St. Louis Pedestrian Accident Attorney

St. Louis Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Whenever any kind of accident occurs involving a motor vehicle and a pedestrian, the pedestrian is likely to suffer extreme injuries, some of which may be permanently damaging or even life-threatening. After suffering injuries in a pedestrian accident, it is vital that you or a loved one reach out to a qualified St. Louis pedestrian accident attorney as soon as you can to discuss your options for legal recourse against the at-fault driver.

All of us are pedestrians at some time during the day, which also means we are at risk of pedestrian accidents and injuries on a daily basis. Pedestrian accidents with vehicles–as in, a vehicle striking and injuring or killing a pedestrian–can occur in many locations, including traffic intersections with or without crosswalks, parking lots, garages, and sidewalks that run along busy streets. Pedestrians are no match for a large car or truck in size, speed, or protection, so when a motor vehicle strikes them, they are likely to suffer serious injuries or death. Pedestrians have no protection from an impact, and they are directly exposed to the ground and to the vehicle striking them.

If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a pedestrian accident, hire the right legal assistance as soon as possible. At The Cagle Law Firm, you can work with a pedestrian accident lawyer in St. Louis, MO, with experience in settling and litigating pedestrian accident cases. They can assist you in recovering the monetary compensation you need to move forward after a serious injury.

Common Pedestrian Accidents Injuries

A car or truck driver who negligently causes a collision and strikes a pedestrian can cause catastrophic and deadly results. Those involved in pedestrian accidents can suffer injuries that may include:

• Lacerations and contusions.
• Abrasions, scarring, or disfigurement.
• Skull fractures and head trauma.
• Soft tissue neck and back injuries.
• Broken bones.
• Traumatic brain injuries.
• Spinal cord injuries.
• Internal injuries.
• Death.

If you suffer injuries in a pedestrian accident, immediately seek medical care for your injuries. This usually involves ambulance transport and seeking treatment at a local hospital emergency room. Likewise, those injured usually follow up with primary care doctors, physical therapists, and specialists. Once your medical treatment is underway, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer who can advise you of your rights. A St. Louis pedestrian accident lawyer can evaluate your claim and determine the next step in your case, including submitting a demand package to the at-fault driver’s insurance company on your behalf. Not every case works the same way, so the steps vary depending on the facts of how the incident occurred and most importantly, the nature of your injuries.

What to Do Immediately After a Car Hits You

Even if pedestrians take every safety measure by using crosswalks and following signals, they can still get hit by a car in an intersection.

If a driver hits you because the driver ignored a stoplight, failed to yield, or made another mistake, take these next steps.

Move to safety

You don’t want to make the situation any worse than it already is. If you can do so safely, move out of the street and to the sidewalk to avoid further injury.

Call the Police

The police are trained to respond to this type of accident. They will arrive on the scene and review the situation. Importantly, the police assist in securing the scene to keep you and others from further injury. They will also speak with bystanders to document the incident. The police might perform a sobriety test on the driver if they believe that person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They will write up an official police report detailing the incident, which you will need to support your claim.

Assess Your Injuries

Are your injuries severe? Do you need immediate medical attention? If so, call an ambulance right away or ask someone nearby to make the call for you.

Seek Medical Attention

See a doctor right away, even if you don’t think your injuries are life-threatening. After an accident, when adrenaline is running high, you might easily miss the signs of an injury. This is especially true with traumatic brain injuries, whiplash, and muscle strains, which may take time for you to fully recognize the symptoms. Pain is the first indicator of injury. If you experience pain, seek medical treatment immediately.

Do not provide your medical records to any insurance carrier until you seek advice from an experienced attorney. An adjuster may go through your medical records and evaluate how long you waited to seek medical treatment, type of treatment, and your follow-up treatment. These in-depth evaluations are usually not done to fairly compensate for your injury but done in an attempt to reduce or devalue your claim.

An insurance company might even go so far as to claim that your injuries were not even related to this accident. Do not sign any medical authorizations the auto insurance carrier sends to you in the first few months. Your doctors should make medical diagnosis and determinations based on your treatment, not an insurance adjuster.

