Category: Personal Injury FAQ’s

Sadly, all across the province of Ontario pedestrian accidents are quite common. Whether it’s a motorcyclist or a driver that’s going to be cause the accident, or the pedestrian himself, the unfortunate truth is that these accidents tend to happen a lot more often than they should In any case, they occur on roadways, crosswalks as well as intersections and parking lots – basically almost everywhere. The frequency of these accidents increases dramatically as the weather conditions get worse or the lighting on the street fails. In any case, this is something that has to be taken under the most serious consideration as pedestrian accidents almost always result in terrible orthopedic injuries and in some instances even in death.

The Duty of Care Owed to Pedestrians

Motorists and other drivers owe a duty of care to the pedestrians on the streets. This is due to the fact that the traffic is regulated by the provisions which are dully set forth within the Highway Traffic Act of the province of Ontario and there is a thorough and reverse onus for these sorts of pedestrian accidents. This basically means that if a pedestrian accident occurs, the law is automatically assuming that the driver or the motorist was at fault. As you can imagine, this makes it a whole lot easier for pedestrians to make their claims, even though it’s not as easy as you might want it to be. This is due to the fact that there is a lot of paperwork to be filled out and a lot of documents to be drafted and filed within the appropriate authorities. If you want to take the matter to the court, you’d have to file a compensatory claim and its best if you go ahead and get a consultation with a pedestrian accident lawyer in the province of Ontario. They are experts with pedestrian and public transport accidents and will be able to help you with any case that comes under tort laws.

The Complexity of the claim

The truth is that the complexity of the claim comes from the Insurance act and the Rules of Fault Determination, respectively the No Fault rule set forth in the province of Ontario. The latter stipulates that the insurance company is going to take care of the damages done by the insured regardless of the fact that he’s at fault or not. This means that your monetary damages are going to be compensated by the insurance company of the one who caused the accident – the motorist or the driver. However, if you want to pursue them to the fullest extent, you’d have to file a civil lawsuit and take the compensation that you’ve already received out of the equation as you won’t get money in excess to what you are entitled to. This might lead to a lot of confusion and potential complications.

The truth is that pedestrian accidents are particularly dangerous and potentially devastating. This is why you need to make sure that you are incredibly careful when you go ahead and cross the street and make sure that you are always on the zebra crossing. However, it’s not uncommon for pedestrians to fail in accounting for this requirement.

Highway Traffic Act

Jaywalking is a term which describes the instance in which a pedestrian is going to cross a street at a place which hasn’t been marked by a crosswalk. He can also be crossing against a signal at a particular intersection and that’s when terrible things to happen. So, a question is brought to light which is particularly important – what’s going to happen if certain pedestrian is involved in an accident while jaywalking. There are quite a few different sections in the Highway Traffic Act which define the right of pedestrians to enter a crosswalk or to cross certain streets between different intersections. So, with this in mind, it is possible for the pedestrian to be crossing illegally.

However, there are quite a few different things that have to be taken into consideration if an accident takes place and a jaywalking pedestrian has been hit and damaged. The first thing that you need to know is the law usually dictates that if you are crossing a street outside of a crosswalk or intersection, you need to yield the right of passage to the driver. However, it also says that the driver needs to exercise necessary oversight and vigilance in order to prevent pedestrian accidents. So, basically, it seems like both of the involved parties are responsible. That’s not necessarily true, even though in certain situation it is the common practice.

You need to make sure that the driver hasn’t followed his end of the bargain in order to indulge the institute of contributory negligence. The more inconsiderate the behavior of the drive – the more money you can get out of the compensation offer. However, if the driver of the car that was involved in the accident was doing everything by the book, you can only engage the responsibility of your insurance provider to offer you the necessary compensation.

Pedestrian accidents are devastating and tremendously challenging. However, the truth is that it’s not always the driver’s fault and that needs to be taken into account. The pedestrians also bear a lot of responsibility to be considerate and responsible in their attempts to cross the street in order to prevent collisions and devastating consequences. In any case, in the majority of the situations the driver is likely to be faulty because of failing to abide by the speeding limit.

It is important that you discuss your eligibility and the amount of compensation that you can get with the personal injury lawyer. They will be able to judge the merits of the case and help you with the compensation.

The truth is that pedestrian accidents are particularly delicate when it comes to it. We are so used to the drivers being at fault that we rarely think about the pedestrian as the one who was actually responsible for the accident in the first place. However, this is a real possibility and there are quite a few things which need to be taken in consideration.

In theory, it is absolutely possible for the pedestrian to be the one who’s at fault and for the driver to actually claim compensation for the damages which were incurred by his vehicle. It may sound absurd but it is a real and quite possible hypothesis. Let’s take a look at the situations in which the pedestrian is going to be liable.

·         Jaywalking or when you cross in the middle of the street without a crosswalk

·         Crossing against the signals of the traffic – for instance, if there is a red light for pedestrians and you go ahead and cross anyways

·         Entering a highway, which is completely forbidden for pedestrians

·         Entering a street while under the effects of drugs or alcohol

If any of the above is present, the pedestrian might be found guilty and he might be the one who is responsible for the compensation. What is more, he would be able to recover any kind of money for the damages that he’d had to incur as a result of the accident.

