Learn the Risks of Distracted Walking and Your Legal Options if You Have been Injured in an Accident in Brick, Howell, Marlboro, Neptune, and surrounding communities.
Distracted walking can most commonly be defined as walking in public without paying immediate attention to where you are walking. This is typically due to a pedestrian paying attention to their cell phone rather than the direction in which they are walking. However distracted walking can result from listening to music, engaging in a visual activity on your phone such as playing a game, or even dialing a phone number and making a phone call. Having a text conversation with someone on a cell phone is the number one cause of distracted walking.
Are There Any Laws for Distracted Walking in New Jersey?
Distracted walking is not illegal in the state of New Jersey; however, it does have dire consequences. However, “jaywalking”, or crossing the street at some point in the road besides a designated crosswalk, may come with consequences in the form of a ticket. Distracted walking can be the cause of car accidents and accidents involving pedestrians and cars.
What are the Risks of Distracted Walking?
When pedestrians fail to pay attention to their surroundings, especially in highly-trafficked areas, many things can go wrong. Pedestrians who do not pay attention can cause accidents without knowing what they are doing. Drivers who swerve out of the way in order to avoid hitting the distracted walker can cause accidents with other drivers, or other pedestrians. It is extremely important to pay attention to where you are walking in the street, and distracted walkers are breaching their duty to be careful, which is owed to everyone around them in a reasonable manner.
What Kinds of Mishaps Can Distracted Walking Cause?
Distracted walking can lead to being struck by a vehicle, or being struck by a truck or bus, but can also lead to the pedestrian walking into a fixed object on the street, such as a building, pole, sign, etc. Furthermore, distracted walkers can slip and fall if they do not pay attention to the conditions of the path they are traveling or will be traveling in their very near future.
If you consider the accidents caused by distracted walkers between automobiles, the list of injuries is virtually endless. Car accidents result in serious injury, damage, and trauma every day, and distracted walking can be found to be the cause of these injuries.
What Kinds of Injuries Can Arise from Distracted Walking?
When not paying attention to where you are going, distracted walkers face severe body trauma if they are hit by a car, truck, bus, etc. They can suffer broken bones, torn ligaments, torn muscles, whiplash, spinal injuries, head trauma, and severe emotional distress. These injuries can, and usually do, have lasting effects on the pedestrian’s quality of life. All of these injuries, however, can be avoided if the distracted walker could have obliged to their duty of taking care while walking.
How to Prevent Distracted Walking Accidents on NJ Roadways
The most common way for distracted walkers to take care when walking is for them to not use their phone when they are walking, or any other gadget that can cause them to be distracted. If they are not using their phones, or any other gadgets, then their heads will not be done and they will be able to see where they are going. However, we all live busy lives and some of us wish there were more hours in the day. Not using your phone on your daily walk to work may not be a possibility. Therefore, utilizing Bluetooth technology, or headphones, may be your best bet in order to avoid the severe and potentially fatal consequences in the form of being hit by a car, or truck. Preventative measures can also be the deciding factor in what is ultimately awarded by the court in a distracted walker case.
How does Distracted Walking Affect Injury Compensation?
If you are injured in a distracted walking situation, the distracted walker can increase or decrease the relief sought by the injured party depending on what the role of the distracted walker is in the case. If you are injured but were walking distractedly, your relief may be decreased since you were not paying attention to what was happening around you. If you are the defendant in a case such as this, a distracted walker may limit the compensation you or your insurance company may have to pay out to the injured, suing party because the injured was distracted when walking.
Seek Help from our Seasoned Personal Injury Lawyers After a Distracted Walking Incident in Monmouth and Ocean County NJ
Retaining an experienced personal injury attorney for your distracted walker case will provide you with peace of mind that you would not be able to feel if you were to represent yourself, or hire an inexperienced attorney. Skilled and time-tested lawyers will handle all communications between you and other parties in your case, including settlement negotiations. Depending on your role in the situation, if you have a distracted walker involved in your case, it is imperative to retain a seasoned attorney when it comes to these kinds of cases, as the challenges are many and it is often an uphill battle to obtain the compensation you deserve. Determining fault, and thus who is deemed negligent by the court, depends upon what your attorney can properly convey to the court.
Our accomplished New Jersey personal injury lawyers understand the unique nuances of injuries and accident claims involving distracted walking and we are primed to help you seek the financial, physical, and psychological monetary award you are truly entitled to. For help and a free case review of your distracted walker accident in Sea Bright, Manalapan, Middletown, Bay Head, Tinton Falls, Monmouth Beach, or elsewhere in Ocean County and Monmouth County, contact us. at 732-825-6120 today to discuss the specifics of your case in an initial consultation.
