Pedestrian Accident

What You Need To Know About Pedestrian Accidents

According to the National Transportation Highway Safety Administration, more than 75,000 individuals sustain some type of injury in pedestrian-car accidents every year in the United States on average. Negligent behavior, poor road maintenance, bad lighting and inclement weather tend to contribute to pedestrian accidents. If you have developed a serious injury after a pedestrian-vehicle accident, your life may never be the same again. Even if you eventually recover, you are likely to face mounting medical bills, lost wages and strained family relationships. You should not have to pay for the damages someone else inflicted. A Miami personal injury attorney can help you seek meaningful compensation from whomever caused the accident.

Recognize Serious Dangers

The average passenger vehicle weighs more than 4,000 pounds and is capable of reaching fast speeds quickly. If a car, truck or SUV collides with you, you have a high chance of sustaining a life-threatening injury. You may suffer one or more of the following types of injuries:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Bone fractures
• Muscular trauma
• Amputations
• Organ damage
• Emotional trauma


Moving your body after incurring certain types of trauma may cause further harm. If you find yourself in the middle of a vehicle-pedestrian accident and can do so safely, you should wait until emergency responders evaluate your condition before doing anything else.

Understand Negligence Claims

Usually, car-pedestrian accidents do not happen without fault. On the contrary, a driver’s negligent conduct often contributes to the crash. However, if you are walking, jogging or standing near traffic and sustain a serious bodily injury, you may need to prove the driver's negligence. Doing so requires establishing the following elements:

• Duty – The driver must owe a legal duty to the injured person. All motorists have a legal obligation to operate their vehicles responsibly and safely.
• Breach – The driver must have breached a legal obligation. If the driver fails to operate a vehicle reasonably under the circumstances, he or she likely does so.
• Causation – The driver must have been both the actual and proximate cause of the accident. More than one individual may have caused the accident to occur, however.
• Harm – The driver’s actions must have caused you to experience some type of injury. Because injuries may not appear immediately, it is important to seek medical care immediately after any pedestrian-car collision.


Proving a negligence claim often requires an extensive investigation of the accident, so you should recognize the importance of documenting the incident effectively. Keeping comprehensive medical records, photographic the accident scene, interviewing potential witnesses and documenting other relevant information may be critical to receiving the compensation you deserve.