Analysis Group: Pedestrian Dashes Under Car, Driver Held Liable
A video shows a person running across a crosswalk against the traffic light before being hit.
Today in «Analysis Group,» we look at the eternal conflict between pedestrian and driver rights using the example of a crash at a crosswalk. A person tried to run across the road on a zebra crossing but on a red light, and was ultimately hit and killed. Financially, the driver (car owner) will have to answer for this, regardless of fault. Because there is such a law: if you own a source of increased danger, you pay compensation in any case.
A city street with four lanes, a pedestrian crossing with a traffic light. It can be seen that for cars, the light is green (upper right corner of the picture), and for pedestrians, it’s red (upper left corner). The traffic flow is quite busy, yet a person with bags tries to run across the road. He managed to cross several lanes, but on the last one, he is hit by a car — watch the video.
A recording of the incident depicts heavy traffic and a pedestrian’s attempt to cross illegally.
Possibly, the driver of the sedan in the right lane didn’t notice the pedestrian because of the crossover in the adjacent left lane. Possibly, the crossover slowed down a bit to let the person pass, and he tried to quickly run the remaining distance. In general, the pedestrian’s fault is quite obvious, but the car owner will probably have to pay compensation in any case.
«It appears that the pedestrian is crossing on a red light,» says Denis Sadovsky, a lawyer from the company “Inyurkon.” «In any case, in such cases, a forensic automotive technical examination is conducted, which should answer whether the driver had the technical possibility to avoid the collision. As I see it, looking at this video, the driver did not have such an opportunity, but in any case, the investigation will rely on the examination results.»
«The pedestrian violated the rules, but in our case, the driver is the owner of a source of increased danger, which means he will have to pay,» believes Oksana Kositskaya, head of the emergency commissioners service “Alliance.” «The court will make the decision here. But the driver should urgently go to the relatives, talk, negotiate, come to some common denominator.»
Civil Code of the Russian Federation Article 1079. Liability for harm caused by activities creating increased danger to others. Legal entities and citizens whose activities are associated with increased danger to others (use of vehicles, mechanisms, high-voltage electrical energy, atomic energy, explosives, potent poisons, etc.; carrying out construction and other related activities, etc.) are obliged to compensate for harm caused by a source of increased danger, unless they prove that the harm arose due to force majeure or the intent of the victim.
Only insurance can save the car owner from such a financial payment — comprehensive or extended civil liability policy. Courts, as experts say, in most cases in practice recover such compensations from drivers in accidents, even if the car owners are not at fault.
Read more, how a Lexus at high speed hit a passenger from another car and why it’s dangerous to exit a car without looking.
