Taylorsville Pedestrian Accident Takes Life of Beloved Crossing Guard

Crossing guard Jim Smith was a permanent fixture at the intersection of 5930 South and 2700 West in Taylorsville, Utah. On December 16, 2008, around 7 a.m., however, things would change. On this particular morning, as Smith was preparing the crosswalk for the students that would soon cross it, he was hit by a motorist who, according to KSL News, was oblivious to the crossing guard’s orange vest, stop sign and the orange cone he was carrying. Mr. Smith was taken to an area hospital for treatment. Sadly, he passed away on January 1, 2009, due to injuries he sustained from this pedestrian accident, including internal bleeding, a brain injury and back injuries.

The driver who struck Mr. Smith told police that he did not see him. Although it was reportedly snowing, it is hard to imagine what else Mr. Smith could have done to signal to motorists that he was in the middle of the crosswalk. Although the driver says he didn’t see him, the fact is that Mr. Smith was there to be seen! A reasonable and prudent driver would have surely seen him in the crosswalk. It is my opinion that this driver was somehow distracted. Maybe he was text messaging on his cell phone. Maybe he was fiddling with the radio. I would recommend that the family contact a Utah pedestrian accident attorney to investigate exactly why this driver failed to see Mr. Smith that day. For example, if he was texting on his cell phone, the driver’s phone records would show this. Hopefully the police in their investigation will consider this and request the driver to provide his cell phone records for the prosecutor to review. If it turns out that he was on his phone, then the criminal penalties against him may be enhanced.

Obviously, the family has a claim against Mr. Smith and/or his insurance company for what happened. The family also has a workers compensation claim since it appears that Mr. Smith was on the clock at the time. There may also be an “underinsured” claim that the family can make. An experienced lawyer can help the family sort out what claims should be made under the circumstances.

Published by: Ron Kramer

This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Pedestrian Accidents, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.