Another "Right-Of-Way" Question.

[UncleFred]

This is for car and pedestrian. And we’re in Massachusetts.

I’m in my car at an intersection and have a green light. There’s a cross walk and the signage is “Red” for “Don’t Cross.” But the pedestrian steps out in front of me anyway.

There is also a sign posted saying “State Law - Cars must yield to pedestrians in crosswalk.”

I am going to do everything possible to prevent hitting the pedestrian.

But let’s take the extreme case where the pedestrian is actually trying to get hit so he can sue me.

If he takes me or my insurance company to court - who’s at fault here? And does he have any legitimate claim for damages?

[Joey_P]

I would think that would be his fault.
You had a sign specifically saying that you could go and giving you the right of way.
He had a sign specifically say that he should stay out of the road.
Furthermore, if anyone saw you, they’d see you made every reasonable attempt to avoid hitting him.
I’d imagine that he would get a ticket for jay walking, which IIRC, includes walking in a cross walk if it’s reckless, and he’d be responsible for any damages.

[Joey_P]

You can double check with your state statutes but from here, I found this, my bolding.

Massachusetts: Vehicles must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians within a marked crosswalk that are upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when a pedestrian is approaching within ten feet of where the vehicle is traveling. Vehicles may not enter a marked crosswalk when a pedestrian is crossing until there is sufficient space to accommodate the vehicle beyond the crosswalk. Pedestrians must cross a roadway within a marked crosswalk when there is an officer directing traffic, a traffic control signal, or a marked crosswalk within 300 feet of the pedestrian. Pedestrians may not suddenly leave the curb and enter a crosswalk into the path of a moving vehicle that is so close the vehicle is unable to yield. Pedestrians crossing a roadway in an urban area outside of a marked crosswalk must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. It is unlawful for any person to actuate a pedestrian control signal or to enter a marked crosswalk unless a crossing of the roadway is intended.

So they broke the law by not giving you time to stop and if they were in fact ‘trying to get hit’ they broke the law by entering the road without intending to cross it (but that’s probably secondary and the ticket would probably just be for not giving you time to stop).

[Gary_T]

Whether he’s jaywalking or not, if he’s in the crosswalk you must yield to him. Unless you have witnesses or video to testify that he jumped in front of the car so as to make it impossible to not hit him, you gonna lose.