Wisconsin pedestrian right of way laws have a specific rule concerning blind pedestrians. Jury Instruction 1170 reads as follows:
1170 RIGHT OF WAY: BLIND PEDESTRIAN ON HIGHWAY
The Wisconsin statutes define “right of way” as the privilege of the immediate use of the roadway.
The statutes further provide that a driver of a vehicle must stop the vehicle before approaching closer than 10 feet to a pedestrian carrying a cane or walking stick which is white in color or white trimmed with red and which is held in an extended or raised position and shall take such precautions as may be necessary to avoid accident or injury to the pedestrian. The fact that the pedestrian may be violating any of the laws applicable to pedestrians does not relieve the driver of a vehicle from the duties imposed by the rule just stated.
If the jury finds that the pedestrian was carrying a cane or walking stick identified by the specified colors and extended or raised in position, then it became the duty of driver of the vehicle to stop the vehicle before approaching closer than 10 feet to the blind pedestrian and to take such precautions as might be necessary to avoid accident or injury to the pedestrian.
To be clear, in Wisconsin the blind pedestrian is correctly given deference on the street and it is up to automobile drivers, bicyclists and others to be on alert with their lookout to afford the blind pedestrian the right of way.
Recent studies document that as a public we have become less accommodating to blind people and people with disabilities. Some of it may be a coarsening of behavior, but it is also a consequence of acceptance, in which we have been trained to treat those with disability as equals so therefore we do not acknowledge or accommodate their situation less we feel discriminating. See: Hey, What’s With the White Cane? Wall Street Journal October 11, 2016.
For over 30 years, McCormick Law Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been representing people injured in pedestrian right of way accidents in automobile accidents and car crashes in Wisconsin. Pedestrians injured in motor vehicle collisions are entitled to settlement money for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering. In the case of a blind person, there may be more settlement money necessary to compensate for injuries and damages specific to each person’s unique situation. Insurance companies need to be made aware of the circumstances with good evidence and documentation of any special losses. This is predicated upon the other parties being more causally negligent than the pedestrian. Witnesses and expert accident reconstruction engineers may help to prove who was at fault for the collision.
