As with automobile collision cases, a pedestrian, in order to succeed in receiving a settlement or receiving compensation,\u00a0must be able to produce evidence\u00a0establishing negligence on the part of the vehicle operator.\u00a0\u00a0 Was the driver of the car speeding, not keeping a proper lookout, failing to yield to a pedestrian at a cross walk, failing to stay within a marked lane, or some other form of negligence?\u00a0\u00a0 Often this evidence comes in the form of\u00a0eye witness testimony, skid marks, or accident debris.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When there is a lack of evidence, sometimes it is the word of the pedestrian versus the word of the driver.\u00a0\u00a0 And, in some cases, the driver will admit fault from the get go.<\/p>\n
Once fault\u00a0(commonly referred to as\u00a0liability)\u00a0has been established, then there must be evidence to\u00a0determine the extent of the damages, including medical expenses, property damage, (if any), wage loss, and pain and suffering.\u00a0 Ideally, this evidence can be submitted to the car insurance company and a reasonable settlement can be negotiated.\u00a0\u00a0 However, if the settlement offer is not acceptable, then the pedestrian would have only one other option; to file a lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle and go to court.\u00a0\u00a0 The evidence and testimony would be presented to the jury and the jury would make a determination regarding\u00a0liability and damages.\u00a0The car’s insurance company would then be responsible to pay the jury verdict amount up to a maximum of the amount of car insurance limits purchased.\u00a0 This is all very similar to cases involving car accidents between vehicles.\u00a0 There are, however,\u00a0a few things that all victims of a pedestrian accident should know.<\/p>\n
Who pays your\u00a0medical expenses\u00a0if you are a victim in a pedestrian versus automobile accident?\u00a0 The answer to this question is often surprising to most Oregonians.\u00a0\u00a0Oregon law dictates the\u00a0following\u00a0priority of potential payers of medical expenses for injured pedestrians:\u00a0\u00a0The primary payer of medical expenses for the injured pedestrian is the pedestrian’s own automobile insurance\u00a0company under the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits.\u00a0\u00a0 Although the pedestrian’s car is not in any way involved in the accident,\u00a0Oregon law dictates\u00a0that the pedestrian’s own automobile insurance company is supposed to be the primary payer of medical expenses.\u00a0 Intrigued?\u00a0 This discussion and further explanation of the PIP benefits available in pedestrian claims continues on our next blog\u2026stay tuned!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As with automobile collision cases, a pedestrian, in order to succeed in receiving a settlement or receiving compensation,\u00a0must be able to produce evidence\u00a0establishing negligence on the part of the vehicle operator.\u00a0\u00a0 Was the driver of the car speeding, not keeping a proper lookout, failing to yield to a pedestrian at a cross walk, failing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12,23,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accident","category-auto","category-injury","category-personal-injury"],"yoast_head":"\n