Pedestrian Accident Lawyers in Macon

The two places Macon pedestrians get hit

Downtown Macon and the streets around Mercer University fill with people on foot, and the danger there is a driver turning through a crosswalk or rolling a right turn on red without looking for anyone crossing. The second danger is on the wide state highways, Pio Nono Avenue, Eisenhower Parkway, and Gray Highway, where traffic moves fast, crossings are far apart, and a person on foot has nowhere safe to go. We know both patterns and how a driver's inattention turns each of them into a serious injury.

Georgia puts the duty to yield on the driver

Under O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-91 a driver must yield to a pedestrian lawfully in a crosswalk, and even away from a marked crossing a driver still has to use due care to avoid striking someone on foot. We build the case around what the driver failed to do, because in most of these crashes the driver was turning, speeding, or looking at a phone and never saw the person until it was too late.

The blame insurers try to shift to the victim

The insurance company's first move in a pedestrian case is to say the victim caused it, by crossing outside a crosswalk, stepping into the road, or wearing dark clothing after dark. Georgia's fifty percent rule under O.C.G.A. Section 51-12-33 gives that tactic force, because a recovery is cut by the victim's share of blame and lost entirely at fifty percent or more. We answer it with the vehicle's speed, the point of impact, the sight lines, and the absence of a safe place to cross, so the responsibility stays with the driver who could have stopped.

Nothing protects a pedestrian in a collision

When a vehicle strikes a person, the body takes the entire force, and the results are broken bones, internal injuries, and traumatic brain damage that can change a life for good. The most serious cases in the area go to Atrium Health Navicent, the region's Level I trauma center, and recovery can take many months. We work with the treating doctors to document not just the care already given but the surgeries, therapy, and lasting limits the injury will bring, so the claim reflects the full weight of the harm.

What a Macon pedestrian claim can recover

A pedestrian hurt by a vehicle can pursue economic losses, the medical bills, the future care, and the income lost while unable to work, and non-economic losses, the pain, the trauma, and the independence a severe injury takes. Because these injuries tend to be so serious, projecting the future care correctly is often where the real value of the case is decided, and we build that projection on solid medical proof.

The two-year deadline for a pedestrian claim

A pedestrian injury claim in Georgia generally must be filed within two years of the crash under O.C.G.A. Section 9-3-33. The evidence goes faster than that. The scene is cleared within hours, the vehicle is repaired, and footage from nearby businesses is written over in days. Moving quickly lets us secure what proves the driver's fault while it can still be found and keeps the deadline from ending a valid claim.

Serving people hurt on foot across Middle Georgia

From our office at 544 Mulberry Street, Suite 314 in downtown Macon, we represent people struck while walking across Bibb, Jones, Monroe, Houston, Twiggs, Crawford, and Peach counties, and in the communities around the city including Warner Robins, Byron, Centerville, Lizella, and Gray. Wherever you were hit in Middle Georgia, we can help.

Talk to a Macon pedestrian accident lawyer

If a driver hit you or a member of your family while you were on foot, let us take on the insurance company for you. Call (478) 449-0037 for a free case review, or reach us through our contact page. You owe nothing unless we recover money for you.

Speak with a Macon pedestrian accident attorney

Being struck by a vehicle while walking can change your life in a moment. If it happened in Macon or anywhere in Middle Georgia, call our office at (478) 449-0037 for a free and confidential case review. You owe nothing unless we recover for you, and we can start protecting the evidence right away.

Common questions

A driver turning at a downtown intersection hit me in the crosswalk. Whose fault is that?

Usually the driver's. A motorist turning across a crosswalk has to yield to a pedestrian already crossing, and the same is true on a right turn on red. We use the intersection cameras common downtown, the driver's own account, and any witnesses to show the turn cut you off, which places the fault on the driver.

I was crossing one of Macon's wide highways where there was no crosswalk. Can I still recover?

Often yes. On a wide highway where the nearest marked crossing is far away, crossing where you can does not by itself make you at fault, and the driver still owed you a duty to keep a proper lookout. You can recover so long as your share of the blame stays under fifty percent, and we rely on the vehicle's speed and the sight lines to hold the driver responsible.

The driver who hit me had almost no insurance. Is there another way to be paid?

Possibly. Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage can pay when you are hurt as a pedestrian, and households often carry more of it than they realize. We look at every policy that could apply so a driver with low limits does not cap what you are able to recover.