Pedestrian Accidents: Who Covers Medical Expenses?

Due to causing serious injuries such as broken hips or traumatic brain injuries, pedestrian accidents often have life-altering consequences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that traffic crashes kill nearly 6,000 pedestrians and injure another 140,000 each year. Due to motor vehicles’ inherent weight and sturdiness, non-occupants are 50 percent more likely to suffer from severe and fatal injuries following car accidents.

Injured pedestrians and their families often wonder who’s responsible for paying medical expenses after a motor vehicle collision. The answer generally depends on your state’s insurance laws, but you can discuss numerous options for covering medical expenses with a local pedestrian accident lawyer. Consider the following common types of pedestrian accidents for which pedestrians may recover medical compensation.

Frequent Causes of Pedestrian-Motor Vehicle Collisions in the United States

Pedestrian accidents typically refer to a class of motor vehicle collisions when one motorized vehicle (such as a car, truck, motorcycle, scooter, or bus) strikes a non-passenger.

Pedestrians may include:

Who covers medical bills following a pedestrian-vehicle accident generally depends on where and how the accident occurred. The following events commonly result in pedestrian injuries, especially in urban districts at night.

Drunk & Impaired Driving in Populated Areas

Speeding and alcohol impairment contribute to almost half of all pedestrians fatalities, and many traffic safety laws exist to protect vulnerable pedestrians. Even one drink can fatally delay drivers’ reaction times when pedestrians step into crosswalks. Motor vehicle operators impaired by alcohol, controlled substances, or even physical ailments often suffer from blurry vision, mental fog, and delayed processing time. They may see a red light or crosswalk warning but fail to realize they must stop before it’s too late.

Highly intoxicated drivers often strike pedestrians lawfully crossing the street, returning to their cars after a concert, or eating in an outdoor dining area. Some impaired drivers have even turned off roadways into homes and businesses, seriously injuring diners and residents. The most sudden and traumatizing pedestrian accidents often involve drunk drivers.

Distracted Driving

Using cell phones while driving often contributes to pedestrian accidents, especially when drivers are looking for buildings or parking spaces. Rideshare drivers frequently utilize applications to call and summon passengers on busy streets, accidentally striking walkers. Most drivers who hit pedestrians took their eyes off the road without stopping their vehicles and struck walkers entering the roadway or crossing parking lots.

Even when drivers have the right of way, they must still pay attention to roadway conditions and attempt to stop or avoid striking pedestrians. This includes stopping or slowing down when dogs or children’s toys suddenly appear in roadways, as kids and owners frequently run into the street without thinking.

Failure to Yield the Right of Way

Pedestrians generally have the right of way when walking through marked or unmarked crosswalks, passing driveways, or abiding by traffic control devices. Unfortunately, aggressive drivers may mistakenly believe they do not have to stop. Residents pulling out of their driveways or into public parking spots often unwittingly strike pedestrians thinking that foot traffic must yield to their vehicles.

Drivers often get frustrated in busy shopping-center parking lots and drive aggressively to deter pedestrians from asserting the right of way. These types of driveway, crosswalk, and parking lot accidents frequently result in serious injuries and fatalities.

Negligent Civil Engineering & Roadway Design

When municipalities do not provide crosswalks, footbridges, and other pedestrian safety devices, commuters often expose themselves to dangerous roadway conditions. Local entities must generally lower speed limits and protect pedestrians in residential and business zones. Failing to install and maintain street lighting or engineering parking garages with blind turns often contribute to pedestrian injuries.

Commercial & Construction Vehicle Accidents

Heavy machinery, truck, and bus drivers need special licenses for a reason. These large and complex motor vehicles often have major blind spots, unique operating systems, and braking difficulties. Construction workers, off-duty drivers, and mechanics may get crushed between these heavy vehicles in commercial lots. Further, fatigued and negligent bus drivers have trapped passengers in vehicle doors and even drug them along roadways. Commercial motor vehicles seldom help drivers spot pedestrians, and such crashes often cause life-altering injuries and fatalities.

A local injury lawyer may help pedestrians demand medical compensation following an accident based on the crash’s cause and location.

How Do I Pay for Pedestrian Accident Injuries

Here are some primary ways injured pedestrians obtain coverage following a motor vehicle collision.

Liable Driver’s Auto Insurance Policy

Nearly all states require vehicle owners to carry liability insurance covering pedestrian accidents.

