Fort Smith, AR — There was an accident reported early Tuesday morning (March 24, 2015) in Fort Smith at a McDonald’s on Towson that apparently left a worker injured. Police said that an employee at the fast food chain was hit by a car while she was walking inside the building.
According to the news reports, the girl was walking across the parking lot and was crossing the drive-thru lane when he was hit by a car that was going through the drive-thru lane.
The accident badly injured her and she had to be taken via ambulance to a nearby hospital. At the last update, she had injuries to her leg and shoulder. The driver that hit her is not being cited by Fort Smith PD, however, but they are going to investigate a bit more.
Map of the McDonald’s
Commentary:
I’m not sure why the driver isn’t facing charges, but then again, we don’t have all the details. Just because someone is in a parking (or a drive-thru lane) doesn’t mean that all bets are off and pedestrians have no right. No, this driver should have been paying more attention, unless it turns out that the victim here literally ran into the car’s path without any warning. Somehow, though, I doubt that’s the case.
As far as the legalities are concerned, McDonald’s most likely has a workers’ compensation program that they enroll their employees in upon hiring them. This takes care of any accident that happens on the job. However, since the actual “cause” of the accident was a driver who didn’t work at the store, then all the normal rights that people have still exist, i.e., making a claim against that driver for his negligence. Again, I’m assuming some details here that the news left out. Things may have happened differently and this pedestrian is at fault, not the driver.
— Grossman Law Offices
