Injured Pedestrian Wins USPS Lawsuit
Attorney
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A federal judge from the Western District of North Carolina has found that a mail carrier was negligent and breached his duty of care to the plaintiff as a pedestrian by failing to look forward before moving his vehicle. As a result, he struck a 68-year-old lady who was attempting to return a mis-delivered package of medicine.
The plaintiff, on Saturday, March 8, 2003, received from a substitute mail carrier, a mis-delivered package containing medicine which was marked "Priority Mail." When she inquired, the local post office told her that she could return the package to her mail carrier on Monday. On the following Monday, the plaintiff watched for the mail carrier in order to return the package. When she saw the mail carrier pull his car over to the side of the road to deliver mail to three mail boxes across the road from her house, she walked across her yard, looked both ways, and crossed the road. She purposely walked several feet in front of the mail carrier's specially equipped car to get to the right-hand driver's side.
The postal worker admitted that, without looking in front of the car, he took his foot off the brake and pushed the accelerator which caused his car to strike the plaintiff. The plaintiff suffered numerous injuries.
The judge found that this action on the part of the postal worker was negligence.
The government claimed that the injured lady was, herself, negligent and, under North Carolina's strict contributory negligence law, the government should not be liable. In ruling against the government on this issue, the court noted that the plaintiff took several precautionary measures when she approached the postal vehicle. She looked both ways before crossing the road, she decided not to approach the left-hand side of the vehicle because she would have had to stand in the road. Further, she decided not to walk behind the vehicle because she would have had to walk on uneven ground covered with bramble. Further, the court found that the pedestrian left several feet between herself and the mailman's car when she walked in front of it. The court concluded that the 68-year-old lady made reasonable assumptions that the postman would look forward before putting the vehicle in motion and that, had he looked forward, he would have seen her.
The court found that the plaintiff exercised reasonable care in approaching the postman's car and that she was not contributorily negligent.