pedestrian Tag Archives - Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Am I Safe Walking in a Crosswalk?

March 28, 2018 | Robin Frazer Clark

Image result for don't walk flashing beacon Related image
Every day as I travel down Edgewood Avenue in Downtown Atlanta in the middle of Georgia State University, some pedestrian, without fail, decides to take a risk and walk out in front of either my car or another car as I watch. The only time this doesn’t happen is when Georgia State is on Spring Break. It is a stressful trip, knowing that in addition to the numerous cars all around me that I have to be aware of, I have to be ready to slam my breaks in a nanosecond to avoid hitting a pedestrian walking out in front of my car when I have the right-of-way. I am aware of the plentiful crosswalks available for pedestrian use, but they are mostly ignored. I am talking about students who ignore the crossing signals and walk across a street either not in a crosswalk at all, or in a crosswalk but cross when the signal is telling them to stop. This typical daily occurrence with pedestrians has me thinking about just exactly what are the laws in Georgia pertaining to pedestrians? Is it just me or are the pedestrian signals getting more complicated? What do they actually mean? When does a pedestrian have the right-of-way to cross the street? Can a driver of a vehicle just mow down a pedestrian if the pedestrian is not in the crosswalk? How about if the pedestrian is in the crosswalk but the flashing hand has started with a stopwatch ticking down, telling the pedstrian how many seconds he or she has to cross the street before the signal turns? Is a pedestrian required to know how fast they can walk and how many seconds they typically take to cross a street? Does it depend on how many lanes the street is? And whether there is a headwind or tailwind? My drive today has me thinking about all of this. Hmmm….

First, we can easily find the Georgia Rules of the Road as they pertain to pedestrians on the Georgia Highway Safety website. The Official Code of Georgia provides: § 40-6-91. Right of Way in Crosswalks:

(a) The driver of a vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross 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 and is within one lane of the half of the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning. For the purposes of this subsection, “half of the roadway” means all traffic lanes carrying traffic in one direction of travel.

You or Me? Who Has the Right of Way?

June 2, 2017 | Robin Frazer Clark

Image result for pedestrian right of way georgia
My office is in downtown Atlanta and I drive each day through Georgia State University, which now has an enrollment of 32,802. You can imagine how many of those 32,802 are walking on the sidewalks and crossing busy downtown streets at any given moment on a weekday. And just add these students to the normal, everyday Downtown Atlanta population of employees, deliverymen, and homeless people, bicyclists who weave in and out of traffic and the schizophrenic Streetcar, which can wait at a station for interminable minutes or pull away without notice at any given second. Suffice it to say there are a lot of pedestrians on our streets downtown. Nearly every day at least one of them attempts to dart out in front of my car, regardless of whether they are even close to a crosswalk. Apparently, crosswalks are for looks only in downtown Atlanta. A driver must be extremely vigilant while driving downtown not to have a mishap with a pedestrian. Add to the inherent danger of crossing a street the aggravating factor that many pedestrians are on their phones while walking out in the middle of the road. I have seen pedestrians talking on their phones, listening to their phones with earphones, texting on their phones, texting on their phones while talking on their phones on speakerphone and every other possible configuration of phone use while walking. Surely, if they are hit this would amount to a heck of a lot contributory negligence? The number of incidents of pedestrians being hit by cars is on the rise. For example, in 2013, 180 pedestrians were killed statewide, making it the deadliest year for pedestrians since 1997. The CDC reported that in 2015 5,376 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States. This averages to one crash-related pedestrian death every 1.6 hours. Additionally, almost 129,000 pedestrians were treated in emergency departments for non-fatal crash-related injuries in 2015. Pedestrians are 1.5 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to be killed in a car crash on each trip. Atlanta is reportedly the 8th most dangerous city for pedestrians.

So who has the right of way?

The Governor’s Office on Highway Safety does a pretty fair job at trying to educate pedestrians regarding right of way and their duties to watch out for their own safety, in addition to vehicle driver’s duties to watch for pedestrians.

Is State Farm Really Like a Good Neighbor? Who Does My Insurance Agent Really Work For?

July 8, 2014 | Robin Frazer Clark

Do I have a case against my insurance agent? I feel like my insurance adjuster cared more for the insurance company than for me, her client. Who does my insurance agent really work for? Me or the insurance Company?

Good question! No doubt many of us think our insurance agent, with whom we have worked with, confided in and trusted, is our friend and our agent, not the insurance company. But as I often say in these blogs: Not so fast! Although the term “agent” is loosely thrown around in all sorts of scenarios, the actual word “agent” is loaded with ambiguity. Natch, if I have purchased my car and homeowners insurance through my “agent” I would assume that person works for me and would always have my best interests in mind. But, unfortunately, especially under Georgia Law, it doesn’t always operate so smoothly.

For example, if an insurance “agent” is independent and sells policies for multiple insurance companies, chances are he or she would be considered an “agent” of the insured who must favor the insured’s interests over the company’s. If, however, the insurance “agent” is an employee of the insurance company and not independent, then chances are this type of insurance “agent” is actually an agent of the company, not of you, and that type of “agent”/employee would put the interests of the insurance carrier over your own.