Car Accident Kills Pedestrian
Rafael E. Lopez, 25, was struck and killed by a car accident in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The accident happened at approximately 8:15 p.m. while he was walking on the 2100 block of State Road 44. No other details about the accident have been released.
My comment on this accident is little different from others where more information about the accident itself is released. People have a duty to share the roadway. It matters less who is wrong or right as it matters more who had the last opportunity to prevent the accident. Pedestrians jaywalk all the time and enter the roadway for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are legitimate, such as if there is no room for a pedestrian to walk on a narrow shoulder and not impede the flow of traffic, while there are also reaons that are not. Nonetheless, it is the driver of a motor vehicle, a dangerous instrumentality, who usually has the best opportunity to avoid injury to the other person. An extreme example of this is when a protestor lays down in front of a tank. The protestor does not have the right to block the tank, but if the tank dares to move forward and run over the protestor, then it most certainly means death for the protestor. The tank driver clearly has the opportunity to avoid the death regardless of how inconvenient and regardless of how trivial the protestor's cause. I do recognize that there are situations where pedestrians actively run out into the roadway and that there is nothing that a reasonable and prudent driver can do to prevent it. The objective facts of the case will shed a lot of light on whether there is liability.
If you suffered an injury in a car accident or lost a loved one in a car accident in the greater Central Florida area, please seek legal counsel for a determination of liability. A consultation with a Central Florida car accident lawyer is generally free. I will make home or hospital visits are no charge upon request.
