Unfortunately, pedestrians often suffer more severe injuries than the drivers of vehicles because they lack protective equipment and can be thrown into another part of the car, hit their head on the windshield, or even fall underneath it.
A pedestrian may also be killed in any collision with an automobile while the driver walks away unharmed.
The personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC have years of experience advocating for victims injured due to someone else’s negligence or recklessness.
We know how hard it is to recover from these types of injuries, and we will fight for your rights as you try to move forward with your life after suffering such a terrible ordeal. To learn more about our services, call us today!
Contact our Peoria, Illinois law office at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form for immediate legal advice and schedule a free consultation. All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team remains private through an attorney-client relationship.
Illinois Pedestrian Accident Statistics
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, pedestrian accidents are rising. In addition, there are more pedestrian/motor vehicle crashes in Illinois than in any other state. Several factors contribute to this increase.
First, many drivers are distracted by Smartphones or texting while behind the wheel. Second, pedestrians often make themselves less visible by wearing dark clothing at night instead of brightly colored clothes during the day.
Last, alcohol consumption is to blame in many car-versus-pedestrian collisions because the drivers are influenced by drugs or alcohol.
Common Pedestrian Accident Injuries
Data reveals that many pedestrian/car accident victims suffer moderate, severe, and catastrophic injuries when hit by a moving vehicle.
The sheer size and weight of a commercial truck weighing 80,000 pounds or more or a passenger vehicle weighing 3000 pounds or more colliding with the pedestrian could be devastating.
Common pedestrian/motor vehicle accident injuries involve:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage
- Cuts and bruises
- Lacerations and contusions
- Amputations (dismemberment)
- Burns and road rash
- Paraplegia (paralysis of the lower body)
- Quadriplegia (paralysis of both legs and arms)
- Death
Many pedestrian accident victims require extensive physical therapy, hospitalization, surgeries, expensive medical equipment like wheelchairs or walkers, medications, and more to get their lives back on track.
Unfortunately, most car accident victims also suffer from some level of emotional distress. Some common emotional injuries include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Depression or anxiety for the future
- Mental anguish and pain, and suffering
- Loss of employment after being unable to work due to severe injuries
- Loss of consortium with a spouse after they have passed away
Surviving Family Members and Fatal Pedestrian/Auto Accidents
Qualifying surviving family members can file wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of the decedent to ensure maximum compensation for their losses.
Many of these lawsuits are filed by surviving spouses, children, or parents of the deceased. In these cases, an attorney’s job is to assess the legal claims and pursue compensation from all negligent parties to secure a settlement or jury award.
What do you need to prove to prevail in a wrongful death lawsuit?
The types of damages your family could be granted largely depend on what evidence is available in the evidence collection process.
The first step should involve an experienced personal injury lawyer examining who can identify potential claims, gather the facts surrounding the case, and determine liability for your loss.
Here are three things that must be established to prevail in a wrongful death lawsuit:
- Proof of negligence on the other driver’s part
- Losses you’ve suffered need to be quantified in terms of financial damages
- Proof that you have a valid legal claim against the at-fault party
Typically, wrongful death lawsuits take two or three years to resolve through negotiated settlements or jury awards.
National Car/Pedestrian Accident Statistics
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 4,735 pedestrians died, and 70,000 were injured in traffic crashes in 2019.
That same year, drivers of cars and light trucks totaled 32,719 deaths. This stat shows that pedestrian fatalities represented 14 percent of all traffic-related deaths in the United States in 2019.
What is even more concerning is the number of children who are struck by motor vehicles. According to Safe Kids Worldwide, four children die daily in the United States due to vehicle-related accidents.
Of these 4,065 fatalities in 2012, more than half occurred at non-intersection locations, and nearly three-quarters of children killed were struck while they were on their way to or from school or a school-related activity.
Pedestrian/auto accidents in Illinois and nationwide are a concern. It is up to all drivers and pedestrians to stay safe when sharing the road.
Unfortunately, many people do not realize that even if they have the right of way, they still need to take steps to ensure their safety.
Pedestrian Safety Tips for Drivers
The Illinois Department of Transportation warns that all motorists sharing the roadway with pedestrians, bicyclists, and others must follow traffic laws.
