Pedestrian crosswalks exist to provide a safe space for walkers to cross the road. Both state laws in Colorado and municipal laws in Denver protect the right to a safe crossing in these walkways. Unfortunately, sometimes drivers behave carelessly, entering crosswalks and causing harm. If this happens to you, you have legal rights.
Dulin McQuinn Young has a long track record of representing accident victims, and our pedestrian accident lawyers will fight for you if you were hurt or a loved one was killed in a crosswalk accident. Give us a call at (303) 246-1111 or read on to learn more about how the law protects you if a driver strikes you while you are in a pedestrian crosswalk.
Victims Have Rights in Pedestrian Crosswalk Accidents
Colorado Revised Statutes code section 42-4-802 establishes the rules for pedestrian right-of-ways in a crosswalk, stating that:
“When traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.”
Some responsibility is still placed on pedestrians by this law, as pedestrians are prohibited from walking in the path of a moving vehicle that is very close to them or from entering a road to cross while a flashing “Don’t Walk” signal is displayed.
In general, however, drivers have a clear obligation to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks under state law. Denver’s municipal code also guarantees pedestrians the right-of-way in crosswalks in Municipal Code Section 54-538. If drivers fail to follow this rule, pedestrians or their families can pursue an auto accident claim and recover compensation for personal injury or wrongful death.
Holding a Driver Accountable for a Crosswalk Accident
Drivers who harm pedestrians while in a crosswalk are almost always going to be held accountable for resulting damages because the law requires them to yield to pedestrians to prevent danger. If they had stopped before entering the crosswalk as required, the accident would likely not have occurred.
When a pedestrian is hurt or killed, they can point to the violation of the Colorado and Denver laws on crosswalks to create a presumption that a defendant was negligent and should be held accountable. This can make it easier to prove their claim.
Showing the legal violation should be enough to prove negligence because a violation of a safety rule is classified as negligence per se in the eyes of the law. As explained in Colorado jury instructions 9:14, negligence per se is a legal doctrine that creates a presumption of negligence if a broken safety rule was aimed at preventing “the type of injuries or losses the plaintiff sustained” and “the plaintiff was a member of the group of persons the statute or ordinance was intended to protect.”
Dulin McQuinn Young can help pedestrians hurt in a crash to understand how these rules protect them and can help them to make their case for compensation so they can recover for the damages the crash caused. Give our car accident lawyers a call at (303) 246-1111 to learn more.