Pedestrian crossings are in place to help people safely and successfully cross over a road. On busy roads they are very useful as I find that the majority (unfortunately not all) drivers will stop to let pedestrians cross. Unfortunately not all drivers stop and it can be infuriating for the pedestrians when this occurs.
Unfortunately there will always be some drivers who don’t consider others. Even if the road is not necessarily a busy road, I would still recommend that you use a pedestrian crossing to get to the other side. Basically if you want to cross a road and there is a pedestrian crossing in sight or somewhere close by, you should use it. Put simply, if you cross and are involved in an accident then you may be partly at fault for not crossing in the safest area (i.e. the safest area would be the pedestrian crossing).
If you failed to use a pedestrian crossing and you subsequently became injured in an accident, the other side are likely to argue that you are partly at fault for your injuries by not using the pedestrian crossing. This is an allegation of contributory negligence and if agreed or found by a Court, then your damages would be reduced accordingly. If you are not found to be fully at fault, you can still claim compensation. If contributory negligence is agreed at, say 20%, there would be a 20% deduction in any damages that you would receive. In some cases (depending on the severity of the injuries) this kind of deduction could amount to thousands of pounds…
What would happen is the Solicitors for the other side would put a value on your claim (based on the medical evidence and your injuries). Say for example they value your claim on a full liability basis at £2,000. They would then deduct the compensation to allow for contributory negligence (say contributory negligence is 20%). £2,000 minus 20% contributory negligence equals £1,800. They would then offer you £1,800 to settle your claim. This is basically how deductions are made in respect of contributory negligence.
Notwithstanding the impact on any potential claim, you should always use a pedestrian crossing for your own personal safety. In the most part, pedestrian crossings work. If you are involved in an accident whilst using a pedestrian crossing, it would be difficult to envisage how the other party could escape liability.
On the flip side there are other consequences to consider. If you step out into the road when it is not safe to do so, without due care and attention etc, then you could be liable for any subsequent accident. This happened to a motorcyclist who swerved to avoid two school girls who stepped out into the road in front of his oncoming motorcycle.
He swerved, skidded and collided into an oncoming van. The motorcyclist was left paralysed. Essentially the motorcyclist sought to sue the school girls for failing to use a pedestrian crossing which was provided. This is an example that you should consider both sides of the coin – pedestrians can also cause accidents by failing to use crossings and or by stepping out into the road when it is not safe to do so. Just as drivers need to drive with due care and attention, pedestrians need to cross a road with due care and attention.
