Maison Law represents the victims of Fresno pedestrian accidents. Our personal injury lawyers demand compensation for our clients after a careless driver’s mistake leaves them with hospital bills and lost income.
We provide a free, no-obligation consultation for all local injury victims. Contact us to set up a confidential case review.
It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold insurance companies fully responsible for recovery costs.
Should I Call a Lawyer After a Pedestrian Accident?
If you were hit by a car and somehow your injuries are very minor, you may not need the help of a lawyer. Unfortunately, when a heavy vehicle strikes a defenseless victim, the injuries are often very serious. This is when you may need the help of a lawyer to get everything you need to pay for recovery.
A Fresno Pedestrian Accident Lawyer can often secure more for you if your collision results in something serious like a broken bone or head trauma. This is often much more than you could win by filing your claim yourself.
When medical bills start to build, auto insurance adjusters will fight even harder to escape responsibility. They may say you were at fault or try to convince you to sign off on a “lowball” settlement offer that leaves the bulk of your recovery costs for you to cover. Your Maison Law attorney is a safeguard against this treatment. Your lawyer will submit all evidence to force insurers to accept responsibility and pay the maximum compensation available.
Fresno Pedestrian Accident Dangers
Fresno has ranked as one of the most hazardous places to be on foot in the nation. Smart Growth America’s 2021 “Deadly By Design” pedestrian study ranked Fresno as the 21st most dangerous city for pedestrians in America. Researchers found that Fresno recorded a heartbreaking 235 pedestrian fatalities over a ten-year span from 2010-2019. That adds up to 2.4 deaths a year per 100,000 people.
For more information on Fresno’s urgent need for more pedestrian safety measures read Maison Law’s recent in-depth look at local pedestrian accident statistics here.
How Maison Law Can Help
If a pedestrian accident injury has caused you to seek medical treatment or altered your daily life in any way, Maison Law can help. We provide the Fresno community with immediate medical resources and legal representation focused on quick results.
Pedestrian accident victims often hesitate to take legal action because they do not want to sue another person. At Maison Law, we never target individuals liable for your injuries, only the insurance company that represents them. So, you don’t have to worry about the impact a lawsuit may have on another member of the community or their family. With our legal representation, we ensure you are compensated for the following damages:
- Medical and hospital bills
- Property damages
- Occupational and physical therapy
- Lost earnings and wages
- Lost career growth, such as raises and promotions
- Property damage
- Lost future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
How Maison Law Wins Fair Settlements for Fresno Pedestrian Accident Victims
At Maison Law, we focus on directly connecting you with medical experts, negotiating your case, and winning you a fair settlement. We understand how essential it is for you to get your life back to normal after suffering a life-altering pedestrian accident. That’s why our legal process is streamlined to get you a fair settlement as soon as possible. This consists of building an ironclad case on your behalf through:
- Accurate damage calculation: we calculate damages based on expert testimony, medical evaluations, and economic analyses to cover every aspect of your current and long-term medical needs.
- Clear reports and expert witness testimony: Our firm compiles detailed reports that outline the extent of your injuries and the impact they will have on the rest of your life. We organize expert witness testimony to reinforce the credibility of your claim and the incident.
- Minimizing liability: If you file a claim or lawsuit against an at-fault party, they will most likely attempt to put some or all of the blame onto you. Our firm will analyze your case and work to minimize or eliminate liability altogether in your personal injury accident.
- Negotiating with insurers: Our experienced team of lawyers are expert negotiators and understand the tactics insurance companies will use to attempt to minimize your damages and compensation. We ensure our clients receive a fair settlement that fully covers their current and future needs.
- Court Representation: Our trial lawyers will represent you in court and build a strong case, highlighting the depth of your injuries and the necessity for recovering damages.
What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident in Fresno
Unfortunately, pedestrian accidents aren’t rare occurrences in Fresno. They can happen whenever careless and reckless drivers are out and about and that’s day and night at all hours in our city.
There are too many busy streets, like Barstow Avenue, where drivers go too fast and pay too little attention to crosswalks.
If you suffer a serious injury in a collision occurring while you’re walking or running, don’t count on insurance adjusters making it easy for you to call upon the at-fault driver’s coverage. The insurance company will be trying to poke holes in your version of what happened, even if a police accident report clearly points the finger at the driver.
In order to build evidence in your favor, it’s important to stockpile as much proof of what happened as you can, right there on the scene. If you are physically strong enough in the minutes after an accident, try to secure these details:
- Tell the police everything that you saw. Including if you noticed the driver was distracted by a cellphone or looking somewhere he or she shouldn’t have been before the accident. Let paramedics check out every part of the body that hurts.
- Use your cellphone to secure photos and video. Document the car involved and its license plate. Show street signs, traffic markings, and crosswalks nearby. Take pics of any visible injuries.
- Talk to any witnesses. Find out how your personal injury attorney can contact them later.
