Washington Injury Law Blog

As a Kirkland pedestrian accident attorney I have clients who were seriously injured in a unmarked crosswalk. A couple nights ago a wheelchair bound 58 year old man, David R. Hayes,  was hit by a car and killed while crossing Highway 99 in an unmarked crosswalk. Serious injury and death are common results of car v. pedestrian accidents.

Mr. Hayes was crossing Highway 99 at its intersection with Gibson Road at 10:00 p.m. It is not known if the intersection was well lighted or not. Regardless, vehicles are required to yield to pedestrians in unmarked crosswalk just like marked crosswalks. That doesn’t mean pedestrians can just walkout into the street at anytime regardless of the traffic. Pedestrians must also exercise good judgment and wait until it is clear enough for them to cross the street while giving approaching vehicles reasonable opportunity to see them and stop if necessary. Pedestrian who jump into the crosswalk unexpectedly or suddenly can be at fault for an accident.

I had a client who was a 10 year old boy who was hit by a van while attempting to cross the street in an unmarked crosswalk. The van driver failed to stop completely and remained stopped for the boy.  The boy was hit by the van and suffered a horrible fracture to his ankle. The van’s insurance company paid $190,000 to settle the boy’s injury claim. Not all cases have this kind of result, but you can see the liability exposure a car driver can face.

If you believe that it is not a crosswalk unless it is marked. You are absolutely wrong! If there is an intersection of two streets, then there are crosswalks present regardless of markings. So if someone is attempting to cross at such an intersection they are given the same rights and protections as if in a marked crosswalk.

Drive safe and watch for pedestrians!

Max Meyers, Esq.

Source: Seattle PI, 02/02/09 in Northwest Briefs