Why These Crashes Happen and How Victims Can Protect Their Rights
In many pedestrian accidents, the person who is hit is doing exactly what they’re supposed to: Crossing in the crosswalk, walking on the sidewalk, or heading to a car parked legally on the street. Yet they still end up in the hospital. The problem isn’t always where they walk. It’s how drivers behave.
Across Wichita Falls, Decatur, and surrounding communities, pedestrians face serious risk on busy roadways and neighborhood streets. Whether it’s near MSU Texas, around Sikes Senter Mall, or along Kemp Boulevard, a moment of inattention behind the wheel can lead to devastating consequences for someone on foot. Knowing the most common causes of these accidents and how liability works in Texas can help victims and families make informed legal decisions.
What Causes So Many Pedestrian Accidents in Wichita Falls?
Pedestrian crashes can happen in a split second, but they often follow predictable patterns. Certain behaviors and conditions consistently lead to injury or death when drivers and pedestrians share the road. Recognizing these common scenarios helps establish fault. And in Texas personal injury claims, fault matters.
Some of the most common causes of pedestrian accidents in Wichita Falls include:
- Distracted Driving: Texting, eating, adjusting the GPS, or reaching for something in the passenger seat are all distractions that prevent drivers from seeing pedestrians in time to stop. In many cases, the driver never even sees the person they hit.
- Failure to Yield at Crosswalks: Texas law requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks. Yet drivers frequently ignore this, especially when turning at intersections or racing to beat a light. Pedestrians legally crossing at places like Kell and Harrison or on Call Field Road often get hit by drivers who simply don’t stop.
- Left-Turn Collisions: One of the most common types of crashes involves drivers turning left while a pedestrian is crossing straight through the intersection. The driver focuses on oncoming traffic but fails to check the crosswalk. These crashes happen frequently at high-traffic intersections throughout Wichita Falls.
- Speeding and Reckless Driving: Speeding reduces the time drivers have to see and avoid pedestrians, resulting in more severe injuries. Residential areas, such as Southwest Parkway, and school zones in places like City View or Hirschi High, are often the sites of these crashes.
- Low Visibility and Nighttime Driving: Wichita Falls lacks consistent lighting in many pedestrian areas. When visibility drops and drivers fail to adjust their speed, the risk of a serious crash increases. Failing to slow down in dark areas can be used as evidence of negligence in a pedestrian injury claim.
- Backing Up Accidents in Parking Lots: Drivers often back out of spaces quickly without checking for pedestrians who may be walking behind them. This is especially common in retail centers, medical plazas, and apartment complexes across the region.
Even when a pedestrian is partially responsible for the accident, Texas’s comparative negligence rules may still allow them to recover compensation, as long as they’re less than 51% at fault.
How Fault Is Determined in Texas Pedestrian Accidents
Fault in a pedestrian injury case often comes down to evidence like surveillance video, witness statements, crash reconstruction, and police reports. But not all fault is created equal. Texas follows a modified comparative negligence rule. That means an injured pedestrian can still recover damages even if they share some blame, as long as their percentage of fault is 50% or less. Their compensation, however, is reduced by that percentage.
For example, if a pedestrian is found 20% at fault for crossing against a signal, and the driver is 80% at fault for speeding, the pedestrian could still recover 80% of the total damages awarded.
Insurance companies often use this rule to their advantage by shifting as much blame as possible onto the pedestrian. That’s why legal representation matters. An experienced accident attorney can investigate the crash independently, challenge low settlement offers, and argue against unfair fault assignments designed to reduce or deny compensation.
This Isn’t Just a Case. It’s Your Life.
A pedestrian accident can change everything in an instant. At Hoover Rogers Law, LLP, we take that seriously. Every case is built with one purpose in mind: to help our clients get their lives back on track and stand up for those who shouldn’t have to fight alone.
Free consultations are available now, and there’s no fee unless money is recovered. Legal deadlines can be tight, so don’t wait. When everything is on the line, get a Wichita Falls pedestrian accident lawyer who knows what’s at stake and won’t back down. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.
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