In Virginia, if a pedestrian is crossing an intersection in a crosswalk with a “walk” signal, does the pedestrian have a duty to allow an approaching vehicle to pass?

The below information was written by our personal injury lawyers in Virginia Beach.

In Virginia, a pedestrian crossing at an intersection in a clearly marked crosswalk with a “walk” signal has the right-of-way, but that pedestrian still has a duty to maintain a proper lookout for cars and other conditions in the roadway. Additionally, the Virginia Code prohibits a pedestrian from crossing an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic.

The duty to maintain a proper lookout requires the pedestrian to use ordinary care to look in all directions for cars and other conditions in the roadway, to see what a reasonable person would see, and to react as a reasonable person would act to avoid a collision, say our personal injury lawyers in Virginia Beach. The duty to maintain a proper lookout is similar to the prohibition against a pedestrian crossing an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic, in that both duties require the pedestrian to remain aware of his or her surroundings and to make reasonable efforts to avoid an accident.

In short, a pedestrian crossing an intersection in a crosswalk with a “walk” signal will have a duty to allow an approaching vehicle to pass, if that is what a reasonable person under the circumstances would do in order to avoid an accident. If a pedestrian is injured in a collision with an automobile while crossing at an intersection, the question of whether the pedestrian can recover from his or her injuries against the driver of the automobile is specific to the facts of the case, and an experienced personal injury lawyer should be consulted regarding a such potential personal injury claim.

Also, see
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Also see In Virginia, if a person has a medical condition that is made worse due to an automobile accident, can the injured person recover for the worsened condition against the driver whose negligence caused the accident?

Can a driver be considered negligent for operating his or her vehicle too slowly?

Also, see In Virginia, can a child’s personal injury claim be barred by the doctrine of contributory negligence?

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