In the majority of cities throughout Canada, there are quite a lot of precautions which are put in place in order to protect the people on the street from vehicle accidents. These include specifically designated footpaths, flashing crossing signals, well-lit crosswalks and others. However, throughout the last 10 years, fatalities in Alberta which included pedestrians have managed to sky rocket. The highs are record-breaking and the concern is absolutely major.
When it comes to it, the first concern is obviously directed towards the health of the pedestrian as well as his recovery. This, however, is not the only thing that has to be accounted for. As unfortunate as it may sound, fault needs to get allocated respectively and this needs to be properly reflected in order for the injured pedestrian to receive the necessary chance of proper recovery.
The very first thing to consider is that even though the person who is inside the car is in a far better position in terms of protection compared to the pedestrian, this doesn’t really mean that the driver is at fault. Contesting liability would usually come down to a matter of a few percentages and, as such, the court has to determine the overall amount of percentage of the blame for the accident and whether it lies within the driver or not. However, these pedestrians are protected under Section 193 (1) in the Highway Traffic act and this section in particular introduces a hypothesis known as “reverse onus”.
With this said, when damage or injuries are byproduct of the accident due to a vehicle accident, the onus of the proof that the damages didn’t come from the accident are burdening the driver himself. In other words, the pedestrian does not need to establish fault – it is presumed. The driver has to show that he was not at fault or that the claimed damages couldn’t have derived from said accident. This is something quite important and you ought to keep it in mind.
Having this in mind, it is also important to understand that every case which involves a pedestrian could be quite challenging. This is something that should be accounted for. The most critical thing that you ought to do after you have found yourself in a situation of the kind is to go ahead and contact a personal injury lawyer. He would be able to provide you with the necessary legal assistance and will make sure that your case is handled as per the legal requisites. This is something important and it is going to deliver the maximum amount of compensation that you are legally entitled to. This would allow you to get the proper recovery.