California drivers must show all pedestrians a special “duty of care” because of the extreme vulnerability of those on foot.
When drivers are careless and strike pedestrians, injured victims can seek full compensation for their recovery costs.
This support isn’t automatic. Victims will need to take the right steps in the injury claims process to ensure they receive help to heal physically and financially.
The Day of The Accident
Victims should call 911 and ask for an ambulance if they or someone else is hurt in any way. They should get fully examined by the ambulance crew and go to the ER if necessary.
Victims who are left strong enough should take action when it’s safe to collect evidence.
- Get photos of their injuries, the damage to a vehicle, and any markings left on the road.
- Get witness contact information.
- Get the driver’s insurance and driver’s license info.
If victims must leave for the hospital, they should ask someone with them or a helpful bystander to take photos and to grab some information.
The First Few Days After a Pedestrian Accident
There are some steps to take immediately after an accident. The sooner, the better for your upcoming injury claim.
See Your Physician: You need to schedule an appointment with your family doctor, even if you’ve been to the Emergency Room. ER doctors can miss injuries. You may also wake up to pain the next day, indicating that you have an injury you didn’t realize. Get your doctor to examine any new pain and document all injuries. Follow your doctor’s orders about seeing specialists and completing physical therapy. Keep all receipts for medical care.
Contact a Lawyer: California allows pedestrian accident victims to file claims up to two years after an injury. But it’s wise to contact a California pedestrian accident lawyer as soon as possible. You’ll want your lawyer to be able to take action quickly before evidence disappears and witnesses become hard to find. Maison Law can go over your accident with you in a free case consultation. Not every victim needs a lawyer for their case. However, if you’ve suffered a serious injury, an attorney is often able to secure much more for you than you could win yourself.
Remember: You may feel you can’t afford a lawyer, even though you need one to earn everything you can. That’s not a worry with Maison Law. We work on a contingency basis for injured victims. It means we don’t get paid unless we win the case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement you earn.
See: Documents to Gather for a Personal Injury Case
The First Few Weeks After an Accident (Building Your Case)
You will need to get to work building a strong case in the weeks after your accident. Car insurance adjusters will try to blame your accident on you as an excuse to reject your claim. If not that, they’ll try to downplay your injuries so they can get away with offering you less in a settlement.
Evidence and documentation will be key. Your attorney will work with your doctors to secure medical charts to prove how badly you are hurt and how long you’ll need support.
Your attorney also collects the police accident report from your incident, any surveillance video taken, and witness testimony.
Your claim should also include a full account of the hardships you’ve endured. Anything left off this list is something insurers would just ignore and leave for you to pay.
It should include these factors and more:
- Your building medical bills
- The physical therapy you must complete to relearn to walk correctly
- Your lost income while you can’t work
- The physical pain you’ve endured
- The emotional trauma you must cope with
The Next Few Months (Filing Your Claim)
Once all the evidence is in and your claim is prepared, it’s likely time to file your claim with the at-fault driver’s insurer.
In some cases, it’s beneficial for you to wait until your injury is completely healed. This is known as reaching “maximum medical improvement.” It’s easier to total all medical bills if the patient no longer requires doctor visits. But in other cases, patients may have long-term injuries or a permanent disability, and it’s a better idea to estimate future costs and file immediately.
Filing a Claim: To get started, you can prepare your own demand letter, or allow your attorney to handle it. This letter is your claim along with a full list of hardships you want compensation for. It should also include the monetary amount you expect.
Negotiating Your Claim: An experienced lawyer who has experience negotiating with giant insurance companies will be a big help here. They’ll fight to earn you the biggest settlement possible. They’ll also check every settlement offer you get, and reject it if it isn’t enough, then demand more.
If you accept a settlement, the injury claim process ends, and you receive a settlement check. Resolution might happen in a few months, but insurance companies are known to purposely delay responses. Some may have to wait 6 months or longer before insurers act.
Six Months or Longer After a Pedestrian Accident (A Lawsuit)
If a shady car insurance company refuses to accept blame for a pedestrian strike or refuses to provide a fair settlement check, a lawsuit could be the next step.
Your lawyer would fight for a settlement, but would always prepare to take an auto insurance company to court if necessary.
Pedestrian accident victims don’t usually have to go to court to seek justice. Car insurers usually settle to avoid an expensive trial and the possibility of negative attention. A lawsuit can act as a motivator to force an insurer to accept blame before a trial is necessary.
If a trial is needed, the legal battle may drag out for 12 months or more. In California, it can take a year simply to get a court date assigned.
The Timeline for a Deadly Pedestrian Accident
A deadly pedestrian accident would allow family members to file a wrongful death claim against the driver. This case would play out much like a personal injury case, except the settlement would focus on the family’s needs going forward.
That would include help with paying funeral costs. It should also factor in the income the victim may have provided to support the family that’s now been lost.
Families have the same two-year deadline to file a wrongful death claim that personal injury victims are allowed. One family member can represent the entire family. A skilled California wrongful death lawyer can also represent the family.
Contact a California Pedestrian Accident Lawyer If You’ve Been Hurt
Not every pedestrian accident victim needs a lawyer. But if you’ve suffered a serious injury (e.g., a fracture, a Traumatic Brain Injury, a neck or back injury) and a driver was at fault, it’s a good idea to talk over your case with a lawyer.
Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, offers a free case consultation for injured victims and their families. It’s a chance to determine what you should demand and how to force car insurance companies to accept full responsibility.
