707-926-4924
When Will You Need a Pedestrian Accident Attorney?
At many Pinellas County intersections, simply crossing the street can be dangerous. If a negligent driver injures you in Pinellas County while you are a pedestrian in a crosswalk, you should have the advice and services of a Clearwater pedestrian accident lawyer.
Pedestrians need to know their legal rights and options. If you are injured in a crosswalk by a reckless or negligent auto, bus, or truck driver, Florida law entitles you to recover compensation for medical expenses, lost earnings, and related damages.
Why Are Pedestrian Accidents So Devastating?
When a negligent or reckless driver crashes into a pedestrian, if the pedestrian survives, he or she may suffer back and neck injuries, brain injuries, head trauma, internal injuries, and multiple bruises, abrasions, and broken bones.
Pedestrians usually wear no safety gear and do not expect to be injured, so the injured pedestrian victims of reckless and negligent drivers are likely to sustain catastrophic and disabling injuries. However, if you are injured because of your own negligence – let’s say you walked into the street while intoxicated or distracted by your phone – you won’t qualify to file a personal injury claim.
Permanently disabling or catastrophic injuries may require millions of dollars for lifelong care and treatment, so you may need the maximum available compensation amount. A Clearwater pedestrian accident attorney will work to recover the compensation you need and deserve.
How Are Pedestrian Accident Claims Handled?
One car insurance company reports that more than fifty percent of us are distracted when we are pedestrians. People talk, text, listen to music, and even read while they walk. Pedestrians have walked into traffic, buildings, and even off bridges because their eyes were fixed on a screen.
Even though the law entitles you to compensation if a negligent driver injures you, to recover that compensation, you and your attorney may have to prove that the driver’s negligence directly caused your injury or injuries. A skilled personal injury attorney can make the difference.
If you bring a personal injury claim, your Clearwater pedestrian accident lawyer will negotiate directly and privately with the negligent driver’s auto insurance company for the settlement you need. Pedestrian accident cases in Florida are typically settled out of court.
However, if liability for your injury is disputed or if the insurance company does not negotiate in good faith, your attorney will take your pedestrian injury claim to trial and explain to a jury how you were injured, how severely, and how much compensation you should recover.
How Can You Prevail With a Pedestrian Injury Claim?
In personal injury cases based on pedestrian accidents, liability for the accident must be determined. To prevail with an injury claim, your attorney must prove that the driver who injured you (the “defendant”):
- owed you a “duty of care”
- breached that duty with reckless or negligent behavior
- directly caused your injury with recklessness or negligence
- should compensate you for medical costs, lost earnings, and other damages
To prove a driver’s liability for your injury, your pedestrian accident attorney will study the written police accident report and your medical records related to the accident. Your attorney will scrutinize any photos or video of the accident and speak to any eyewitnesses.
Your attorney may also seek expert testimony from a medical authority or an accident reconstruction expert. If skid marks were left at the scene, a skid mark analysis by an accident reconstruction expert can determine a vehicle’s speed and braking distance.
Is a Medical Examination Required?
Even if you can prove that a negligent motorist injured you, an injured pedestrian in Florida faces other challenges to recovering compensation. For example, you must have a medical exam within fourteen days.
Even if you feel perfectly healthy, you may have suffered a latent injury. If you do not submit to a medical examination within fourteen days of a pedestrian accident, Florida law prevents you from recovering compensation.
Because Florida is a no-fault state for car insurance, if you have the PIP (personal injury protection) coverage that is required for Florida drivers, that coverage will pay your medical expenses and partially compensate you for lost wages, without regard to liability for the accident.
What if You Need Substantial Compensation?
Florida PIP coverage pays 80 percent of your medical bills after a pedestrian accident, but only up to the PIP coverage limit. If your damages exceed that limit, or if you do not own a vehicle and have no auto insurance, you will need to find other sources of compensation.
Your health insurance may provide partial coverage, but if you sustain a disabling or catastrophic injury because a driver crashes into you in a crosswalk, you may have to take legal action and bring a personal injury lawsuit to recover the compensation you need.
Is There a Deadline for Legal Action?
In most pedestrian accident cases, if you qualify to bring a personal injury lawsuit, the deadline is two years from the injury date. Do not wait two years. Evidence deteriorates or gets lost over time, and memories fade.
You need to have a Clearwater pedestrian accident attorney on the case as quickly as possible. If you are injured in a pedestrian accident, immediately after a medical provider has examined, treated, and released you, schedule a no-cost telephone consultation with Idrizi Law Group.
Idrizi Law Group Will Fight for Your Rights
Idrizi Law Group is a Clearwater law firm known for winning complex personal injury cases. If a negligent driver injures you in Pinellas County, an attorney at Idrizi Law Group will advocate aggressively and effectively to recover the compensation you need and deserve.
Idrizi Law Group has built a reputation in the Clearwater community for exceptional client service and legal excellence. Attorneys Shpresa Idrizi and Maryann Furman are dedicated to defending their clients’ rights and ensuring justice is served.
In Pinellas County, if a negligent driver injures you in a crosswalk – now or in the future – to learn more about your rights or begin the legal process, call Idrizi Law Group at 707-926-4924. Let us put our considerable skills and legal experience to work for you.
