Bakersfield Pedestrian
Accident Lawyer

The vast majority of personal injury cases in the U.S. resolve before they ever see the inside of the courtroom. The reason for this is that litigation is time-consuming and expensive, and it is generally in all parties’ best interests to reach a settlement agreement and avoid the arduous process of taking a case to trial. Resolving a personal injury claim without going to trial is accomplished through a settlement agreement. This may not provide the full compensation you demanded when you filed your claim with the at-fault party’s insurance provider. It can, however, provide enough for you—with the guidance of your attorney—to feel confident that you recovered fair compensation for your expenses and impacts.

That said, some cases do end up in court and going to trial, where the parties cannot agree to a settlement. There is a chance that your case could fall in this category, which makes it important that you hire an attorney who is confident in their ability to pursue compensation on your behalf, whether through a settlement agreement or litigation.

Bakersfield pedestrian accident claimants can seek to recover both economic and non-economic damages. This means you can seek compensation (also referred to as damages) for the tangible expenses (economic) and also the intangible impacts (non-economic) of your injury.

Damages in a Bakersfield pedestrian accident claim are likely to include:

• Medical expenses, such as the cost of emergency treatment, ambulance transport, diagnostic testing, hospitalization, subsequent treatment and services of your physician or surgeon, prescription medication, medical supplies used to treat your injury, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and the provision of assistive devices such as a wheelchair or crutches
• Lost wages, due to being too injured to work
• Loss of future earning capacity, if your injury results in permanent disabilities that render you unable to earn in the same capacity as you did before your accident
• Physical pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of the enjoyment of life, if your injury prevents you from enjoying activities and events that you enjoyed before the accident
• Loss of consortium, which accounts for a loss of physical intimacy and companionship, such as is commonly experienced after serious pedestrian accidents

Most Bakersfield pedestrian accidents stem from negligence, which is the failure to take the actions necessary to protect others from physical harm or damage to property.

• You prove negligence in a Bakersfield pedestrian accident by establishing:
  The at-fault party owed you a duty of care. A duty of care is simply a standard of conduct a reasonable person would measure up to in a given set of circumstances to avoid causing harm to others. For example, motorists owe a duty to pedestrians to drive their vehicles safely and legally, such as by yielding the right-of-way to pedestrians as they cross the road.
• There was a breach in the duty of care. Breach of a duty of care concerns the actions or inactions of a defendant that violated the duty of care. This may include risky or illegal driving practices, such as speeding, texting while driving, or driving under the influence of alcohol. In pedestrian accidents, it may also include failing to ensure a crosswalk is free of pedestrians before initiating a left turn or failing to yield the right-of-way at a marked or unmarked intersection.
• The breach led to the accident, which caused your injuries and also caused you to incur the financial and other impacts for which you are seeking compensation.

Discuss all of the details of any accident with an attorney to determine the viability of a claim. However, generally speaking, you can file a claim for injuries incurred in a pedestrian accident in a Bakersfield parking lot. In California, if a negligent driver strikes a pedestrian—regardless of where the accident took place—they have the right to seek compensation from the liable party.

Yes. Bakersfield accidents involving any other roadway user and a pedestrian are pedestrian accidents and, if another’s careless or reckless actions, caused them you may recover compensation for your injuries.

In addition to pedestrian accidents involving a bicyclist, other types of Bakersfield pedestrian accidents may involve scooter riders riding on the sidewalk and colliding with pedestrians, or city buses with large side-view mirrors that extend over the sidewalk and strike a pedestrian.

Bakersfield pedestrian accident settlements not only reflect the unique nature of the accident they represent—including the severity of the victim’s injuries—but also the willingness of the at-fault party’s insurer to offer a settlement that fairly compensates the claimant. Because of all of these variables, among many others, there isn’t an average pedestrian accident settlement.

However, some things can impact the value of your case, such as:

• How much insurance the at-fault party has. Insurance pays most pedestrian accident settlements and awards. While it is possible to file a claim against an uninsured person and even obtain a judgment in your favor, collecting that judgment will likely prove difficult, as most people cannot afford to pay for the expenses of injuries incurred in a pedestrian accident out-of-pocket.
• The severity of your injury. The more severe your injury is, the higher the costs of treating it, the longer you will be out of work, and the more pain and suffering you will experience. These issues all result in a higher-valued case, which will often mean more intensive negotiations with an insurer to come to a fair settlement amount.
• Your patience during settlement negotiations. It is not necessarily difficult to receive a settlement offer from an insurance company. Many claimants receive their first offered settlement before they have even had a chance to speak with an attorney. However, obtaining a settlement that fairly compensates the claimant for the expenses and impacts they have experienced from the accident and those they will likely face can take significant time. However, patience can get a fair offer.

The year-round pleasant weather and proximity to conveniences make Bakersfield a popular location for pedestrians. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most dangerous locations for pedestrians, due in large part to the traffic congestion.

While California’s laws place responsibility on the drivers of motor vehicles to approach intersections slowly and to stop if necessary to avoid an accident with a pedestrian, pedestrians do not technically always have the right-of-way.

Some situations in which a pedestrian accident can occur when the pedestrian doesn’t have the right-of-way include:

• Intentional acts, such as attempted suicide or assault, in which a pedestrian runs into or is pushed into oncoming traffic.
• Accidents occurring outside a marked or unmarked intersection. Individuals may attempt to cross a roadway outside the intersection, which can make their passage unpredictable for approaching motorists. Crossing a roadway where there is no intersection is commonly referred to as jaywalking and it is illegal in California, despite efforts to eliminate the penalties for the practice, which some allege unfairly targets Black and Hispanic pedestrians living in areas with greater distances between marked crosswalks.

Hit-and-run accidents can be tricky. To recover compensation for the expenses and impacts of your injury from the at-fault party’s insurance company, you must be able to first identify the individual who was at fault and have the information necessary to make contact with their insurance provider.

If a pedestrian accident injured you and the at-fault party fled the scene, the police will rely on information that you or witnesses to your accident can provide to track down the driver. They may also investigate the surrounding area to determine whether surveillance footage from a business can help track down the driver.

If the police can’t locate the driver, an experienced pedestrian accident injury attorney from The May Firm can explore your other options, including additional and known sources of liability, or filing a claim with your own auto or health insurance policy. Some auto insurance policies provide coverage for their insured if they become injured in a pedestrian accident.

Bakersfield pedestrian accident claims generally must be filed in court within two years of the date on which the accident occurred. There are some exceptions to this rule, which is why you must consult an experienced Bakersfield pedestrian accident injury attorney.

The experienced Bakersfield pedestrian accident lawyers at The May Firm understand that many individuals do not seek legal representation because of concerns about cost, and fail to receive the compensation they deserve after an accident.

It is to your advantage to have an attorney who can provide many legal services and an overall understanding of the claims process that would be very difficult to duplicate on your own.

Because having experienced legal counsel is so crucial to a successful outcome to your claim, we offer:

• A no-obligation, free case evaluation. This is time for you to speak with one of our attorneys about your case, obtain guidance as to your legal options, and get answers to your case-specific questions.
• A client-friendly contingent fee payment plan. A contingency fee arrangement means you owe nothing for your lawyer’s services unless and until they have achieved a successful outcome to your case. This allows your attorney to begin immediately working with you on your claim without requiring any upfront investment.

If a Bakersfield pedestrian accident injured you, you know how overwhelming the injury is—without worrying about handling a compensation claim. Let us help you obtain the compensation you need for your recovery. For a free case evaluation, contact us at our Bakersfield office by calling (866) 825-7909.