- Exchange information with the driver involved but don’t make statements about fault in the accident or your injuries. Saying you’re “okay” will give insurance companies an excuse to claim your injuries aren’t that bad later.
- Get checked out by your physician. Make an appointment and get every injury spotted at the scene examined as well as any injuries that arise in the days after an accident.
- Keep any evidence of damage such as torn clothing and broken personal items.
Common Pedestrian Injuries in Fresno Traffic Accidents
Pedestrians are the most defenseless potential victims who use the road. They don’t have helmets and they aren’t protected by airbags and metal walls.
The list of injuries treated in emergency rooms after Fresno pedestrian accidents is a scary reminder of the consequences of an impact with a car. They include some of these serious effects:
- Musculoskeletal injuries: These are the most common type of injuries and involve damage to bones, as well as muscle and other soft tissue. They include sprains, and dislocations in bones, muscles, ligaments, and nerves. Healing can take weeks and patients can develop chronic pain.
- Head Injuries: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) may lead to short and long-term memory loss, seizures, and mood swings. Concussions are considered a mild form of TBI, but they can take days to heal and leave you missing work and unable to drive. A skull fracture can send fragments of bone into the brain to cause serious damage and bleeding.
- Spine Injury: A cervical spine dislocation is especially common for older pedestrian victims. The ligaments in the spine are injured. This may include a spine fracture or dislocation. Impact force leaves adjoining spine bones abnormally separated, causing instability.
- Back injuries: The stretching of tendons, and ligaments causes microscopic tears in back muscles. These difficult-to-treat injuries can cause life-long pain.
- Broken bones: The appendages are most at risk in a pedestrian collision. Victims can suffer fractures in a strike from a car, with the pavement, or after being run over by other vehicles while on the ground. Pedestrians can suffer broken bones in the hands and arms and legs, knees, and ankles. In some extreme cases, a crushed limb may require surgical amputation.
Legal Duty of Pedestrians at a Crosswalk in Fresno
According to California Vehicle Code 21950 (b), pedestrians owe a legal duty to motorists to exercise due care for themselves and other pedestrians around them. CVC 21950 (b) states:
“This section does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for his or her safety. No pedestrian may suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. No pedestrian may unnecessarily stop or delay traffic while in a marked or unmarked crosswalk.”
So, while there are laws to protect pedestrians in crosswalks, pedestrians must exercise caution and avoid stepping out into a crosswalk when it is unsafe. Being aware of traffic also includes traffic control devices. Pedestrians must yield to motorists who have a green light. They must also not step into a crosswalk when the “Don’t Walk” signal is displayed. Not only is it against the law for a pedestrian to cross an intersection with a “Don’t Walk” signal, but this action can also make them liable for any collisions that may occur as a direct result.
What are the Right-of-Way Rules for a Crosswalk at an Intersection in Fresno
The term “pedestrian” applies not only to people walking across the street but to people on skates and skateboards. Generally, pedestrians have the right-of-way at all crosswalks. Crosswalks in California are typically marked with white lines and reflectors. Some cities even require flashing lights to illuminate the crosswalk. According to California Vehicle Code Section 21950, drivers must adhere to the following rules when approaching a crosswalk:
- All drivers must reduce their speeds or stop, if necessary, to yield to pedestrians within the crosswalk.
- A driver must stop before the line, not in the middle of the crosswalk.
- A driver must stop if a pedestrian is in his or her half of the lane or approaching quickly enough to be in the direct path of the vehicle.
- Drivers are not permitted to pass stopped vehicles while they’re allowing pedestrians to cross at a crosswalk.
However, a pedestrian should not step off the curb if it is unsafe. Just as drivers owe a “duty of care” to pedestrians, pedestrians are also required to avoid putting drivers in unsafe situations.
Do Pedestrians Have the Right-of-Way Outside of Crosswalks in Fresno?
Pedestrians’ right-of-way outside of crosswalks is covered by California Vehicle Code 21954. This statute says all pedestrians on roadways at any point other than within marked crosswalks or unmarked crosswalks must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles.
According to California Vehicle Code 275, crosswalks exist when boundary lines of sidewalks connect at intersections. The statute further defines crosswalks as:
“That portion of a roadway included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of sidewalks at intersections where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles, except the prolongation of such lines from an alley across a street.
Any portion of a roadway distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, there shall not be a crosswalk where local authorities have placed signs indicating no crossing.”
Dangers of Unmarked Crosswalks in Fresno
Despite serving as critical points for crossing streets in Fresno, unmarked crosswalks can be confusing to pedestrians and motorists. Unmarked crosswalks typically lack visual markings, reflectors, or walking signs. California law does grant pedestrians the right-of-way at marked and unmarked crosswalks, however, safety is far less guaranteed at unmarked crosswalks.
