Accidents involving pedestrians and cars, trucks, bikes, and other motorized vehicles often result in severe injuries for the person on foot. At Murphy Battista LLP, we help injured pedestrians get the treatment they need and the compensation they deserve. As a pedestrian, you are clearly more vulnerable to injury in the event of a collision, and drivers have a responsibility to take care. However, you also have obligations when it comes to taking steps to avoid road accidents. Often ICBC, on behalf of a driver, will take the position that you contributed to the accident that caused your injuries (aka contributory negligence). If you are found partially to blame for the accident, this can affect the amount of compensation you are entitled to receive.

The BC (Motor Vehicle) Act sets out the responsibilities of both driver and pedestrian when the pedestrian is in a crosswalk. Drivers are supposed to yield the right of way to pedestrians in a crosswalk, but a pedestrian must not step into the path of a vehicle if the vehicle is “so close” that the driver has little or no chance to yield the right of way. In these types of cases, the defendant driver must prove that the pedestrian (plaintiff) was negligent. But what does that mean?

To prove contributory negligence against a pedestrian, a driver has to prove that:

1. taking distance into consideration, the pedestrian (as a reasonable person) should have known from the speed of the approaching vehicle that it was not going to yield;

2. it would have been possible for the pedestrian to avoid being hit; and

3. a reasonable person in the circumstances would have taken evasive action to avoid being hit.

Pedestrians are not required to exercise extreme caution to avoid an accident, they are required to take reasonable precautions. A pedestrian who obeys traffic signals, stops at an intersection, waits for traffic to stop, and crosses at a normal pace is entitled to assume that drivers will obey the law and yield the right of way. As a pedestrian, you don’t have to keep an eye on every stopped vehicle just in case one accelerates into the crosswalk. You are also not required to keep enough distance from every car at a crosswalk to allow for evasive action in case a vehicle suddenly becomes a danger to you. When making decisions about liability (who’s at fault for an accident), courts will look at the circumstances and decide what a reasonable pedestrian would have done.

One claim that we sometimes see in support of an allegation by ICBC that a pedestrian has contributed to an accident is “inattentiveness.” For example, wearing headphones while walking doesn’t necessarily mean you are inattentive. However, if you are “glued to your phone,” and oblivious to your surroundings, the story may be different. Even if you have the right of way, you need to be aware of what is going on around you. If you are not paying attention and this prevents you from noticing a car is not going to stop, or from taking steps to avoid an accident, a court might find that you were partly responsible for the accident.

Traffic laws are in place to protect pedestrians, but your first (and often best) line of defence is to protect yourself by paying attention and dressing appropriately for outdoor weather conditions, including wearing reflective clothing in low light or when visibility is poor.

Even if you are partly to blame for an accident that causes you injury, in British Columbia, you are still entitled to compensation for things like medical expenses and rehabilitation benefits.