You get hit as you’re going through a crosswalk. You’re injured and quite shocked. You had the right away and you still got hit by a vehicle, and you don’t understand why it happened.
The other driver claims that you showed up out of nowhere – as if you were invisible right before the accident. You know that you were just walking through the crosswalk, so you certainly should’ve been visible. Why does that driver think they couldn’t see you until they hit you?
The brain sees what you expect to see
One interesting reason that this can happen is that the human brain has a tendency to fill in gaps in what you see. This means that you’re more likely to see the things that you expect, and you can miss elements that are unexpected. If the driver looked to see if the road was clear of other vehicles, it may not have even registered for them that there was a pedestrian in the crosswalk. They can look right at you without expecting to see you and completely miss you.
The A-pillar could have blocked the view
A more concrete reason why this happens is that the A-pillar in a car can sometimes block a driver’s view as they turn. If this obstruction just blocks something like a semi truck, it’s not that important because the driver will still see the vehicle around the pillar. But a pedestrian can be completely hidden, so a lot of drivers honestly don’t see people until they hit them.
Regardless, this could still leave you with high medical bills and many other financial complications. Make sure that you’re well aware of all the legal steps you can take to seek compensation from the driver who injured you.