Drivers are often unaware of their responsibility to yield to a pedestrian crossing at an unmarked crosswalk, resulting in extremely hazardous scenarios. This is reflected in Fresno’s fatal pedestrian accidents, which have been on the rise, according to the City of Fresno. This uptick in fatal pedestrian accidents spotlights the city’s need for additional safety measures at unmarked crosswalks.
Legal Standing for Fresno Pedestrian Accidents in Unmarked Crosswalks
As stated in California Vehicle Code 21950, unmarked crosswalks are legally protected zones where pedestrians maintain the right of way, and vehicles are required to yield. However, unmarked crosswalks can fall into a grey area, causing both driver and pedestrian to misinterpret their rights.
Pedestrians cannot recklessly step into traffic, which would create a dangerous situation for drivers on the road. Consequently, drivers are legally obligated to drive in a safe manner that would allow them to avoid certain hazards. So, a “duty of care” must be taken by both pedestrians and drivers to maintain safety at unmarked crosswalks. Any careless actions at an unmarked crosswalk will most likely be the reason someone can be held liable in a civil lawsuit if someone is injured as a result.
What Kinds of Hardships Can Earn Compensation After a Fresno Pedestrian Accident?
After suffering one of these injuries or any number of other wounds, you’ll face bills for all types of medical treatment. Your bills will include surgery, medications, physical therapy, medical equipment, and more.
Your Fresno Pedestrian Accident Lawyer will work to make sure every hardship you’ve faced is included when you file an accident claim. Any damages left out of your claim will probably become your financial responsibility.
These are just a few of the hardships that help determine the size of your pedestrian accident settlement check:
- Medical expenses: The bills that have already arrived and any care you’re expected to need in the years to come.
- Permanent disability costs: Estimates on care over a lifetime. Money for physical therapy and medical equipment needed. Compensation for career training if you can’t go back to your old job.
- Pain and psychological suffering: The pain you endured and the emotional trauma you suffered in the accident and during recovery. Depression and anxiety issues may arise. Your loss of enjoyment of life due to injuries should also factor in.
- Loss of wages: The paychecks and benefits you’ve forfeited by having to miss work while healing. The hours you’re expected to miss in the future.
- Travel costs: The expense of doctor visits and visiting out-of-city specialists for second opinions. Travel can become a major cost when you can’t drive or are in a wheelchair.
What Our Clients Say
What Kind of Help Can My Family Receive After a Fatal Pedestrian Accident?
After losing a loved one, families can quickly be targeted by financial hardships resulting from the aftermath of a pedestrian accident. The enormous costs of emergency care and medical costs possibly built up before the deceased passed on can all come due in a matter of weeks. The money needed for a proper memorial and burial for the victim can also serve to leave a family with financial woes.
The family may also have to find a new means of monthly support when a victim’s weekly paycheck from work is suddenly taken away. Under such heartbreaking circumstances, the family of a pedestrian victim is allowed to file a wrongful death claim against the responsible driver’s car insurance coverage. This lawsuit lists out a family’s hardships and requests fair support from an insurance provider.
A wrongful death claim can help protect a family’s future as well. Family members and especially young children can face life without the guidance and monetary support a victim would have continued providing. A claim would factor in this emotional trauma and seek to make sure families don’t face financial ruin in the years to come.
What is the Typical Compensation for a Fresno Pedestrian Accident?
There is no set dollar amount for the trauma and pain experienced by pedestrian accident victims, as every situation varies on a case-by-case basis. However, an experienced Pedestrian Accident Lawyer will help you understand the value of your case by calculating the cost of the following damages:
- Special Damages: medical bills, ongoing treatment, costs that accumulate when you’re unable to work, like rent or mortgage payments
- General Damages: these are non-economic hardships like pain and suffering, anxiety, depression, mental trauma
- Wrongful Death Damages: these damages may be sought by a spouse or close relative for funeral arrangements, burial expenses, and medical treatment before a loved one’s death
- Punitive Damages: these damages are rare, but if the driver engaged in reckless driving with the intention of hurting you, then you could sue for punitive damages
Other Frequently Asked Questions
Two years from the date of the accident. California extends victims up to two years to file an injury claim. Filing beyond the deadline usually means your case will be thrown out.
In most cases, no. Only a small fraction of injury claims are decided in court. Insurance companies usually agree to a fair settlement agreement to avoid spending the money it’ll take to defend their unfair practices before a judge.
Get their contact information. If they want to tell you what they saw, have them write it down and sign and date it. You can also use your phone to take a video of their testimony.
Contact a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Fresno
If you or a loved one has been the victim of negligence as a pedestrian please reach out to Maison Law serving victims in Fresno. Our attorneys work to remove the worry and anxiety by handling all communications with insurance representatives while allowing victims to focus on recovery.
Contact Maison Law in Fresno for a free consultation for victims and family members that comes with no obligation to you. Call or email our legal professionals before jeopardizing your case by talking with any insurance representative.