Know the reality

Of course, all of these are just on theory. In reality, the situation is much more complicated and it’s always impossible for the driver to get away with no liability what so ever. Even if any of the above is present, if the driver has also breached legislation in some way, he will share the responsibility with the pedestrian. For instance, the pedestrian might have been intoxicated and drugged and he might have crossed during the night on a street outside of town. Obviously, there are a lot of breaches on his behalf. However, if you were driving at a speed which wasn’t allowed either by signs or by the weather conditions, you would share the responsibility.

It’s important to note that accidents of the kind are very likely to result in casualties and fatalities. As unfortunate as this can be, the majority of the pedestrian accidents which happen outside of the city are going to result in death because of the higher speed and the severity of the impact. This is what could trigger a wrongful death claim or a criminal case in certain situations, for instance, when the driver has been highly intoxicated. With this in mind, the necessity of a professional lawyer is definitely considerable. With many experienced lawyers practicing in Cambridge and Hamilton apart from others in Ontario province, finding the lawyer isn’t difficult. You can search online and schedule an appointment for the first free consultation that most of the lawyers offer or get references from friends.

Personal injury law encompasses quite a lot of different fields. Unfortunately, some of the accidents are going to be fatal. These are without a doubt the hardest cases to be dealt with and the ones which cause the most damage to the family and relatives. As hard as these types of personal injury cases can be, it’s important to set some things straight. There aren’t a lot of expenses that are claimable in a case of the kind but it’s also worth noting that these cases tend to get the highest compensations. It may sound a bit strange right now, but by the end of the article, you will quickly get it. Thus, without any further ado, let’s take a look at the damages that you can file for with the rights given to you by the Family Act of Ontario.

1.    Loss of guidance, care, companionship and loss of income

This is why wrongful death cases are the highest paying ones. The amount of money which is awarded for these damages is significantly larger than all others. What is more, juries and judges are usually very inclined to rule on high amounts because of the severity of the case. Keep in mind that a wrongful death case involves a death being cause by the negligent behavior or a third party.

2.    Medical care

If the death was not instant and it followed injuries, the deceased might have undergone extensive medical care. This means that he incurred losses throughout that time. Now that he’s deceased, the inheritors and his successors can claim those damages. The assumption is that they were made on behalf of the household and as such, they have to be recovered. Hospital bills will need to be cleared and if there are other medical expenses and those need to be taken care of as well.

3.    Funeral costs

A lot of people tend to believe that funerals are not as expensive. Unfortunately, this is not true. The average funeral in Ontario can cost you up to $12,000. This is a significant amount of money for a household which has just lost a beloved family member and one who has been providing. With this in mind, the expenses have to be recovered. Keep in mind, though, that the provision specifically mentions reasonable expenses as the type of funeral that you choose might cost you hundreds of thousands.

In any case, the solutions which are regulated and provided for are rather fair. There are not a lot of expenses which are subjected to compensation but the ones who are will certainly guarantee a significant recovery of the household. What is more, they could be recurring. The example in this regard is with the damages for loss of income in the event in which the deceased was a providing member of the family. If there is a lawyer in your corner, it helps to get the desired compensation faster.

One of the things that have to be taken into thorough consideration when discussing the fees of an attorney would be the way they are calculated. The field of personal injury law is rather specific and this has to be accounted for. With this being said, the regular attorney practicing in this particular field is going to be working under the so called contingency fee. This means that you, as a client, don’t pay a dime unless the case is settled in a favorable for you manner or is won in court. This means that the lawyer is going to undertake all of the risk which is associated with losing the case in return to an average of between 33% and 40% of the winning compensation. This is regularly pretty favorable for the attorney but there is still room for negotiating, contrary to what you might believe. Let’s see how you may get that chunk reduced.

You’ve done some of the work

The terms under which you can file your claim are rather extensive and with this in mind, it’s quite possible that some significant amount of time might have passed after the accident. During this time you may have gathered all of the necessary documents that are pertaining to a case and present them to the attorney for revision and appraisal. This is going to save him a considerable amount of work and you can use this as grounds for your negotiations.

The event of a settlement

The majority of personal injury cases are settled long before they even reach the courtroom. This is done through out of the court negotiations and a legal settlement which has the same binding and enforceable weight as a verdict. With this in mind, you can agree on a lesser amount of money if a favorable for you settlement has been reached. This is mainly due to the fact that the attorney wouldn’t have to spend more time on the settlement and that the work is also substantially less. However, you will need to ensure that the lawyer is on the same page about these aspects.

Establish limits

This is another technique that you could go for. For instance, you could establish financial boundaries that are going to determine the amount of the lawyer fee. Say, the compensation ranges between $5,000 and $10,000 – the attorney gets 25%. If it’s between $10,000 and $15,000 – he gets 30% and so on and so forth. This is a reasonable negotiating tool as it’s going to be fair for you and for the lawyer as it’s going to provide him with an incentive to pursuit higher compensations and he’s supposedly going to do a better job. As you can see, there are quite a few things that you could do in order to negotiate a reduced fee. It is good that you discuss all aspects of the legal fee before beginning the negotiations with the defendant.