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| Road Traffic Accidents --- Pedestrian Death |
| Introduction |
Road safety is very important. All travelers must follow certain safety rules and take necessary precautions. Law helps those who were wrongfully injured during a road accident. If you think that the deceased was wrongfully injured in an accident while walking as a pedestrian, you will be able to recover compensation for his/her injury and other losses from the driver of the car responsible for the accident
Normally, you must draft a claim as soon as possible after the accident. However in late cases you may need to consult an attorney who will guide you through the course of action.You should also chronicle various things. The details of accident, the witnesses, their contact information and any thing that will help you get a fair compensation..
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| The Law Says, |
Pedestrians are required to follow certain traffic and signal rules and comply with the Green cross code. It is a case of negligence if either you or the driver failed to abide by the law.
The law sets out customary procedures which all drivers and road users (including cyclists, pedestrians) are required to follow. If either of the vehicle drivers fails to abide with the law, then it is a clear case negligence. The Court looks carefully for the circumstances of the accident before deciding on who is/was at “negligence”.
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- Not following traffic signs or signals.
- Forgetting to signal while turning.
- Driving above or below the posted speed limit.
- Disregarding weather or traffic conditions.
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The court further looks at the direction in which the deceased was walking, the weather and road conditions and precautions which he and the driver could have taken to avoid the accident.
There could be other things that the court looks at, firstly it may look whether there was a defect in the car which may have caused the accident, and it may look at malfunctioning of the signal and many such things. So it is advisable to approach an attorney who has in-depth knowledge about the little things that you may miss or not know. |
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You should be falling under following categories of people to make a claim on the behalf of the deceased in the court of law. You should also fulfill certain criterion before proceeding for the claim
The categories of people that you can fall under are:
(i) You are the personal representative of The person who died.
(ii) You being wife/husband (spouse) or a former wife/husband of the deceased.
(iii)You are the Person who was living as husband or wife with the deceased (But you should have been living with him/her for a period of 2 years before she/he died).
(iv) You were either the parent or the grandparent of the person who died or even if you were treated as his/her parent.
(v) You are the child of the person who died (you can be an adopted child), or grandchild or even great-grandson/daughter , or a child of a spouse of the deceased whom the deceased treated as his/her child.
(vi) You can also claim if you were a brother, half-brother or step-brother, sister, half-sister or step-sister, uncle/aunty.
(vii) The cost or value of care you had to have and will need in the future because of your injury.
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Further, to make a claim you must be able to prove that the driver of the vehicle was responsible for the accident and that his negligence is the cause for the deceased’s injuries or death. If you can prove this, you will be able to recover compensation for:
(i) The deceased’s pain and suffering.
(ii) The deceased’s loss of earnings until death.
(iii) Funeral expenses.
(iv) Care services provided to the deceased because of the injury.
(v) Certain financial loss you suffered as a result of the deceased’s death (e.g. loss of his/her future wages, pension etc).
(vi) Bereavement (provided you fall within certain categories).
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| You may be able to claim interest on your compensation. But, your compensation may be reduced if the deceased was partly responsible for his/her injuries, or did not obey the Green Cross Code. |
| You can claim interest on your compensation. However, if the person who died was partly responsible for his/her injuries, that is s/he did not take sufficient care for his/her own safety (e.g. The deceased did not follow the green cross code) or failed to comply with any obligations put by the law then your compensation could be reduced.
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