Every driver should remain aware and alert of their surroundings and:
- Stop at all crosswalks, even if there’s no traffic light or stop sign. It’s the law
- When driving at night, be sure to turn on your headlights so pedestrians can see you coming
- Yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk and do not pass other vehicles that have stopped for a pedestrian
- If you are turning, don’t assume pedestrians see you. They could be on their cell phone or texting and not paying attention to the traffic
- When backing out of a parking space, check for pedestrians using the side-view mirror, behind the vehicle, and in front
Safety Tips for Pedestrians
While all motorists and others sharing the road must provide a right of way to every pedestrian, everyone near moving traffic should take specific steps to ensure their safety.
A pedestrian should:
- Wear bright, reflective clothing or put a light on your backpack when walking at night
- Never assume a driver sees you. Make eye contact with the driver before crossing in front of them. If you can’t make eye contact, wait for the car to pass
- Make sure drivers have entirely stopped before attempting to cross in front of them; do not assume they’ll stop
- If you’re walking at night, take the safest route possible and avoid shortcuts even if they seem shorter than the walk you’d take during the day
Good Samaritan Law for Those Involved in Pedestrian/Car Accidents
There is good news for those involved in an accident where someone was injured or killed; the Good Samaritan Law protects lay people who aid accident victims.
Should you stop at the scene of an accident and provide any first aid or comfort, you are immune from liability should your care slip below accepted medical standards.
You may want to call for help if someone is hurt, but don’t worry about getting sued. However, knowing that the Good Samaritan Law does not apply if you are intoxicated or impaired when you provide aid is essential.
Injured in a Pedestrian Accident?
All these tips and laws can’t wholly prevent pedestrian/car accidents and injuries. Suppose you were injured in a car-versus-pedestrian accident. In that case, you need an experienced Peoria personal injury attorney to help fight for the justice and compensation you deserve.
The first step you take following an accident could save the life of the injured. These steps include:
- Call 911 and get immediate emergency assistance, especially if the injured person is not breathing.
- If anyone was injured, immediately get their names, addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying information. If you cannot ask them for this because they are incapacitated or have been taken away by ambulance, then carefully look around for identification or documents that can provide this information. Also, gather the names, telephone numbers, and addresses of any witnesses to the accident.
- Preserve all evidence from the scene throughout your recovery by taking photographs and keeping any items involved, like a damaged bicycle or car parts. If you file a lawsuit, these items can be critical evidence for your personal injury claim.
- If you were hurt in the accident, seek medical attention, and notify the police if necessary. When walking away from an accident, do so safely and lawfully to not jeopardize your personal injury claim later.
- Contact a personal injury attorney who can begin obtaining compensation for your damages. Your lawyer should be able to negotiate a substantial sum to pay all your medical bills, property damage, lost wages, future lost earnings, and non-economic damages, including pain, suffering, and grief.
How Peoria Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help
Were you injured in a Peoria pedestrian accident? If so, the Peoria personal injury attorneys of Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC are taking on new clients who have been injured or lost a loved one due to a negligent driver’s actions while legally crossing or using the street.
Accidents like these are severe because the victim is fully exposed, and drivers often forget that their vehicles are powerful devices capable of untold carnage when operated irresponsibly.
Our law firm will explore all avenues when seeking the compensation our clients need so that they do not need to worry about the financial implications of their injuries and the pain and suffering they must endure while healing.
How We Establish Fault to Build Your Peoria Pedestrian Accident Case
To present your case to a court, we need to be able to show beyond a doubt that the driver was at fault for the accident that caused your injuries. Peoria pedestrian accident attorneys can collect the evidence to achieve this aim in several ways, including the following.
- Request police reports, including evidence collected at the scene, eyewitness accounts, and the list of witnesses who provided statements. Our experienced attorneys will often contact the witnesses to determine if we can learn anything new and help us with our material investigation. There may also be conflicting statements from two witnesses, so interviewing the witnesses can help us form our strategy for going to court.
- Obtain video from traffic cameras and security cameras in the vicinity of where the accident took place. The evidence gleaned from this exercise can provide clear evidence by showing the events in real time.
