$1.25 Million Settlement for Pedestrian Struck While Crossing Outside a Crosswalk

On a day that started as an ordinary outing, Deborah Okolovitch was crossing the street near a parking lot when a vehicle driven by Mark Lofthouse exited the lot and struck her. She was not inside a marked crosswalk at the time of the collision.

The injuries were serious and, by all accounts, not disputed. What the defense did contest was fault. Because Okolovitch was not using a designated crosswalk, Lofthouse's insurers argued that she bore meaningful responsibility for the collision. Under Connecticut's comparative-fault rules, a plaintiff who is found 51 percent or more responsible cannot recover anything, making the liability question decisive.

Carter Mario attorney Anthony Masone took on that argument directly. As he later described the defense posture, "No one was disputing her injuries, but the liability is what they were kind of hanging their hat on." Masone built the case around the duty a driver owes pedestrians even outside a crosswalk, particularly when exiting a private lot onto a public road, where Connecticut law requires motorists to yield.

The argument held. Before trial, the parties reached a settlement of $1.25 million. The Connecticut Law Tribune reported the result in its October 1, 2024 edition, one of a handful of seven-figure pedestrian outcomes in the state that year.

The case drew attention in part because of the crosswalk question. Pedestrian cases where the plaintiff was not in a marked crossing are often dismissed by insurers as low-value or no-value claims. The $1.25 million figure reflected both the seriousness of Okolovitch's injuries and the successful reframing of who had the duty of care at the moment of impact.