmarked and if they don’t do so, then their drivers are potentially negligent for any injuries that result as a result of striking a pedestrian.

There are four different contributing factors to why pedestrians are struck by vehicles.

1. Speed

People approach the intersection too fast and don’t realize that there’s a crosswalk there. They’re driving too fast for conditions and as a result, they’re unable to stop and they strike a pedestrian and obviously common sense is going to tell you if you’ve got a car meeting a human being, human being typically loses that battle and the potential injuries that can result from that can be absolutely devastating to someone. That’s an unfortunate thing and it’s certainly something that they need to be protected for and they’re potentially going to need a lawyer for is they’re going to need a lot of help to get back to where they were before or at least close to it.

2. The driver's age

Meaning, someone who is a little bit further along in life and their vision isn’t necessarily as good as that of a much younger driver. As a result of their vision being a little bit poor, they don’t see that pedestrian at the crosswalk or the fact that there’s a crosswalk there until it’s too late and they strike the person and then the person is injured as a result of the collision.

3. Impairment

The driver is drunk or intoxicated on some sort of prescription drug or something that is ultimately impairing their ability to see what’s going on around them and keep a proper lookout. As a result, when they approach that crosswalk, they don’t see the person until it’s too late and then they strike them and then again the person is injured very grievously.

4. Poor lighting

A lot of times people are struck at twilight, right around the time where the sun is just going down but it’s not completely night. So you don’t necessarily have your headlights on. Obviously that is the worst time for a human being as far as visibility is concerned. So when you have someone who’s crossing the road at twilight, they’re less visible and as a result, they tend to be struck more and if you look at the statistics, you’re much more likely to be struck around that particular time of day than any other time of day. So visibility plays a significant role and lack of visibility in this particular case.

An experienced Charleston personal injury lawyer can provide help. Protect yourself and your loved ones by contacting Hartman Law Firm, L.L.C. for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your case. We represent clients throughout Charleston and South Carolina. Call us today at 843-300-7600 or use our online contact form.
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