Drivers have an important duty of safety on the road, including looking out for pedestrians. When drivers are negligent, pedestrians might be severely injured.
Pedestrian accidents are extremely dangerous and can happen under various circumstances. Anywhere pedestrians can be found along traffic, like intersections, sidewalks, and parking lots could be the site of a pedestrian accident. You might have multiple legal options for compensation, including filing an insurance claim and a personal injury lawsuit. Both options might help you get the compensation you need, although each comes with various strings attached. In many cases, it is easy to identify the liable driver. However, things become difficult if multiple drivers or parties are involved.
If you were hit by a car, you deserve compensation and justice for the injuries you sustained and the trauma you went through. Our Murfreesboro, TN pedestrian accident lawyers are here to assist you with your claims. For a free case evaluation, call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357.
Common Reasons Behind Pedestrian Accidents in Murfreesboro, TN
There might be numerous possible reasons behind a pedestrian accident. Liability, evidence, and other issues likely to arise in your case all begin by understanding how your accident occurred. Our Murfreesboro, TN pedestrian accident lawyers can help you figure out how your accident happened and who should be held responsible.
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of accidents all over the country. Many of these accidents involve pedestrians. When drivers are distracted behind the wheel, they cannot focus on the road or avoid hitting other vehicles and pedestrians. Communication devices (e.g., cell phones, laptops, tablets) are often to blame for the distraction.
Traffic violations are another significant concern when it comes to pedestrian accidents. Often, drivers disregard traffic laws and end up hurting a pedestrian. For example, a driver might decide to ignore a stop sign or red light and hit a pedestrian in an intersection or at a crosswalk as a result.
Bad weather also increases the risk of accidents, including those involving pedestrians. Although drivers cannot control the weather, they can control how they drive in bad weather. When the weather is bad, visibility is low, and the roads are treacherous, drivers must be extra defensive behind the wheel. When they are not, pedestrians might pay the price.
Drunk drivers may be held civilly liable for striking and injuring pedestrians and be criminally prosecuted. If the driver in your case was intoxicated or under the influence, we might have to wait until their criminal case is complete before we can pursue a civil lawsuit.
Legal Actions for Compensation After a Pedestrian Accident in Murfreesboro, TN
Injured pedestrians have a couple of legal avenues to choose from to get fair compensation. Our Murfreesboro, TN pedestrian accident lawyers can help you decide which path is best for your case.
Insurance Claims
Tennessee is a fault-based state regarding insurance claims after an accident. Under this insurance system, injured accident victims must file third-party claims with the insurance of the driver who hit them. Not only that, but they must prove that the other driver is at fault for the crash before the insurance company agrees to cover any damages.
Unfortunately, most insurance claims only tend to cover economic losses like medical bills or the value of destroyed property. While having your economic damages covered is certainly important, insurance often does not cover other injuries, like your physical pain and emotional trauma from the accident.
If the driver who hit you fled the scene and cannot be identified, you might have to file a claim with your own insurance if you have an uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance policy. These policies are often optional, and many drivers cannot afford to carry them. In such a case, an attorney can help you figure out what your next steps should be.
Personal Injury Lawsuits
A personal injury lawsuit might be necessary if insurance does not work out the way we want it to or if the driver fled the scene and we cannot file an insurance claim. The upside is that a personal injury lawsuit often provides plaintiffs with the opportunity for greater damages. Our Murfreesboro, TN pedestrian accident lawyers can get your case started.
Similar to a third-party insurance claim, we must prove fault in a lawsuit. Specifically, we need to show that the defendant was negligent when they hit you with their car. Negligence is defined by four important legal elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
Duty refers to the driver’s legal duty of care to drive with reasonable safety under the circumstances while obeying the traffic code. A breach is an act or failure to act by the driver that violated their duty of care. Causation is the connection between the breach and your injuries. The breach must be the direct and proximate cause of the accident. Finally, we must show that your injuries and damages are real, not imagined or hypothetical.
Who is Liable for a Pedestrian Accident in Murfreesboro, TN?
While people often assume one driver is liable in a pedestrian accident case, this is not always so. There are cases where several drivers share liability, or some other third party is to blame for the accident. Talk to our Murfreesboro, TN pedestrian accident attorneys, and we can help you figure out which parties should be held responsible for your injuries.
Although pedestrian accidents involving a single driver are common, multi-car pedestrian accidents are not unheard of. For example, suppose you are crossing the street at an intersection, and car A stops in front of the crosswalk. Next, suppose car B comes speeding up behind car A, fails to stop because car A’s brake lights are out, and strikes car A, causing car A to strike you. Depending on the circumstances, both cars might be liable for the accident.
In more unusual cases, someone other than the driver might be liable. For example, we can help you sue the city if an accident happens because of faulty traffic lights. Alternatively, we can help you sue someone for pushing you into the street before you were hit by a car.
Call Our Murfreesboro, TN Pedestrian Accident Attorneys for a Free Case Assessment
Being hit by a car is not only physically painful, but the ordeal is often emotionally traumatic, and injured victims often suffer for years. Our Murfreesboro, TN pedestrian accident lawyers can help you get compensation for your considerable injuries. For a free case review, call Howe Law at (844) 876-4357.