This auto insurance often covers medical expenses for the following debilitating injuries commonly sustained by innocent pedestrians:

• Hip fractures and dislocations – Vehicles often strike pedestrians in crosswalks. These accidents often result in the car’s bumper striking the pedestrian’s hip area, causing direct and secondary impact injuries. Serious hip injuries completely impair the claimant’s mobility, often necessitating surgery, rehabilitation, and home nursing care for older Americans.
• Wrist fractures – People naturally break their fall with their wrists, causing painful and surprisingly complex wrist fractures. Each wrist has eight bones necessary for everyday hand movements, and even minor wrist fractures often necessitate surgery, metal implants, and months of rehabilitation.
• Traumatic brain injuries – Pedestrian fatalities often stem from serious second-impact head trauma. Brain injuries often occur when vehicles strike pedestrians at higher speeds, preventing victims from breaking their fall. The head then hits the pavement, damaging the brain and possibly causing brain hemorrhaging. This type of injury can result in death or lasting cognitive disabilities. Even low-speed accidents have caused fatal head trauma.
• Internal bleeding (crushing) injuries – Drunk drivers may jump curbs and trap pedestrians between their vehicles and building walls. This type of accident often crushes the claimant’s rib cage causing fractures, sudden bleeding, and organ damage. Backing accidents in parking lots also cause these injuries, as negligent drivers may trap pedestrians between two cars.
• Burns – Run-over accidents often result in painful friction and thermal burns. These painful injuries often cause permanent scarring, infections, and severe pain. Pedestrians often require multiple skin graft surgeries following serious burns.
• Spinal disc herniations – Back and neck herniations occur in many pedestrian accidents. The impact force often causes spinal discs to bulge or slip, resulting in severe pain. Claimants often require surgery, extensive rehabilitation, and pain management to relieve symptoms.
• Paralysis – Crushing and run-over accidents often result in severe spinal trauma and paralysis when the vehicle’s weight crushes the pedestrian’s central nervous system. Accident victims left with quadriplegia or paraplegia cannot walk and sometimes cannot even breathe without aid. These disabling conditions often result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses immediately following the accident.

Despite these severe injuries, it often takes months or years before pedestrians recover medical compensation from liability insurers. While injured vehicle occupants might utilize their policy to cover immediate medical expenses, pedestrians seldom have this luxury. Instead, they must generally find another way to cover initial expenses while simultaneously demanding medical compensation for past and future losses.

This process often requires help from a qualified pedestrian accident lawyer. Attorneys may accelerate pedestrian accident settlements in some cases by demanding policy payouts for disabling injuries, such as brain trauma, full-thickness burns, and paralysis.

Liable Driver, Motor Vehicle Owner, or Driver’s Employer

Liable drivers without insurance or with insufficient policies open themselves to direct financial liability. Some states also impute liability on the registered motor vehicle owner and, if the accident occurred on the job, the driver’s employer.

Recovering compensation from negligent parties directly often requires filing a pedestrian accident lawsuit. After bringing litigation, an attorney may demand the defendant’s financial statements disclosing available assets. The parties can negotiate a reasonable settlement after that, including purchasing an annuity or making periodic pedestrian accident payments.

Attorneys can often demand additional compensation from the driver’s employer or rideshare insurer in appropriate cases. Companies such as Uber and Lyft generally have substantial umbrella liability policies covering rideshare accidents.

Further, corporate employers typically carry similar umbrella policies to cover on-the-job negligence. Business entities may also have the assets to cover substantial pedestrian accident judgments without creating bankruptcy eligibility. Pedestrian accident lawyers may calculate the case’s maximum insurance or asset value and discuss reasonable out-of-pocket medical settlements with defense attorneys.

Personal No-Fault Insurance

To reduce litigation and protect claimants from medical debt, some states require personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. These policies cover initial medical expenses and lost wages immediately following a crash. They normally apply to motor vehicle occupants but may extend to uninsured pedestrians in certain cases.

If drivers in one of the twelve no-fault states injure pedestrians, PIP insurance might cover accident-related medical expenses up to the no-fault policy limits. PIP policies act like health insurers, and doctors may submit claims directly to the auto insurance company. Most emergency rooms, orthopedists, and rehabilitation centers accept no-fault insurance due to the prevalence of accident-related injuries.

Further, PIP does not generally require co-payments, deductibles, or co-insurance. This no-fault system means pedestrians might take advantage of the negligent driver’s medical coverage without any out-of-pocket healthcare costs. Accepting no-fault payments does not typically waive liability claims if claimants require additional medical compensation. The rules and coverage limits differ by state, and an attorney should help you determine your eligibility for PIP benefits.

If eligible, pedestrians must typically apply for no-fault benefits within a few months following the accident. Pedestrian accident attorneys often help clients navigate the no-fault process to cover immediate medical expenses while simultaneously analyzing the claimant’s options for future medical compensation.

Work with an experienced accident lawyer in such cases because conflicts of interest often arise when the no-fault insurer also bears liability for the collision. While no-fault eligible pedestrians may receive quick medical coverage, the system typically bars soft tissue injury litigation.

Claimants must generally suffer from a serious injury or substantial economic loss to bring accident-related lawsuits or demand liability settlements. Most pedestrian accidents meet these threshold requirements, as fractures, brain trauma, permanent scarring, and spinal trauma generally qualify as serious injuries in no-fault states.

