Another New Jersey Pedestrian Accident Death
A father-daughter dinner date in South Orange, New Jersey ended in a tragic pedestrian accident for James Walsh when a car struck him, dragging him at least 50 feet away. Walsh was rushed to the hospital, but he died later from his injuries. He was walking home with his daughter Erin, who escaped injuries.
A witness at the scene of the accident was alert enough to note down the driver's license plate number. Police found the car, a Honda Civic a few minutes later outside the home of the driver, Frank Bradley. Just a few minutes before he mowed Walsh down, Bradley was being pursued by police after he ran a stop sign. There are no details about whether he was speeding at the time of the accident, but this much has been confirmed – Walsh was following all rules of pedestrian safety. He was not jaywalking, and he wasn’t distracted. Yet, he seems to have paid with his life for a motorist's callous negligence.
As a Bergen County pedestrian accident lawyer I see this all too often in an accident involving a pedestrian and a motorist. Even when a pedestrian is following all rules of the road, he could still be in danger of a driver run amok. Usually in these cases, where a pedestrian is not at fault, there is negligence on the part of the motorist, either in the form of speeding or drunk driving that can cause a driver to lose control of the car and ram it into pedestrians on the sidewalk. A speeding driver may be unable to stop in time to avoid pedestrians crossing at a designated crosswalk. Besides, motorists can be distracted talking on their cell phones, or reaching for something in the back seat, snacking, and may fail to spot pedestrians until it's too late. All these are examples of how motorists can fail in their duty to keep roads safe for all. They can also serve as grounds for holding the motorist liable for the injuries he has caused.
