If I was struck by a car while crossing a road, should my insurer have to pay for my trip to the hospital and medical exam or should the driver’s insurer pay?
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If I was struck by a car while crossing a road, should my insurer have to pay for my trip to the hospital and medical exam or should the driver’s insurer pay?
I was crossing after getting off a local bus to head to my apartment. When I was crossing, there was no cross traffic, and no one at the stop sign at the intersection I was crossing at. Halfway across the southbound lane, a car turned left onto the southbound lane and struck me. I was not using a visible crosswalk, but I was not crossing diagonally as it is cited on my citation. Does the citation serve as an indicator of fault for the accident?
Asked on July 21, 2011 Iowa
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
While a citation can be powerful evidence of fault, it does not itself establish that; that's because to be at fault in a civil action (e.g. a lawsuit) requires a finding that one was negligent or unreasonably careless. Violating an ordinance regarding crosswalks, crossing the street, etc. can help establish negligence, but there mere fact that you were cited for violating an ordinance does prove negligence automatically.
If you have your own insurance that would cover the trip and examination, it should probably pay, since the purpose of your own insurance is to provide indeminication or reimbursement you regardless of fault. To recover from the driver's insurance, you'd need to put a claim into them, and if they don't pay voluntarily, you'd need to sue and prove the driver's negligence.
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