The driver should have approached the crosswalk cautiously, in case there was a pedestrian trying to cross the road, but the pedestrian should also have been cautious when emerging from in front of the stopped truck.
Just wanna observe, around these parts, freaking trucks just stop wherever and whenever they want. 
Just for those who feel this truck’s specific positioning unambiguously signaled a pedestrian present. Hell, I’d say it would be just as likely for the truck to park such that they BLOCKED the crosswalk! 
Seriously. They didn’t even look.
As a driver in Germany I’d expect to look at a suspended prison sentence in the situation of the video (certainly so if the pedestrian does not survive), and at losing my license. Really a pedestrian crossing (if, belatedly, against their light) is exactly what a driver is to expect in the situation of the video.
An adult pedestrian would certainly have their percentage share of civil liability, but how am I to know that it is not a child, from whom I cannot expect any caution at all?
This is pretty much will happen in the US also. Because …
This. On first watch, I thought it was 100% the driver’s fault, because if I am approaching a zebra crossing (as they are known in the UK) with poor visibility, I’d slow right down and assume that there is someone crossing until I can see otherwise.
However, with these crosswalks actually just being a marking on a crossing that is traffic light controlled…yeah I would proceed through at normal speed and the fault in this case lies with the (unfortunate) pedestrian.
I wonder though…what if the driver in the truck waved her to cross, which would be poor judgement on his part (and against the highway code in the UK) but I don’t think from a legal point of view that would put any fault on the truck?
(I know that if someone flashes their lights to give you way, and you come out and crash because actually the other side was not clear, the driver flashing is not responsible for you not checking it was safe. But I don’t know if it might be a bit different with drivers signalling, or even urging, pedestrians to cross).
For those arguing this is mostly or totally the driver’s fault, how do you square this with the driver having a green light? If the expectation is that drivers should be proceeding only with caution and giving priority to pedestrians in this situation, it should be a flashing amber light at the very least. If you drive through a green light and get T-boned by another vehicle, are you at fault? Sure, more caution is advisable in both situations and as I said, the driver is not blameless here, but most of the responsibility lies with the pedestrian.
Red light: You unconditionally must not proceed.
Green light: You conditionally may proceed.
I often see that when taking a right turn at a traffic light: The green light allows me to make the turn, but does not allow me to run over pedestrians crossing the side street.
Generally I’d argue that walking is a necessity and must be available even to the stupid, the inattentive and the impaired (there are no provisions for taking away someone’s walking license), while driving is not a necessity and hence carries a much greater responsibility to others.
Because the stopped vehicle obviously indicates that there is a pedestrian in the crossing regardless of what color the light is. As in, of all the explanations for someone to be stopped in that position next to the crossing, there being a pedestrian in front of them is more likely than any of the others. It is incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior to continue at the same speed past the stopped vehicle(particularly as it’s a huge truck completely blocking your view of what’s in the crossing)
I have been involved in a lot of civil cases in several different jurisdictions involving pedestrians hit by vehicles. Sometimes in crosswalks, sometimes in parking lots, sometimes walking along the road, and one time having coffee at a table at a sidewalk cafe. One boy was waiting at the end of his driveway for a school bus. One girl was walking with her brother in a marked school crosswalk at 8:00 a.m. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 10 such cases. Not one driver was charged with a crime. Many were not even given a citation. It would probably be different if drugs or alcohol were involved, but for some reason that hasn’t been a factor in any of my cases. Just inattentive driving. And someone is killed or very seriously injured.
Yeah that’s just one of the many ways car culture in the US is messed up. Most other western countries take this more seriously.
Though AFAIK it’s more a cultural thing the in police than a legal thing. The laws are not necessarily written more strictly just enforced in cases where there wasn’t obvious speeding or drink/drug use. IANAL though.
I shouldn’t be surprised by this. Our legal system leaves a lot of outs in cases like this. I’m a little surprised it there’s a moving violation involved, especially if caught on video. Unfortunately I think Americans tend to think they could be the next person in that situation due to an unintentional momentary lapse. I think in fact this almost always the result of consistently bad driving.
Because the fundamental rule of road is “safe and reasonable”. Just as you should drive below the speed limit when it’s sleeting, you should be on the lookout for obstructions in the road.
That is how it is in my state. The zebra crossing lane is always at a point where the roadway is not controlled by a traffic light. There may be a flashing yellow for caution. At a crosswalk traffic must stop for a pedestrian.
At a traffic light the pedestrian must obey the walk/don’t walk indicators and they can’t cross against the light. The driver is required to obey the traffic signal.
In my state the pedestrian would be at fault for crossing against the light with a little non-legally binding fault for the cars on the right for stopping for a green light.
I have no idea what the laws are in the country this was filmed. I haven’t yet read all the replies.
Of course you should. But if someone does something as reckless as this pedestrian, a collision can still occur, unless you drive everywhere at 10mph.
ETA as I recall you haven’t watched the video (fair enough, it’s not nice): the pedestrian runs out from behind a stationary truck, not even looking towards the direction of traffic. I would guess the vehicle is travelling at around 30mph; I would estimate they would have to have been doing about 10mph to stop in time to avoid any contact.
So if this was a car running a red light would the driver going through the green be partially at fault? Do you slow down at every green light?
I can’t speak definitively because here an intersection wouldn’t be marked like that.
The crime of vehicular assault or vehicular homicide requires intent or some sort of gross negligence/recklessness such as excessive speed or drug/alcohol abuse. Sometimes an accident is just an accident.
Does anyone know where this occurred? Or what the outcome was, both for the pedestrian and the driver?
Actually, do we even know that the video wasn’t faked?
Speed or drug/alcohol abuse tends to be the kind of gross negligence/recklessness that is used by DA as evidence, but do the laws (except for specific DWI laws) actually say that? IANAL but even if the case in the OP was not the kind of thing @Procrustus describes above definitely sounds like gross negligence to me.
Just this morning, I was driving down Main Ave, when a large buck stepped out into the road ahead of me. It was far enough in front of me that I could slow down to avoid hitting it, but the car to the left of me might not have been able to see it, or wasn’t watching, and started to blow past me. I beeped my horn, and they finally woke up and stopped before hitting it. When it comes to pedestrians or animals, “inattentive driving” is usually the answer to why a collision occurred.
Somewhere in Asia is my guess. Maybe Japan as it might be left hand drive (either that or a one way street, there is no other carriageway on the left which you’d expect on a multi-lane road if they were driving on the right)