If you are a pedestrian struck by a careless driver in Lemoore, you can demand help in paying your medical bills and your lost income while you can’t work. Unfortunately, car insurance providers like to deny claims or limit support for any reason they can find.
Maison Law of Lemoore offers a free, no-obligation case consultation to all Kings County accident victims. It’s a no-risk way to find out how to protect your case. You should find out how much your case is worth and also how to hold an insurer fully responsible.
How Do I Know If I Need a Lawyer for My Pedestrian Accident Case?
If a driver-caused accident causes you to suffer an injury like a bone fracture, a neck or back injury, or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), it’s wise to go over your case with an attorney. Any serious injury comes along with higher price tags for medical care that you may need for longer.
These factors and others cause insurers to seek ways to avoid having to pay you settlement money. You may need the protection of a Lemoore pedestrian accident attorney when a car insurance company tries to blame you for what happened or disputes how severe your injuries are.
A skilled Maison Law attorney investigates your accident and the driver at fault. The evidence is used to file a strong claim that insurers can’t reject. Maison Law can often earn victims much more than they could earn for themselves.
Who Is Liable After a Pedestrian Accident?
Generally, drivers must yield to pedestrians at all crosswalks across Lemoore.
Pedestrians don’t always cross within crosswalk lines, but drivers can be held fully or partially to blame for a collision even if it’s not at a marked intersection. Drivers have a special “duty of care” when traveling around those on foot. This is due to the extreme vulnerability of someone who must cross in front of fast-moving and heavy vehicles.
The duty of drivers and pedestrians to coexist safely on our streets is explained in California Vehicle Code 21950.
- Motorists must always be on the lookout for pedestrians, no matter where they are traveling.
- Motorists must slow down upon seeing a pedestrian entering the road or in the lane.
- Motorists must be going slow enough to be able to stop to avoid an impact.
When drivers ignore these duties and hit a pedestrian, they can be held accountable for all recovery costs. And drivers can bear fault in many situations where the walker isn’t in a crosswalk.
Jaywalking isn’t enforced as a crime anymore, and pedestrians can cross at any section of the street as long as they do so cautiously.
Pedestrian Accident Hot Spots in Lemoore
We can take to walking when heading to work, to school, or just to a local store. We might use the sidewalks and crosswalks to get a run in after a stressful day. We can also count on becoming pedestrians as we park and walk across parking lots.
When we leave the relative safety of our homes or a car behind, we carry no protection against collisions. We can watch in every direction to protect ourselves from fast-moving traffic, but that may not be enough when distracted drivers are at busy intersections like Bush Street and 18th Avenue.
Lemoore and Kings County roads actually prove quite deadly for those on foot each year. The California Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) tracks pedestrian accidents across Kings County.
- 2024: Lemoore and Kings County documented 24 pedestrian accidents involving injury. Those impacts led to at least 6 tragic deaths.
- 2023: Lemoore and Kings County documented 39 serious pedestrian accidents and 10 tragic deaths.
A local pedestrian accident lawyer can help you figure out your best path to earning support after being hit by a car. You may be in a hospital bed or recuperating at home while forced to worry about growing bills. It’s Maison Law’s job to squeeze unhelpful insurers and to get your bills paid, while allowing you to focus on healing.
Injury Worries for Pedestrian Accident Victims
Pedestrians can absorb the full weight of a vehicle, and the faster a car is going, the more impact force is unleashed on victims. Victims can end up impacting a vehicle and then striking the ground. Their unprotected bodies might even end up underneath a vehicle.
Pedestrians might be rushed to the local urgent care or over to Hanford for more intensive care.
These are just a few of the injuries a victim might come away with:
- Bone Fractures: Broken legs and arms are most common in collisions. Some breaks can be very difficult to heal. Bones can even heal in the wrong position and may need to be broken again and reset through surgery.
- Musculoskeletal Injuries: These injuries involve strains, sprains, and dislocations in bones, muscles, ligaments, and nerves. Healing can take weeks, and patients can develop chronic pain that lingers for months or years.
- Brain Trauma: Pedestrians don’t enjoy any protection for their heads in a strike from a car, SUV, truck, or motorcycle. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) leads to confusion, mood swings, memory loss, and in some cases, seizures. A skull fracture can lead to brain bleeding.
- Spine Injury: A cervical spine dislocation is another common injury, especially for older pedestrian victims. The ligaments in the spine are damaged. It occurs when blunt forces pull the spine bones apart.
- Back injuries: The stretching of muscles, tendons, and ligaments leaves microscopic tears in back muscles. These difficult-to-treat injuries can cause lifelong back pain. This pain can affect the victim’s ability to exercise, play with children, and perform job duties.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of things are compensated in a pedestrian accident settlement?
Victims must get help with all medical bills and their lost income while they can’t work. Their physical pain and emotional trauma must also factor into a settlement check. Families who lose a loved one to a tragic fatal pedestrian accident can also file a wrongful death claim and seek support. They would seek help with funeral expenses and any remaining medical bills left behind. They could also expect help in future years with supporting the family, now that any income the deceased had contributed each month is gone.
How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident claim?
Two years. Pedestrian accident victims have a two-year statute of limitations to file an injury claim. They should act quickly. A lawyer can use the head start to collect fresh evidence and to track down witnesses.
What if I can’t afford to hire a pedestrian accident lawyer?
You can focus on healing after hiring a lawyer to represent you in an accident claim. You also don’t have to sweat over how you’ll pay a lawyer. We don’t ask you any upfront money. Maison Law doesn’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement that a car insurance company must pay you.
Contact a Lemoore Pedestrian Accident Attorney
Contact Maison Law to schedule a free, confidential consultation with a real Lemoore Pedestrian Accident Lawyer. We want to hear what happened to you. We’re going to answer your questions and make sure you are prepared for the insurance tactics you’ll face so you don’t forfeit valuable support. You’ll know what your injury is worth before an insurance adjuster tries to convince you it’s worth nothing at all.
