What If a Pedestrian Is Hit While Jaywalking?

Were You Injured While Jaywalking? What Happens Next?

Pedestrian accidents, whether walking or riding in a motorized wheelchair, represent 22% of all fatal traffic accidents in California. California state law and policies require drivers to yield to pedestrians, but pedestrians have legal obligations to obey traffic laws and cross streets in crosswalks or at intersections. If you, the pedestrian, were jaywalking when you were struck by the vehicle, you may not be able to recover full compensation for your medical bills. Drivers must exercise caution, reduce speed, and stop, when necessary, for pedestrians pursuant to California Vehicle Code §21950. In Los Angeles with a population of 2 million residents, slightly less than 350 pedestrians are injured or killed in traffic accidents annually.

Contacting a Pedestrian Accident Attorney

If someone you love suffered severe life-threatening injuries or died suddenly while crossing a California street, our Los Angeles pedestrian accident attorney can bring you peace of mind while examining the facts of your loved one’s tragic accident. Our lawyers work with a network of private investigators who can find additional evidence and relevant information in your pedestrian accident case. Our investigators can also locate assets and personally serve defendants in your loved one’s case to recover compensation even from uninsured drivers for medical bills, time lost from work, and pain and suffering. Our pedestrian injury law firm in Los Angeles can:

• Investigate your pedestrian or wrongful death case
• Find defendants and witnesses in your case
• Question parties and witnesses
• Determine and establish liability in your case
• Represent you in settlement negotiations or prepare your case for trial

Contributory Negligence

If you or your loved one was under the influence of alcohol or in possession of a controlled substance when the accident occurred, contributory negligence bars you from recovering full compensation for damages due to the pedestrian accident. A motorist driving above the speed limit or drunk is equally negligent and judged at least partially liable for the accident. Weather, road conditions, or defective equipment may play a role in your pedestrian accident case. Your lawyer may find huge holes in the street’s surface, a malfunctioning traffic signal, or a faulty master cylinder in the vehicle that hit you. Negligence on the part of the motorist who hit you makes it possible for you to recover compensation for your pedestrian accident.

Comparative Negligence

If you were jaywalking because roadwork blocked the crosswalk and the driver of the vehicle that hit you was singing and laughing with passengers or answering the phone at the time of the collision, the driver of the vehicle is probably negligent and can be forced to compensate you for your losses through a third-party lawsuit. Call our law firm for a determination of negligence and liability in your pedestrian accident case. Comparative negligence may mean that you cannot recover full compensation for your accidental injuries. You may not be able to recover any compensation for your pedestrian injuries from a third-party, but you may need our Los Angeles personal injury attorney to help you get medical care for your injuries.

Wrongful Death Claim

If your loved one incurred bills for medical, surgical, and rehabilitative care and subsequently died after a pedestrian accident, a third-party wrongful death claim may help if someone negligently or deliberately contributed to your loved one’s accident. The deceased’s next of kin who is also the executor of the deceased’s estate is the family member who can file a wrongful death civil lawsuit. While grieving over your family member’s death, you must pay burial expenses. If your loved one did not leave a will, you may have to decide who will take custody of the deceased’s children and who will financially support them. You may also have to operate or dissolve your loved one’s small business. Our Los Angeles injury attorney may be able to help you win compensation for your family’s losses. Our Los Angeles accident attorney can also help the deceased’s next of kin distribute the deceased’s wealth to his or her beneficiaries.

Hit and Run

Families of pedestrians struck and killed by an unidentified driver can expect the absent driver to be charged with vehicular homicide. A driver who leaves the scene of an accident may have a criminal record. He or she may be driving a stolen vehicle or have a suspended driver’s license. The driver may be legally intoxicated. If your loved one, the pedestrian, just stepped out of his or her car, you may be able to recover compensation for accidental death from your loved one’s insurance company even though he or she died outside the vehicle. Uninsured drivers are not entitled to recover compensation for pain and suffering under California law even though it might be possible to recover additional damages from the driver who committed the criminal act of leaving the scene of an accident.

Finding a Driver Who Left the Scene of Your Accident

To locate the driver who hit your loved one, our pedestrian hit and run collision lawyer in Los Angeles can subpoena OnStar data. OnStar records data from all vehicles near the scene of your accident during the time of collision. OnStar data may identify the driver who fled the scene of the accident to help our pedestrian attorneys in Los Angeles.

OnStar

OnStar data is compiled from vehicle computers and cameras. OnStar records speed, turns, road conditions, and precise locations of cars and trucks during the accident. OnStar is a direct link to emergency medical assistance and contains exclamations of drivers who witnessed or reported the accident with GPS and sensor information. OnStar records times of phone calls, changes of radio stations, and conversations within vehicles.

Grey Law

Call or contact our firm today to discuss your pedestrian accident or wrongful death legal issues resulting from your loved one’s pedestrian accident. Our injury lawyer with more than 30 years of experience successfully recovers compensation for his clients’ losses. Our law office is available 24 hours each day seven days each week to take your call, and our lawyers charge no fees until they win financial compensation for your loss.