Legal Question in Personal Injury in Maryland
Pedestrian walking on road, walking with traffice, hit by truck.
My 40 year old brother was truck by a truck walking home late at night. He had gotten pulled over earlier in the night for a traffic violation. The police found he was driving on a suspensed license. Instead of arresting him they let him walk home. While walking home he was struck by a pickup truck. My brother was walking with the flow of traffic instead of walking against traffic. I am told that my brother was walking on the wrong side of the road. He was flown to shock trauma. And release two days later but he has to have several operations yet and about a year of recovery. I am told that the 17 year old boy that hit him can not be help responsible since my brother was walking on the wrong side of the road. The boys insurance company is refusing to pay for any medical bills since the boy was not issued any tickets.
I thought that a pedestrian ALWAYS had the right away. And anytime you a driver hit a pedestrian with your vehicle you were at fault.
What rights if any does my brother have? What does the law say about this?
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Pedestrian walking on road, walking with traffice, hit by truck.
Unlike most states, contributory negligence is recognized in Maryland. This means that if your brother is deemed to be even 1% negligent he will lose his case and the driver will not be held responsible. Maryland law requires a pedestrian to either use the sidewalk or, if there is no sidewalk, to walk facing traffic. Therefore, a jury could find your brother violated the Maryland statute and is contributorily negligent.
Re: Pedestrian walking on road, walking with traffice, hit by truck.
I ordinarily correct mistatements by other attorneys by simply stating my position but in this case the other attorney who has replied is wrong.
Maryland employs a test called the doctrine of reciprocal rights. A pedestrian who walks on the right shoulder, or such that his back was toward oncoming traffic, is NOT necessarily negligent. Of course, if the pedestrian is contributorily negligent then there is no recovery in Maryland.
Determining contributory negligence of a pedestrian is a case specific matter that should be discussed with an attorney.
Re: Pedestrian walking on road.
With the seriousness of this case, your brother should pursue this matter. Based on what you have said, the driver that struck your brother is responsible. You should contact a lawyer, like myself, to pursue this action.
Re: Pedestrian walking on road, walking with traffice, hit by truck.
I am sorry about what you and your family are going through. I believe this case is worthwhile investigating and pursuing. I have taken and settled serious pedestrian cases with questionable liability. Pedestrian cases are subject to a rich and detailed set of laws and precedents that I have experience dealing with. With the refined and detailed research that I was able to do, we were able to obtain settlements. Now no prior result is going to guaranteed future results in a different case. Each case must be looked at uniquely because no two cases are the same. Sometimes police officers are mistaken in their legal analysis. That is precisely why people who are seriously injured and wish to recover fair compensation, need a good lawyer. I would be happy to look into this and help. Look me up and schedule a meeting to go through everything. I wish you the best. A.P. Pishevar, Esq.
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