Crosswalk Accidents

For the legal process to work, several steps in a crosswalk accident claim must be addressed quickly, especially the preservation of evidence and the location of witnesses against the at-fault party. The police report needs to be checked for accuracy. Medical treatment from specialized medical professionals familiar with your type of injuries must begin. Medical bills and lost wages should be submitted to insurance for payment.

Beginning a case may help prevent other crosswalk accidents from occurring. According to the CDC, “More than 7,000 pedestrians were killed on our nation’s roads in crashes involving a motor vehicle in 2020. That’s about one fatality every 75 minutes. One in six people who died in crashes in 2020 were pedestrians. There were also an estimated 104,000 emergency department visits of injured pedestrians treated for non-fatal crash-related injuries in 2020.” When a pedestrian is hit by a motor vehicle, it can result in the need for serious medical attention for things like broken bones, or even more serious injuries like a head injury.

If you decide we will be your auto accident attorney, our legal team will help you:

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• Plan for medical expenses not paid by insurance
• Plan for lost income and time off from work
• Calendar the statute of limitations under state law so you do not miss any time limits
• Answer all the FAQs, as well as the questions unique to your case
• Meet with surviving family members and explain the legal process
• Fill out the necessary paperwork for your insurance policy or insurance claim
• Provide advice on your property damage claim for automobile repairs or total loss or the replacement value
• Lay the foundation for you to receive a fair settlement amount without the expense and delay of a lawsuit

We handle crosswalk accident cases involving crosswalk laws for marked and unmarked crosswalks, city buses, school buses, poor design, unsafe construction in crosswalks, defective signals and many other types of dangerous conditions including conditions that affect skateboards. We handle cases against semi-truck operators and trucking companies, commercial drivers, government operators, and private automobile owners.

We investigate and prove fault by motorists who:

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• Fail to maintain a safe distance
• Fail to slow to a safe speed
• Fail to allow time for safe clearance
• Fail to obey traffic signals (i.e. red lights or stop signs)
• Fail to keep a proper lookout for pedestrian traffic
• Fail to pay attention, especially at night
• Fail to perceive a dangerous condition or immediate hazard
• Fail to drive free of impairment by drugs or alcohol
• Fail to put down the cell phone when entering a crosswalk

Crosswalk injury and death cases require quick attention from an experienced personal injury law firm. Mike Burman is a personal injury attorney with the staff and financial resources needed to take on any insurance company. As your pedestrian accident lawyer, Mike Burman and his law firm will work quickly to:

• Understand the mechanism of injury causing pain and suffering or death
• Look for hard-to-find injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI) or labral tears in the hip
• Preserve evidence that could be washed away, destroyed or lost
• Study traffic patterns, don’t walk times, jaywalking customs, and oncoming traffic
• Search for CCTv video/audio, car accident cameras, police videos and truck accident cameras
• Locate and interview witnesses
• Engage experts in pedestrian accident reconstruction to uncover critical facts
• Download the “black box” speed and distance computer on the “at-fault” vehicle
• Impound the “at-fault” vehicle

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In every personal injury case or, we investigate and preserve evidence. We locate and contact all available witnesses. We notify all necessary parties and insurance companies, notify all lienholders, gather and protect evidence and damages,  prepare a settlement demand, negotiate an accident settlement, resolve liens, and distribute a fair settlement to you. Injury and wrongful death cases require quick attention from an experienced personal injury law firm. Mike Burman is a personal injury attorney with the staff and financial resources needed to take on any insurance company.  As your accident lawyer, Mike Burman and his law firm will work quickly to answer all your questions and learn about your injuries-including those hard-to-find injuries that are oftentimes overlooked, such as brain injuries or labral tears in the hip.

Once evidence from the scene is secure, we use information technologies to transform this evidence into a visual representation of your accident to prove the harms and losses behind your serious injuries. Our in-house media service prepares professional digital charts, blowups, and videos while keeping costs under control. Our goal is to communicate your case so that anyone can “be sure” what happened and “understand” what should be done to right the wrong done to you. We work to provide the insurance adjuster with a thorough evaluation of your case so you achieve a full and fair out-of-court settlement. But if you must file suit, Burman Law will help prepare your case for trial. At trial, we will visualize your case to the jury, so the jury understands exactly what happened to you, and how your life changed. In this way, the jury has the power to come back with a verdict to help right the wrong done to you.

It is very common in a crosswalk case for the insurance adjuster to claim the injury was caused by comparative negligence (fault by the pedestrian in the crosswalk). Pedestrian accident cases share some similarities, but many adjusters handle auto accident cases and may not be familiar with traffic laws specific to crosswalks where the pedestrian has the right of way.

Insurance companies and insurance adjusters use several tactics to deny claims and pay less than the value of the claim.  Some of the most common we see are:

• Blaming accident victims for their own injuries
• Reducing the value of the case by misinterpreting medical records
• Denying the severe injuries are related to the crash
• Making low settlement offers for pre-existing or age-related factors
• Delaying claims as long as possible until you must take a low settlement offer
• Making lowball settlement offers to reduce what the amount you think is reasonable
• Telling injury victims they do not need to hire a lawyer

We are paid a percentage of the money recovered in your case.  Many personal injury lawyers now charge a fee of 40% to begin your case.  Our fee has been 1/3 for more than twenty-five plus years.  We do not spend time or money on expensive Tv Ads, and we pass that savings on to you. There are no hidden disclaimers. We are transparent at all times.

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With our free consultation and case evaluation services, you can confidentially discuss your crosswalk case with Mike Burman, at no charge.  Mike will help you understand your rights and give you a plan of action.  There is never any pressure.  We put all fees and case expenses in writing.  We will set you up with access to a free client portal so you can post anything you want 24/7/365.  We respond to portal messages by the next business day, or sooner.   And you can always contact Mike on his personal cell phone number which he will give you when you hire him to be your pedestrian accident attorney.  Burman Law staff average ten years of paralegal experience. Mike has 25+ years of experience in personal injury and wrongful death involving crosswalks and traffic safety in Kentucky and Tennessee.

§ 189.570. Pedestrians in crosswalks

(5) Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the operator of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle. 

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(6) (a) Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. 

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(6) (b) Any pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. 

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(6) (c) Between adjacent intersections within the city limits of every city at which traffic control signals are in operation, pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk. 

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(d) Notwithstanding other provisions of this subsection or the provisions of any local ordinance, every operator of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated person upon a roadway.

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§ 189.570. Pedestrians' right-of-way in crosswalks

(a) (1) Unless in a marked school zone when a warning flasher or flashers are in operation, when traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.

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(a) (2) When in a marked school zone when a warning flasher or flashers are in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall stop to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at an intersection with no marked crosswalk. The driver shall remain stopped until the pedestrian has crossed the roadway on which the vehicle is stopped.

(b) No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.

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(c) Subsection (a) does not apply under the conditions stated in §55-8-135(b).

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(d) Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.

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*Crosswalk cases in California involving California cities or California Counties involve California Laws.