Pendergast Law Personal Injury Lawyers

Free Consultations  |  Phones Answered 24/7

Pendergast Law Personal Injury Lawyers

Free Consultations  |  Phones Answered 24/7

Committed to helping you heal while we recover.

Who’s Liable If You’re Injured by a Skateboarder?

On Behalf of | Aug 25, 2017 | Pedestrian Accident

By Pendergast Law on August 25, 2017

Skateboarding seems fun. But what happens if that fun ride turns into a dangerous situation? If you’ve been injured by a skateboarder, is he or she to blame? And does the skateboarder have to pay for your injuries and costs?

As with any personal injury claim, the person who caused the accident CAN be held responsible in a court of law. If found “liable,” that person will be ordered to provide compensation for your injuries. To prove liability, you must first prove negligence, and proving negligence is sometimes difficult. Our best advice? Call an experienced attorney, and let him take it from there.

Proving Negligence

The four elements of negligence in any personal injury claim are: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages, which are sometimes called compensable harm. We’ll discuss the first and last elements below.

  • Duty of care is the easiest to prove. Every person, regardless of whether he’s walking, driving a car, or riding a skateboard, owes the people around him a duty of care in order to keep everyone safe.

For example, if the skateboarder performed a complicated trick on a crowded sidewalk and hit a pedestrian, it’s easy to prove that he breached his duty. Even if the skateboarder said he was trying to land in the street but a car came so he had to move onto the sidewalk, he’s still responsible. This is because it’s unsafe to skateboard in the street and so, there was foreseeable danger that he ignored, and someone else was hurt as a result.

In these instances, the skateboarder could be held personally liable for any damages and may have to compensate the injured person by paying for any expenses out-of-pocket.

  • In a personal injury claim, the person filing the lawsuit must be able to prove that there was compensable harm, or damages. When there are no injuries, there is no lawsuit.

The Skateboarder’s Duty of Care

Skateboarders need to be careful. Going downhill, you can gain a lot of speed. Even just pushing along, a skateboarder can reach over 20 miles per hour. There are many obstacles and dangers to look out for, and it’s surprisingly easy to get hurt.

If you’ve been injured by a skateboarder as a pedestrian, contact Hardwick & Pendergast, P.S., toll-free at 888-539-9211. You may able to receive compensation for your injuries, so call our Seattle pedestrian injury lawyers today.

Archives