Burleson, TX – A pedestrian was injured Wednesday after being struck by a car in the 2800 block of Greenway Dr, in Burleson, TX.
The details of this accident are very sparse at the moment. What is being reported is that an unidentified pedestrian was struck by a car. While not confirmed, we can surmise that the injuries were pretty severe, since local first-responders called in a helicopter to take the victim to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, in Fort Worth. It does not appear that anyone else was hurt at this time.
We do not know anything about the car or the driver that struck the pedestrian, or anything that may have contributed to the accident. The accident area does appear to be in a residential development. Undoubtedly, there will be an investigation into the accident.
Map of the Accident Area
Commentary:
The thing that struck me about this story was that it took place in a residential neighborhood. A lot of the pedestrian accidents I read about take place on busy highways or in urban areas. The rules of the road that pedestrians should crosswalks, while cars must obey posted speed limits are much clearer in those instances.
Residential neighborhoods present extra burdens on drivers. Just like any other special driving situations, such as rounding curves, inclement weather, or driving near parks, driving through a neighborhood means that a driver is expected to be more vigilant. Not doing so, may be a failure to keep a proper look out. Neighborhoods don’t generally have crosswalks, like more urban areas. This means that by driving through a neighborhood, you have an extra obligation to keep a lookout for people crossing pretty much anywhere.
For example, if you’re driving down a highway, obeying all of the posted rules, and a child runs out in front of you and you have no time to react, generally, you’re not liable. However, if you’re driving through a neighborhood and you see children playing, you have a duty to anticipate that those children might run into the street. If you hit a child under those circumstances, the likelihood that you are liable increases dramatically.
I’m not saying that any of this is specifically applicable to this news story, it’s pretty vague, but it is a good tool for highlighting the circumstantial nature of much of the law. It’s cliche to say possession it 9/10ths of the law: I’d say circumstance is much closer to 9/10ths of the law than possession.
