Death of pedestrian in Southern California Cities raises issues of safety of cross walks.
It seems that pedestrian accident are on the rise. Just this week I have read about two fatal pedestrian accidents in the city of Thousand Oaks and Glendale near Los Angeles. In each case a vehicle struck the pedestrian as they crossed in a marked crosswalk. These are very sad tragic stories. In Glendale an 11 year old student was killed as she walked to school, while in Thousand Oaks a middle aged women was killed while walking from the Janns mall to her car.
Crossing the street can be lethal. The National Highway Transportation and Safety Association reports that In 2007 there was 4654 pedestrian killed by cars or trucks in the United States. Over 73 % of these fatal accident occurred in urban areas such as Los Angeles.
In each case, from a legal prospective an attorney must carefully examine each facts with careful attention to not only the accident but also the surroundings and how the configuration of the streets and crosswalks may have contributed to the accident. Obviously the driver of these accidents bear great responsibility - but with losses so deep it is improtant to examine and evaluate all of the reasons and causes of these events. The entity that owned the location must be determined, is it the city, the mall, the school district etc ... . In each case there may be unique rules that govern the timing of claims the liability and responsibility.
Government Code Section 835 provides the law which allows you to sue a government entity for dangerous conditions of the public property. This would include streets, sidewalks and crosswalks that are owned and maintained by the Government. These laws are very sensitive and a lawyer must be familiar with all of the ins and outs of these laws and immunities.
Losing a family member in any type of accident is a devastating tragedy. What makes some of these events even more tragic and devastating is that they could have easily been avoided by a careful driver or diligent city planning. In some cases a City will go for years ignoring known dangers in the hopes that they can avoid responsibility.
Contact The Halpern Law Firm if you or loved one has been injured or killed in a senseless accident. Let us offer you free consultation so that we can provide professional evaluation of your case.
