The Delaware Superior Court Dismisses a Pedestrian’s Case in an Unavoidable Accident

In a somewhat unusual case, the Delaware Superior Court found that the plaintiff’s negligence in crossing the street outweighed the negligence of the driver who hit the plaintiff and granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant. 

In his summary judgment motion, the defendant argued that he did not breach his duty to operate his vehicle in a reasonably prudent manner and that the plaintiff was negligent when entered the road in front of oncoming traffic. 

In reaching its decision, the court looked at Delaware’s comparative negligence statute; the duties and obligations of both pedestrians and drivers; the dashboard camera footage; and the deposition testimony. The court determined that the plaintiff’s action “created an unavoidable accident,” because the plaintiff darted out into traffic, and it was not by any negligence of the defendant.
 

_{Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2023 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2023 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}