Contact a Lawyer

After a serious accident like pedestrian/car accidents often are, getting legal help is extremely important. The injuries pedestrians can suffer when struck by a motor vehicle can cause significant damages. Recovering compensation on your own may be extremely difficult. To give injured pedestrians the best chance at recovering, a lawyer is necessary. A lawyer can help guide them through the legal process, talk to insurance companies on their behalf, and, if needed, go to trial to help them receive the appropriate amount of compensation.

What Not to Do After an Accident

While it’s essential to understand what to do after being hit by a vehicle at a stoplight, there are also two important things to avoid.

Here’s what you shouldn’t do following an accident.

Don’t Apologize

Of course, it is natural to say the words “I’m sorry” in response to an unfortunate situation, even if you know the driver is at fault. Remember that if a motor vehicle hit you at a stoplight and you apologize, the driver and the driver’s insurer could argue that you admitted fault and took responsibility for the accident. Remain silent and wait for the police to arrive.

Avoid Speaking with Insurance Companies

After suffering injuries in a crash, the at-fault driver’s insurance company will probably attempt to contact you and ask for your version of what happened. They may appear concerned about your condition, and you might feel tempted to provide the details for which they are asking. Unfortunately, these attempts to collect your statement can actually work against you. The insurance companies notoriously look for any way to discredit your version of the accident with the goal of reducing the amount of money they need to pay you. It’s best to avoid all calls from the insurance company and hire an attorney to communicate on your behalf.

How to Prove Liability for a Pedestrian Accident in St. Louis

The first step in recovering from any type of personal injury in St. Louis is determining the exact cause of the incident. The victim will need to determine whether another party’s negligence or misconduct directly caused their claimed damages and, if so, prove the exact manner in which they caused these damages. This is easier for some plaintiffs than others, and it’s possible for any civil suit to require multiple forms of evidence.

When you choose The Cagle Law Firm to represent you in a pedestrian accident case, we can seek out all evidence available to establish liability for the accident you experienced. This is likely to include a combination of different types of physical and digital evidence:

• Our firm can secure police reports, toxicology reports, and other critical documentation obtained by the police that can help establish liability and prove how the at-fault driver caused the accident.
• We can obtain copies of traffic camera footage from the area around where your accident happened when available. Video footage is often invaluable for all types of accident cases, and some intersections in the St. Louis area are equipped with traffic cameras.
• Vehicle computer data, cell phone records, and other digital evidence may come into play to help prove the exact series of events that led to your accident.
• Physical evidence from the scene of the crash could come into play, such as debris or tire marks on the road.
• Eyewitness statements can be crucial, and it is vital to obtain witness statements as soon as you can after any incident to ensure the reliability of witnesses’ memories.
• In a case involving complex technical details, your attorney may reach out to expert witnesses who can provide valuable professional insights concerning the most complex aspects of your case.

Proving fault may be challenging, but an experienced attorney on your side makes this process much easier. Additionally, your attorney can help determine whether you may bear any fault for the accident.

Missouri enforces a pure comparative fault rule that applies to any civil claim for damages in which multiple parties share fault for causing the damages. A driver has the duty of care to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians in a crosswalk when the traffic signal indicates the pedestrians have the right-of-way, but it is possible for the pedestrian to be partially liable if they were negligent and contributed to causing the accident.

When pure comparative fault applies to a plaintiff in St. Louis, their fault percentage is taken from their case award as a penalty, and they keep the remainder of their case award. For example, in a $1 million suit in which the plaintiff is found 25% at fault, it would mean they will lose $250,000 of their case award to reflect their comparative fault. If a pedestrian was jaywalking or otherwise negligent, comparative fault could apply to their case.

Recovering From Your Injuries After a Pedestrian Accident in St. Louis

Proving fault for your accident will be an essential first step in your recovery efforts after seeking immediate medical assistance. You will need to identify the driver who hit you, prove exactly how they caused the accident, and then prove the full extent of your resulting damages. This may sound straightforward, but a victim may have little or no recollection of their accident if it was traumatic or if they have a brain injury. They will need an attorney’s help to gather evidence of liability and to accurately identify the party responsible for their accident.

