Five Year Old Critically Injured When Crossing Road in Gloucester, Virginia (VA)

A five-year-old girl suffered life threatening injuries when she was hit by a car after she ran into the road in a wooded area near Gloucester, Virginia (VA).

The accident occurred on Saturday when a 70-year-old Gloucester man was driving west on Route 601. The girl ran out in front of the car from a wooded area on the side of the road, the Daily Press reports. Sgt. Greg Mathias, a State Police Spokesman, said the girl was trying to cross the street in front of her home on Pampa Road just east of Route 610 when she was hit by the 2007 Chrysler Wagoneer.

Our thoughts are with this young victim and her family after this terrible accident.

Charges are unlikely to be brought against the driver, given that state police said he appeared to have been driving under the speed limit. He stopped at the scene and did everything legally, police said. But in the cases of many pedestrian injuries and deaths, the driver can be liable.

Our firm has considerable experience in fighting for pedestrians who have been hit by cars or trucks. In 2008 we secured a $100,000 payout for a teacher from Norfolk, Virginia. who was crossing a two-lane road near an intersection on a Norfolk highway when he was hit by a car.  The driver of a Dodge Magnum told police he could not help hitting the pedestrian, who suffered a serious leg injury .

While drivers can be open to criminal or civil action if they hit a pedestrian, it's vital that anyone crossing the road knows the laws for pedestrians in Virginia. In fact, a Mean Street study makes sobering reading. It revealed that on a per-mile basis, walking is considerably more dangerous than flying, driving or riding a bus or train. Most facilities -- 69 percent -- take place on neighborhood streets.

Based on common law in Virginia, as well as many other states, a pedestrian has the right-of-way at a street corner when crossing if a car's driver has a clear view of the pedestrian.

DM