When a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle in Georgia, liability turns on the conduct of both the driver and the pedestrian under the rules governing each. The analysis considers the duties that apply to drivers and to pedestrians rather than assuming fault from the collision alone.
Drivers and pedestrians both have duties. Georgia’s rules of the road set out duties for drivers and for pedestrians, including rules about crosswalks and rights of way. Much turns on how each party’s conduct measured against these duties.
Responsibility can fall on either party or both. A pedestrian who entered the roadway against a signal, or a driver who failed to yield where required, may each bear a portion of responsibility under Georgia’s allocation rules. How the duties of each were observed or breached drives the allocation.
The circumstances shape the analysis. Factors such as where the pedestrian was crossing and the conduct of the driver bear on how fault is allocated. This turns on the circumstances relate to the applicable rules.
Liability when a pedestrian is struck generally rests on the duties governing drivers and pedestrians, the prospect that responsibility falls on either or both, and the particular circumstances of the encounter. The duties each party owed, how responsibility is divided, and the facts of the crossing ultimately drive liability here. As both parties carry duties, the location and manner of the crossing often prove decisive, distinguishing a pedestrian struck in a marked crosswalk from one who entered traffic unexpectedly. How those facts line up with the governing rules is generally where the analysis settles.