Once you prove fault for your accident, your St. Louis pedestrian accident attorney can help determine the optimal legal strategy for recovering your damages. Our attorneys will pursue damages in an auto insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company. If the insurance carrier fails to extend an appropriate settlement offer, your attorney may file a lawsuit.

Filing an Auto Insurance Claim for Your Pedestrian Accident

Every driver in St. Louis is required to have auto insurance that meets the state’s minimum coverage requirements for property damage liability and bodily injury liability. This insurance applies to any vehicle accident a policyholder causes, including a pedestrian accident. After proving liability and identifying the party responsible for hitting you, you can file a claim against their auto insurance policy.

Claiming Compensation with a Personal Injury Case

Success with any personal injury claim in St. Louis requires proof of fault and establishing causation between your claimed damages and the defendant’s actions. In other words, you need to prove the defendant is responsible for your losses and they did not occur from any other cause.

Missouri’s personal injury statutes allow a plaintiff to seek full compensation for all the economic damages resulting from the accident. These are likely to include:

• Medical treatment costs. The defendant who injured you is responsible for the cost of all the medical care you require to fully heal from your injuries. This includes both immediate and future medical expenses resulting from the accident. If your injuries require ongoing rehabilitative care, you can include any projected expenses in your case as economic damages.
• Lost wages. If a plaintiff cannot work after their injury, the defendant who injured them is liable for the income they cannot earn during recovery.
• Lost future earning capacity. Many injured pedestrians are left with long-term or permanent medical complications because of their injuries. If this applies to your case and you cannot return to work because of a permanent disability, the defendant who injured you is liable for the future income you are no longer able to earn.
• Pain and suffering compensation. You have the right to seek financial compensation for emotional distress, physical pain, and worsened quality of life that resulted from your accident. Your attorney can help you determine a suitable figure for pain and suffering compensation to seek with your claim.

Your St. Louis pedestrian accident attorney is your most valuable asset when it comes to maximizing your final case award from your pedestrian accident claim. The average person may not know how to accurately calculate projected future economic losses or determine suitable compensation for their pain and suffering. Calculating the damages and arguing them with an insurance carrier or presenting at trial are all very different things.

Hiring an attorney to represent you in an injury claim is just hiring an experienced professional as we do in every aspect of our lives. Experienced attorneys may also be aware of certain avenues of recovery to maximize your compensation.

Resolving Your Pedestrian Accident Case in St. Louis

The team at The Cagle Law Firm has years of professional experience resolving all types of personal injury cases for our clients in the St. Louis area. We know how damaging and traumatic any pedestrian accident can be, and we know that you are likely to have many pressing legal questions when it comes to proving liability for your damages and recovering suitable compensation from the driver who hit you.

When you choose our firm to represent you, we can immediately begin building the foundation of your case and will determine the optimal path to recovery. This usually begins with an auto insurance claim against the at-fault driver. You can count on our team work toward a maximum recovery for you. We know how to seek all applicable policies for compensation that you may overlook on your own

Many personal injury claims filed in St. Louis settle outside of court. Settlement allows the parties involved in the case to possibly resolve the issue more quickly than they could through litigation. Sometimes litigation is a necessary step when aggressively representing our clients. You can trust our team to represent you in trial if a settlement is not an option in your pedestrian accident case.

A Pedestrian Lawyer in St. Louis Can Help

If you suffered injuries in a pedestrian-vehicle accident, the days afterward are likely going to feel a bit surreal and confusing. Between attending medical appointments, making arrangements regarding your work, and worrying about what is to come, the whole situation can overwhelm anyone. Once the insurance companies start to call about your claim, things become even more frustrating. You need to focus on your medical treatment and return attention to other aspects of your life rather than spend energy and time tied up with insurance adjusters. An attorney can help handle your claim so that you can focus on resting and recovering from your injuries.

Injuries caused by a pedestrian-vehicle accident can be life-changing, and you need someone who can help you recover much-needed compensation. Get a free consultation with a pedestrian accident lawyer in St. Louis, MO, by calling us toll-free at (1-800) 685-3302 or locally at (314) 276-1681 to discuss your situation.