Did a car crash into you while you were walking at night? You may still have a case. The driver may claim low visibility made the crash unavoidable, but darkness does not erase a driver’s duty to watch for pedestrians and use reasonable care. Drivers need to account for low visibility and do their part to keep you safe. Still, insurers will try to place the blame on you to justify reducing your payout. Working with a Sharpstown pedestrian injury attorney soon after your injury can help protect you from the insurance company’s strategies to deny or reduce your claim.
Ryan Nguyen is a seasoned pedestrian injury attorney who is prepared to fight for the maximum compensation available.
What Makes Nighttime Pedestrian Accidents Different
Driving at night in lower visibility makes it harder to see conditions clearly. That means drivers often have less time to react when they finally see you, especially if they’re speeding or not paying attention.
Texas Transportation Code § 552.008 requires vehicle operators to exercise due care to avoid colliding with pedestrians. That duty does not disappear just because it was dark or because the pedestrian was outside a crosswalk. Under Texas Transportation Code § 547.302, drivers must also use required vehicle lights at nighttime and when conditions make a person or vehicle on the highway not clearly discernible from 1,000 feet ahead.
Still, if insurers manage to place enough fault on you, you might see less compensation. Texas operates under a modified comparative fault system. The more responsibility they can pin on you, the more they may try to reduce your compensation. If they convince a jury that you were more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing. That is why they push hard to inflate your share of blame, even when their driver made serious mistakes.
Insurers may argue that you’re more responsible because you wore dark clothing in a poorly lit area. Or they may say you crossed outside of the crosswalk. To combat insurers’ attempts to place blame, you should take key steps right after a crash to generate a record of what really took place.
Hit While Walking at Night? Do This Now!
As soon as you’re hurt on foot, take prompt action to keep yourself safe and create a foundation for a personal injury case.
Call 911: When first responders arrive at the scene, they’ll create a formal report of the accident. Without this record, insurers have room to say that the crash didn’t actually happen the way you say it did.
Seek and follow medical attention: This helps ensure that you generate medical documentation. Doing this sooner rather than later makes it easier to link your injuries to the accident. If you wait days to see the doctor, insurers can argue your injuries came from something other than the crash.
Call a Sharpstown pedestrian injury attorney: Reach out to an experienced local attorney who will advocate for you in the context of local laws. A lawyer can also push to find local camera footage while it’s still available.
Ryan Nguyen is proud to represent Sharpstown pedestrians who were injured by other drivers’ negligence. As a native Houstonian, he knows how dangerous crosswalks and even sidewalks can be for folks walking at night. Ryan will help leverage the details of your case to prove that the driver should have seen you and is responsible for your injuries.
Speak to a Sharpstown Pedestrian Injury Attorney for FREE
If you were hurt while walking because of someone else’s negligence, don’t let the fact that it happened at night stop you from fighting for what you deserve. Take prompt action by documenting the scene and contacting an attorney that you can count on: Ryan Nguyen.
Ryan’s team serves clients who primarily speak Spanish and Vietnamese. His passion is representing all of Sharpstown. He earned his nickname, The Falcon, for his relentless fighting spirit and fierce advocacy for his clients.
We don’t discriminate! Hablamos español. Chúng tôi nói tiếng Việt.
Speak directly with The Falcon during a free consultation today.
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