Distracted Pedestrian Accidents: Can You Recover Compensation?
You are walking to class, heading home from work, or meeting friends when your phone buzzes. You glance down to answer a text, change a song, check directions, or respond to a notification. A few seconds later, you are crossing the street without giving the traffic around you your full attention. Phones are part of everyday life, particularly for teens, college students, and young adults. But when a distracted pedestrian is struck by a vehicle, an important legal question may arise: Can you still recover compensation if you were looking at your phone? The answer depends heavily on where the accident occurred and exactly what happened. Today’s Malloy Law blog post will cover distracted pedestrian accidents.
Drivers Still Have a Responsibility to Watch for Pedestrians
A pedestrian looking at a phone does not automatically make the driver blameless.
Drivers have a responsibility to operate their vehicles with reasonable care. Depending on the circumstances, negligence could include speeding, running a red light, failing to yield when required, driving while distracted, or failing to keep an adequate lookout for pedestrians.
For example, imagine someone enters a crosswalk while briefly looking at a text message. At the same time, a driver makes a turn without properly checking the crosswalk and strikes the pedestrian.
The fact that the pedestrian was distracted may become relevant, but investigators still need to examine the driver’s actions.
Your Phone Can Become Part of the Case
After serious distracted pedestrian accidents, seemingly small details can matter.
An insurance company may investigate whether the injured pedestrian was texting, scrolling through TikTok or Instagram, watching a video, changing music, or otherwise interacting with a phone immediately before the collision.
Witness statements, surveillance footage, traffic cameras, and other evidence could also help establish whether the pedestrian was paying attention.
This is one reason you should avoid posting about an accident on social media while a claim is pending. A post, video, caption, or comment that seems harmless could potentially be taken out of context later.
Contributory Negligence Can Have Major Consequences
Distracted walking becomes particularly important in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., because these jurisdictions generally follow a legal doctrine known as contributory negligence.
Under contributory negligence, an injured person’s own negligence can potentially prevent them from recovering damages if that negligence contributed to the accident.
That makes pedestrian distraction much more than a minor detail.
An insurance company could argue that a pedestrian failed to exercise reasonable care by staring at a phone, entering the roadway without looking, crossing against a signal, or stepping outside a designated crossing area.
However, simply establishing that someone was holding or looking at a phone does not necessarily answer the entire question. The key issue is whether the pedestrian’s behavior actually contributed to causing the collision.
What If You Were in a Crosswalk?
Being inside a marked crosswalk can be important, but pedestrians should not assume that a crosswalk makes them immune from questions about their own behavior.
Drivers may have legal obligations to yield under particular circumstances, but pedestrians also have responsibilities when entering and crossing roadways.
For example, liability questions may become more complicated if someone enters a crosswalk while looking down and fails to notice an approaching vehicle. On the other hand, a driver who was speeding, distracted, or failed to yield may have had an opportunity to avoid the collision.
Distracted pedestrian accident cases often depend on the specific sequence of events rather than one isolated fact.
Put the Phone Away Before You Step Into the Street
The easiest way to reduce this particular risk is simple: finish using your phone before crossing.
Before stepping into a roadway:
- Look up and scan traffic in both directions.
- Follow pedestrian signals.
- Avoid watching videos or scrolling social media while walking through an intersection.
- Pause your conversation if a phone call is distracting you.
- Keep headphone volume low enough to remain aware of traffic.
- Never assume a turning driver has seen you.
- Make eye contact with drivers when possible before crossing.
If you need directions, check the route before entering the roadway and look up while crossing.
A message can wait a few seconds. Traffic will not.
What Should You Do After a Pedestrian Accident?
If you are struck by a vehicle, seek medical attention as soon as possible. Pedestrians have little physical protection during a collision, and injuries involving the head, spine, or internal organs may be more serious than they initially appear.
When possible, preserve photographs, witness contact information, police reports, medical documentation, and information about the vehicle involved.
Most importantly, do not automatically assume that you have no case because you were looking at your phone. In a contributory negligence jurisdiction, the details matter, and determining whether a pedestrian’s actions legally contributed to a crash can require a careful examination of the evidence.
Injured as a Pedestrian? Contact Malloy Law Offices
Pedestrian accidents can leave victims facing serious injuries, medical expenses, missed work or school, and difficult questions about liability. When allegations of distracted walking are involved, determining your legal rights can become even more complicated.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, contact Malloy Law Offices today for a free consultation. Our experienced personal injury attorneys represent clients throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Our dedicated team can review the circumstances surrounding your accident, explain how contributory negligence may affect your case, and help you understand the options available under the law.