- File a subpoena for the driver’s phone records. Your East Peoria pedestrian accident attorney can use these records to see if the driver was sending text messages or on a phone call while the accident occurred. Distracted driving is a cause of many accidents, and the illegal use of a Smartphone while driving will make the driver liable.
- Obtain recordings from the 911 calls made at the scene. These records will help us determine what witnesses saw in real-time and in our accident reconstruction effort so that we can recreate the events as they transpired.
- Hire a qualified accident reconstruction team to gather evidence and determine whether the driver was speeding at impact or tried to avoid the accident, like swerving or applying the brakes
- Construct a 3D model of the accident to show the jury how events happened visually so they can understand.
Your Legal Options Following a Pedestrian Accident Provide Access to Compensation from Multiple Sources
While insurance companies provide the bulk of the compensation paid out following auto accidents, it is essential to note that we can recover compensation for our clients in multiple ways.
If the damages you have suffered exceed the driver’s policy limits, we may need to explore alternatives to ensure you receive all of the compensation you are owed.
Here are the ways we may seek to achieve that aim.
- Recover compensation from the driver’s insurance policy is the first step when representing someone who has suffered severe injuries that may require expensive long-term treatment and can result in lost wages and quality of life.
- Receive available compensation from your driver’s insurance company that most policies cover underinsured drivers. In addition, we may be able to collect additional compensation by negotiating with your insurance company to cover the gap in compensation between what you are owed and what the driver’s insurance will cover.
- Access your health insurance coverage to bridge the gap— your health insurance is an asset. If the compensation you can recover from other sources is insufficient, we can file a claim against your health insurance policy.
- Going after the driver’s assets is usually a last resort. Still, if the driver has assets that can be used to meet their responsibility for providing you with fair compensation, we can use this avenue as yet another way to obtain the damages you are owed.
Recent Catastrophic Pedestrian Accidents in the Peoria County Area
Our Peoria pedestrian accident attorneys have handled many cases and reviewed others involving catastrophic injuries and accidents in central Illinois.
Some of these accidents include:
- In March 2021, a Peoria resident was struck and killed while crossing the street in a bike lane. The police did not cite the driver. Instead, her surviving family member filed a personal injury lawsuit, citing negligent actions that led to their loved one’s death.
- In September 2020, a female motorist was struck and killed by a male driver traveling at an allegedly high-speed rate. The man reportedly left the scene without stopping. His companion, who was in the car with him, was also severely injured.
- In May 2020, a Peoria resident died after being struck by a vehicle while she crossed a street in a crosswalk. The male driver stopped and said he did not see the pedestrian until it was too late to avoid the collision. She died at the scene from her injuries.
- In November 2019, an oncoming vehicle struck an older man from downstate Illinois who walked into traffic that failed to yield. He never stopped despite warning sounds and bright lights from the vehicle getting too close to ensure his safety. The victim died at the scene.
- In September 2019, a female motorist struck and killed a Peoria resident as she crossed a street in a crosswalk with the right of way. The prosecuting authorities filed no charges.
- In August 2019, another vehicle struck and killed a male motorist as he crossed the street in a crosswalk. The driver who hit him reportedly left the accident scene without stopping or checking to see if he had harmed anyone. There have been no charges filed against the driver at this time.
Nearly all personal injury cases were resolved through negotiated settlements out-of-court to provide victims and surviving family members sufficient funds to pay for medical treatment, hospitalization, rehabilitation, pain, and suffering.
Put Our Peoria Pedestrian Accident Lawyers to Work on Your Behalf
Were you injured in a pedestrian/motor vehicle accident, or did you lose a loved one through another’s distracted or reckless driving?
Our Peoria, Illinois, personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, can help you pursue the answers and recover the damages you seek by recovering the maximum compensation the law will allow.
Contact us at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) or use the contact form for a free case evaluation. We have helped other clients just like you obtain more than $250 million through financial compensation negotiated with the defendants or won at trial.
Our award-winning Peoria pedestrian accident law firm accepts personal injury lawsuits on a contingency fee basis, so our services will cost you nothing unless we can secure damages on your behalf.
