If you have been hit by a car as a pedestrian, you must see a doctor right away before you do anything. After a doctor has evaluated your condition and you have been stabilized, contact an attorney to learn more information about what to do next. Your lawyer will help you determine if you are eligible for compensation that can cover your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages. They will determine your eligibility even if you shared fault for the accident.
Determining the Value of Your Claim
Each accident case is different. A pedestrian accident lawyer will review the facts of your case before they can come up with ana curate estimate of your claim’s value. To determine the worth of your claim, they will evaluate your injury’s nature and severity, medical treatment costs, expected future medical and rehabilitation needs, lost wages, quality of life damage, pain and suffering, and your possible contribution to the accident.
Determining the value of some kinds of damages is easy. For instance, you can prove your medical expenses will receipts and bills. But quantifying other kinds of damages can be challenging. These damages include your pain and suffering.
Securing Compensation If You Are Partially Responsible for the Accident
Under state law, you can still recover damages in a pedestrian accident as long as you only share less than 51% of the fault. Usually, insurers blame victims for their contribution to the accident or not mitigating their damages. If the insurance company is blaming you, you must contact a lawyer who can defend you. You don’t want to lose your right to monetary compensation entirely. You may share fault for the accident if you were walking while intoxicated, distracted, jaywalking, or not following traffic signals.
Proving Negligence Following a Pedestrian Accident
For you to recover compensation, you must prove that somebody else was negligent and caused your accident. Establishing negligence means proving that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, that they breached this duty of care by committing a mistake, this breach directly caused the accident, and that you sustained damages and injuries due to the accident.
Your pedestrian accident attorney will find evidence to establish these elements. They will search for video surveillance footage, review police reports, and get statements from witnesses. After they have obtained strong evidence for your case, they can build a strong pedestrian accident claim against the at-fault party’s insurance company or sue the negligent party.