Do Jaywalkers Have the Right of Way?
Every motorist should give the pedestrian the right of way—even when the pedestrian engages in risky behavior like jaywalking. A motorist must take every precaution to protect others from serious injury or death, and that includes avoiding hitting a jaywalker.
If you were a pedestrian hit by a motor vehicle or you lost a loved one in such an accident, consider hiring a Seattle pedestrian accident lawyer. An attorney will seek fair compensation for your accident-related damages. Even if you or a loved one was jaywalking during the collision, you may be entitled to compensation.
Motorists Have a Duty to Avoid Striking Pedestrians, Including Jaywalkers
If a motorist acts in a manner consistent with safe driving, they will generally avoid striking even pedestrians who cross the road unexpectedly.
Safe driving practices that can prevent pedestrian accidents include:
- Driving defensively, which means assuming that others may engage in unexpected behaviors, such as crossing the road without the right of way
- Avoiding distracted driving, which allows motorists to spot crossing pedestrians right away
- Being alert and sober, which allows the motorist to see pedestrians and respond quickly to prevent striking them
- Driving the speed limit, which can ensure the motorist has plenty of time to stop before hitting a pedestrian
- Ensuring their vehicle is in good condition, which will reduce the likelihood that a brake blowout or other defect will contribute to a pedestrian accident
Speeding, distracted driving, and other negligent motorist behaviors increase the risk of accidents, including those involving pedestrians. If a motorist engages in dangerous behavior, they can be financially responsible for any resulting pedestrian collision.
Is a Motorist Liable If They Hit Me While Jaywalking?
A pedestrian can hold a motorist or insurance company liable, even if the pedestrian jaywalked when the vehicle struck them. Unless the collision was entirely unavoidable (which is rarely the case), the motorist may bear fault for the accident.
Steps to Take After You Are in a Pedestrian Accident
Pedestrians hit by a motor vehicle need to focus on their health. The most important consideration is that you receive the care you need, and you must obtain fair compensation for your accident-related damages.
Some steps every pedestrian accident victim should take include:
Getting a Complete Examination for Accident-Related Injuries
The human body can only take so much before injuries happen, and the force of a motor vehicle most often causes injuries.
Traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding, and broken bones are among the injuries that may happen when a vehicle hits a pedestrian, and you should:
- Seek treatment from a qualified, trusted medical professional.
- Insist that your doctor provides a diagnosis and treatment plan for any apparent injuries and symptoms you’re experiencing.
- Keep all documentation related to your post-accident treatment, including bills and images of injuries.
Your doctor should provide explicit directions for promoting healing and avoiding worsening symptoms. Follow this advice both for your health and the sake of any claim or lawsuit you pursue.
Seeking Help for Emotional and Psychological Difficulties
Being hit by a motor vehicle can be an intensely traumatic experience. You may benefit from a mental health professional’s diagnosis of your psychological and emotional conditions, and such diagnoses may directly benefit your case.
A mental health professional may also provide treatment that relieves your pain and suffering. Any improvement in your mental health is worth the cost, and your lawyer will seek to have liable parties cover such treatment expenses.
Hiring a Pedestrian Accident Attorney as Soon as Possible
You should not wait to hire a pedestrian accident lawyer because:
- Certain evidence related to your case may not be available for much longer.
- There may be a deadline for filing pedestrian accident claims and lawsuits, and missing the deadline can end your case before it starts.
- You can never have the advice and protection of a pedestrian accident lawyer soon enough.
The sooner you hire your lawyer, the sooner you can focus on your recovery without concern about your case. Your pedestrian accident attorney will obtain the compensation you deserve.
How a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Will Assist You
Hiring an attorney entitles you to their time and effort. When it comes to pedestrian accident cases, an attorney will typically:
Oversee All Case Strategy
Every injured pedestrian needs and receives a personalized case strategy because:
- Every pedestrian accident victim suffers different injuries
- Every victim’s damages are unique
- Each person has different medical needs (with varying costs)
- Available insurance policies differ in each pedestrian accident case
Put simply, each case is its own case. Your attorney will weigh all relevant factors, including your injuries, damages, and options for seeking compensation. They will put forth the strategy they believe is best for you and solicit your feedback.
Pedestrian accident lawyers are familiar with pivoting. For instance, your attorney may start by leading an insurance claim and then file a lawsuit if necessary. Trust your attorney to craft an intelligent strategy and update that strategy as required.
Handle Communications
Attorneys deal with insurance companies and others involved in their clients’ cases. Your lawyer will ensure you can focus on your recovery by leading communications. It will also ensure nobody can violate your rights or undermine your case in any way.
Secure Evidence
Your attorney will quickly secure all evidence that supports your claim or lawsuit, which may include:
- Video footage of the vehicle striking the pedestrian (whether it was you or a loved one)
- Eyewitness accounts related to the accident
- An expert’s testimony about why the accident happened and who is responsible
- Any police report detailing the collision
- Photographs of the accident scene
Your attorney may immediately dispatch an investigator to secure evidence if they do not secure evidence themselves. The time you wait (or don’t) before hiring an attorney can be the difference between securing pivotal evidence of negligence.
