No one wants to be involved in an accident, but when they do happen we may be able to help if the accident occurred in the last three years and was as a result of another party's negligence. Our pedestrian accident solicitors have a dedicated department specialising in personal injury claims and our lawyers will assist you in an understanding and sympathetic manner. This includes not only helping you through the legal process of a pedestrian accident compensation claim, but also ensuring that you receive timely and suitable treatment and rehabilitation. Our pedestrian accident solicitors carry out an assessment from the facts provided by the client, and, if we are confident there are reasonable prospects of success, we can offer to handle the claim on a no win no pay basis. Rapid Solicitors operate from offices in Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth and will be pleased to give advice at no cost to establish whether or not you have a viable personal injury compensation claim. Do yourself justice – contact Rapid Solicitors without delay.
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable group of road users exemplified by the fact that most victims on a statistical basis are either elderly or are children. For a pedestrian accident solicitor to succeed in an accident compensation claim it is necessary to prove negligence which means that it must be shown that the driver of the vehicle involved in the collision has driven with an unreasonable disregard for the safety of other road users. In the case of pedestrians there is a very high duty of care placed on vehicle drivers due to the unequal and dangerous position that the pedestrian may be in compared to the protected environment of the driver. In lawyers cases where there is little evidence to prove negligence our pedestrian accident solicitors are able to call upon the services of accident reconstruction experts who, by the use of sophisticated computer programs can recreate accident scenarios to assist in the proof of lack of care by the vehicle driver.
Often these injuries are severe and include head and spinal cord damage, resulting in cognitive difficulties, paraplegia or quadriplegia. Over 10,000 pedestrians are injured as a result of motor vehicle accidents in Australia every year. Of these casualties, over 2,000 are seriously injured with over 200 fatalities. Per kilometre traveled, pedestrians are up to 16 times more likely to be killed than car occupants.
The peak hours for child casualties are when children are likely to be traveling to and from school, between 8 and 9 am and 3 and 4 pm. The afternoon peak is much higher. For adults, the casualty pattern is not the same as for children and does not follow the hourly pattern of walk journeys. Casualties are low in the middle of the day, when walking levels are generally high. Walking declines rapidly after 4pm, but casualties decline slowly only until 9 pm, and then increase until midnight.
Drivers have a duty of care to other road users. Drivers must obey road rules. A pedestrian accident claim is often the result of speeding by drivers; failure to observe signage; an inattentive or pre-occupied driver; a driver's failure to yield the right of way to pedestrians at marked crossings or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Usually, it is a motor vehicle driver who is responsible for causing the accident however, sometimes other road users may be found to have contributed to the cause of the accident and if as a pedestrian, you fail to exercise reasonable care whilst using the road and the accident was partially your fault, you may still be entitled to some compensation (a reduced amount) for your injuries.
We recognise that clients expect more from us than our professional expertise and experience and that we operate as service providers in a highly competitive market. We strive for excellence in providing sound advice coupled with a rapid, proactive and friendly service utilising all available technological aids. Our pedestrian accident solicitors are able to offer you sound, no nonsense advice. If you would like advice at no cost from an experienced pedestrian accident solicitor just use the contact form and a specialist personal injury solicitor will give legal advice at no cost and without any further obligation.
Here are 3 good reasons to choose our lawyers:
Hundreds of pedestrians are killed on Australian roads every year and thousands of people also suffer injuries which require medical treatment, the majority of which are caused by collisions with domestic motor cars. In most cases the car driver will ultimately be held to be negligent by a court of law in a compensation claim and a pedestrian accident solicitor will be able to obtain a personal injury settlement :-
pedestrian fatalities represent 10% of transport related deaths
50% of pedestrian fatalities involve alcohol consumption
children 15 years represent a disproportionately high level of injury
25% of the children’s road accident fatalities were pedestrians
elderly adult pedestrian deaths and injuries are double over represented
pedestrian fatality rate for males is more than twice that of females
pedestrian deaths rates are higher in rural areas than urban areas
most injured pedestrians succeed in personal injury compensation claims
The author of the substantive medical writing on this website is Dr. Christine Traxler MD whose biography can be read here