Traffic must always yeild to pedestrians when it is safe to do so.
With that being said, if someone jumps off the sidewalk in front of you or jaywalks through an intersection, the driver would most likely not be found to blame.
If this guy was on foot, then I now understand the OP's comment about avoiding court times and costs.

That sucks...

 

ROFLMAO.... I'm sorry, but that's funny!

 

I guess my translation wasn't clear enough.



tg

 

yes he was on foot, stupid teenager crossing when the light is not in his favour... in HEAVY traffic, where I could not have possibly seen him. of coz they couldnt find me at fault but theres no point pursuing a claim aganist he looks like a loser with probably loser parents too... so no point

 

well this is the late 00's and pedestrians always, and i repeat, ALWAYS have the right of way...when i drive on campus i get irritated by the students crossing in non-unison and very randomly also jumping out into the street, jaywalking, etc...but at the same time, pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way.

i remember when i used to attend UGA, i was waiting at the bus stop and I saw this guy on a bicycle RUN into a pedestrian on foot...the guy on the bicycle had the fu$king nerve to actually get pissed at the pedestrian. Is this guy a ****ing moron or a ****ing moron? He is on a stationary vehicle, he has more control over what he does than the guy walking...

your situation is different since the kid supposedly ran into your car...but i guess we are listening to your story...point is, pedestrians have the right of way regardless of who ran into who...sorry about your car though

 

I'll respectfully disagree. There are no absolutes regarding pedestrian rights, no absolutes in anything for that matter. I agree that motor vehicles should yield to pedestrians when possible. However pedestrians also have some responsibility, and there are cases every day in pedestrian/vehicle accidents where the pedestrian is found at fault. Just like my case, kid was crossing on a crosswalk against a no walk signal, ran across in front of a bus out of my field of vision, and I nailed him at 20 mph. I felt bad, but what was I going to do about it? He's lucky that he hit the side of my car and not in front. His whole right side of his body was bruised. If the pedestrian always had the right of way, compensation in this matter would have been reversed, and I would have received a ticket.

 

Actually, I've seen otherwise.

My wife worked with a woman who was on her way home from work (it was dark) and as she passed by a restaurant, she struck and killed an elderly couple. Horrible story and she was absolutely a mess after this happened.

The fact is that it was dark, they were 30-40 ft down the road from the cross walk, the road and the front of the reastaurant were not properly lit and she was found 100% not at fault.
There have been changes made at that location. There is now a set of lights and a cross walk that allow people to cross from the parking lot to the reastaurant in safety, but due to the circumstances, these people did NOT have the right of way and ended up dead for the carelessness of themselves as well as for the lack of safety on the town and reastaurant's part.

 

http://www.peds.org/rightofway.htm

It looks like it varies by state. In Georgia, "when a pedestrian shows an intention to cross the street by stepping off the curb, motorists must stop and stay stopped to allow the pedestrian to cross."

 

Wow, that's a crazy story...that's one thing that scares the crap out of me driving at night...is hitting people...I almost nailed this kid on a skateboard in Athens...found out the next day, there was a kid who died on a skateboard on the same road...

I understand there can be circumstances where the pedestrian gives the driver no choice...but under ideal situations like decent lighting, non-interstate roads, etc...i think the driver should be the first and final defense toward keeping pedestrians safe

 

I know I might sound like a broken record lol, but when I said pedestrians always have the right of way, I didn't mean that they could not be at fault. I whole-heartedly agree the jaywalking teenager was at fault in your situation. I'm glad that he's okay but there is without a doubt that it was his fault..if he would've been killed by the vehicle, it would've also been his fault. I hate it too, but I was just pointing out a mere fact...again, I'm sorry about your car.

 

+1

LOL What a great mental pic, thank you

 

if i can see the bastard i would stop but if hes hidding behind cars and popping out of nowhere too bad if he dies my lawyer will handle it

 

I completely agree.

Like I said in a past post, "Traffic must always yeild to pedestrians when it is safe to do so."
The laws protect us when it's not safe to do so, or when the pedestrian breaks a law which causes the accident.

The mirror is repairable and nobody got seriously hurt, so all is well.
I will say though, if this guy's elbow hurts a little... good. Maybe he'll learn something from all of this.

 

This is starting to sound like that tread where G owner cracked his front bumper by hitting a dog. Another totally black or white opinion piece.

I'm sure if it was the drivers fault he would have been thrown in the slammer after calling the cops.

 

Wasn't me... I hit a coyote!

I remember that dog thread... LOL