The number of pedestrians who are involved in road traffic accidents is quite shocking. Despite various safety campaigns and procedures being in place, at The Injury Lawyers we come across a fair few pedestrian injury claims ourselves as well as those we read in the news. It would seem that, despite pedestrians having their own pavements and specific crossings, there are still drivers out there who will negligently cause an accident with a pedestrian.
One particular type of pedestrian accident claim is those where the innocent pedestrian has been using a zebra crossing and a negligent third party driver has failed to heed their presence and take the necessary precautions and has instead collided with the pedestrian.
Zebra crossings are different to those with traffic lights and in fact it would seem that it is the lack of traffic lights which has made them somewhat more dangerous. Everyone should know that on crossings with traffic lights you push the button, wait for the green man to appear, signalling that the lights have turned red and all traffic should have stopped, and cross. However, it would seem that the lack of traffic lights on zebra crossings means that drivers are not taking into account the possibility that a pedestrian may be waiting to cross.
Drivers approaching a zebra crossing should slow and look out for pedestrians. Where there is a pedestrian they should stop and allow them to fully cross the road. A zebra crossing is the pedestrian’s right of crossing, but unfortunately, not all drivers are polite enough to stop. Because of this, what you have to ensure as a pedestrian is that, before you cross, all traffic has stopped to allow you to cross safely. Although it is your right to cross, you cannot simply just walk in front of a moving vehicle. It is your duty to ensure that all traffic has stopped before crossing, and where you have complied with this, should you end up in a collision with a motor vehicle and sustain injuries, you should be able to claim compensation for the injuries.
At The Injury Lawyers we are happy to assess your potential claim if you have been injured whilst using a zebra crossing. If we consider that you were not at fault, or were only partly at fault, then we could get the ball rolling on your potential claim at no cost to yourself. That said, naturally we would rather that you took extra precautions when using a zebra crossing and that road users properly considered their approach to a zebra crossing so that people were not injured in the first place.
Remember, Stop, Look and Listen!