Document Damages
The toll of your accident may include both financial losses and non-economic damages, like post-traumatic stress disorder.
Your pedestrian accident attorney in Seattle will document every way in which the accident has affected you and may prove your damages with:
- Expert testimony about your damages (which may come from doctors, economists, mental health professionals, automotive repair professionals, and other qualified sources)
- All medical bills related to the accident
- Past income statements that help prove lost income and other professional damages
- Invoices for the repair or replacement of damaged property
- Your testimony about how being hit by a vehicle has affected you
If you have lost a loved one due to a fatal pedestrian accident, your lawyer will know how to document the tragic losses you have suffered.
Calculate the Case Value
Attorneys generally use one of two methods to calculate non-economic damages, which do not always have a clear financial cost. For economic damages, your attorney will total the cost of current damages and project any future damages you’ll experience.
Setting an accurate case value is critical in securing the compensation injured pedestrians deserve. If you deliberately choose a qualified lawyer, you can trust them to value your case accurately.
Negotiate a Settlement
Your attorney will fight for a fair settlement on your behalf. Most civil cases settle, as all parties want to avoid trial.
File a Lawsuit and Go to Trial, If Necessary
While most cases settle, they don’t all end with a financial agreement. Instead, some pedestrian accident lawsuits go to trial.
If it is in your interest to go to trial, your lawyer will fight for you in court. When considering which firm to hire, choose one with proven trial experience.
The Cost of Pedestrian Accidents Is Typically High (and Includes These Damages)
Every pedestrian accident lawyer’s goal and duty is to secure the compensation their client deserves. Your lawyer and their network of experts will evaluate your damages, as they can’t rely on average settlement figures or other peoples’ cases—your case is independent of all others.
That being said, some damages a pedestrian accident victim is likely to suffer include:
Pain and Suffering, Plus Related Treatment Costs
Those who have not been hit by a motor vehicle cannot truly understand how painful and distressing such accidents are.
Pain and suffering is a certainty among pedestrian accident victims, and this category of damages may include:
- Immediate and chronic pain from your injuries
- Lost qualify of life
- Loss of physical abilities
- Mood changes, personality changes, memory deficits, and other cognitive problems
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
When you hire a lawyer, they may arrange for you to see a mental health professional at no direct cost to you. It will ensure that your attorney understands your pain and suffering and can seek fair compensation for such damages.
Professional Damages, Including Lost Income
Accident victims typically miss work, whether temporarily or permanently.
Damages that can result from work-related absences include:
- Lost income
- Diminished earning power
- Lost chances to earn promotions, overtime pay, and bonuses
When someone cannot work, they may suffer additional psychological distress. Your attorney will accurately calculate the cost of your professional damages after a pedestrian collision.
Medical Bills
Your lawyer’s settlement demands will include the cost of all medical expenses related to your accident. This includes diagnostic imaging, hospital services, rehabilitation, and any other medical services or items related to your accident.
The Hardship of Disabling Injuries
When someone suffers disabling injuries during a pedestrian accident, they may:
- Be unable to work again, meaning they need compensation to cover all of their lost income
- Experience severe, long-lasting pain and suffering
- Need indefinite rehabilitation
- Have to purchase a wheelchair, a vehicle that can accommodate a wheelchair, and other items related to their disability
- Need to move or update their residents with handrails, ramps, and other features related to their disability
You incur both an economic and non-economic cost of a disability. Your pedestrian accident lawyer will reflect these costs in their settlement demands.
A Loved One’s Wrongful Death
Because pedestrians have little, if any, protection against the force of a vehicle, there is a significant likelihood of fatal injuries. If you have lost a loved one from injuries they suffered during a pedestrian accident, you need to see justice done.
A pedestrian accident lawyer can seek compensation for the life-changing cost of a wrongful death, which may include:
- Pain and suffering, including but not limited to grief
- The cost of any counseling, medication, or other treatment you need for grief and other forms of pain and suffering
- Funeral expenses
- Burial or cremation costs
- Loss of the decedent’s income
- Loss of the decedent’s household services
- Loss of consortium, including but not necessarily limited to the loss of a spouse’s companionship
Every pedestrian accident victim should hold liable parties accountable, which may mean hiring an attorney. You may only move on from this harmful event once you secure fair compensation for your damages.
I’ve Heard Lawyers Are Expensive. Can I Afford to Hire One?
Hiring a pedestrian accident lawyer will not cost a dime out of your pocket.
Because most injury attorneys use contingency fees, you:
- Won’t pay your lawyer any upfront fee
- Will have the firm’s financial support for every case-related cost
- Will agree that your lawyer will receive a percentage of any settlement or verdict they secure for you
This arrangement works for clients who don’t want to bear the financial risk associated with their case. It also works for law firms with the financial means to cover case costs and the confidence that they will succeed for the client.
Find Your Pedestrian Accident Attorney Today
Remember filing deadlines and other time-sensitive aspects of your pedestrian accident case. Research attorneys serving your area as soon as possible and hire your Seattle personal injury attorney once you’re confident they are the right lawyer for your case.
Consultations are free, obtain yours today and begin protecting your rights following your accident and injuries.