Household Member’s No-Fault & Personal No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance

Most private motor vehicle insurance policies provide coverage for injuries their policyholders and their household members sustain in motor vehicle accidents. Pedestrian accidents involving cars, trucks, busses, and motorcycles actually qualify as motor vehicle collisions in most states triggering the pedestrian’s personal PIP or uninsured motorist coverage. Claimants may demand no-fault payments from their auto insurance policies to cover initial medical expenses and lost wages.

Some states require pedestrians to use their personal no-fault coverage, if any, before demanding compensation from liable drivers’ policies. Further, many PIP policies also extend coverage to members of the insured’s household. Eligible family members typically include spouses, minor children, and legal dependents. A local attorney may help minors recover medical payments through a parent’s no-fault policy. Claimants might also demand coverage through their qualifying no-fault policies if an out-of-state driver injured them.

Liable State or Municipal Entity (Administrative Tort Claims)

The majority of pedestrian accidents occur in poorly lit urban areas on sidewalks and roadways. These conditions typically mean pedestrians suffer injuries while on public property.

Numerous factors often contribute to pedestrian accidents on public streets and intersections, including:

• Insufficient traffic control devices
• Lack of street lighting
• No crosswalks, bridges, footpaths, or pedestrian control devices
• No speed bumps or appropriate urban speed limits
• Negligently designed driveways and intersections
• Lack of physical barriers between pedestrians and high-speed roadways

Well-developed towns typically prioritize pedestrian safety in business and residential districts with heavy foot traffic. Safety measures generally include reducing speed limits, installing speed bumps and radar, providing pedestrian crossing areas, and providing sufficient lighting. State or local entities responsible for roadway safety may share pedestrian accident liability if they unduly exposed shoppers and walkers to known traffic hazards.

Municipalities must generally reduce speed limits in school, residential, and business zones while providing safe and convenient means for pedestrians to transverse intersections. Broken streetlights, malfunctioning crosswalk signs, confusing intersections, or even roadway curves leading to potential spin-outs might all support secondary medical liability claims against public authorities.

Not every case involves state liability, but pedestrians must act quickly to persevere their claims in those that do. Traditional sovereign immunity principles still limit public liability for personal injuries. However, most states have tort claims acts permitting injured pedestrians to request limited compensation if public negligence contributed to or caused the injuries. Pedestrians must follow very specific and time-sensitive guidelines to preserve their right to demand public medical payments.

This legal process typically involves making an administrative claim within 30 to 90 days following the accident. During an administrative review, a state-based claims adjuster reviews the evidence related to the alleged negligence. This evidence should include the police report, affidavits, and medical records. Expert engineers must also generally provide certified reports describing how the negligent roadway design contributed to the injuries.

States usually disclaim liability, even with substantial evidence, and deny pedestrian injury claims. However, the administrative claims process simply acts as the prerequisite necessary to sue negligent public entities in civil court. Every state has different procedures and deadlines applicable to this claims process, and qualified pedestrian accident lawyers may file these petitions on their clients’ behalf. Failing to file timely administrative claims and follow necessary state procedures generally waives injured pedestrians’ rights to recover medical compensation from public entities.

Private Property Insurance & Premises Owners

Drunk drivers often cause serious pedestrian injuries by running off the road into private homes or businesses. Further, many pedestrian accidents occur in privately owned parking areas. Private parking garage owners often sacrifice pedestrian safety to increase available parking spots and, in turn, revenue.

Patrons walking to or from their vehicles often have no safe footpath. This carelessness frequently means walking around dangerously tight corners without mirrors. The blind spots created by these sharp turns often prevent drivers from seeing pedestrians. Warning signs do not absolve parking garages and lot owners of liability for unsafe pedestrian conditions, especially considering the frequency of incoming vehicles and foot traffic.

Accidents occurring on private, rather than public, land may trigger property insurance coverage. Most property insurers cover medical expenses and lost wages for injuries sustained on the insured premises regardless of fault. Policyholders may benefit from immediate medical coverage if injured while at home or in their place of business. In parking lot cases, injured pedestrians might sue negligent property owners directly and demand compensation from liability insurers.

Non-policyholders should discuss their options with a local attorney. Property insurers do not generally have separate no-fault medical coverage. Pedestrians injured while lawful visitors or guests on private property may inadvertently waive their liability claims against the insurer and policyholder by accepting medical payments. A pedestrian accident attorney should help claimants analyze both their motor vehicle and premises liability claims if the accident occurred on private property.

Private or Public Health Insurance

Health insurers must generally cover all necessary, in-network medical expenses incurred by their policyholders. Coverage typically extends to emergency room treatments, rehabilitation, and doctors’ bills after a pedestrian-vehicle collision. However, some medical insurers deny initial coverage based on the claimant’s no-fault eligibility or deny certain accident-related claims.

Most health insurance companies do not pay for cosmetic procedures, such as treatments to reduce scarring or improve appearance, necessitated by crash-related injuries. They also do not generally cover dental costs or alternative pain management therapies. While health insurance may cover emergency expenses, private policies often leave claimants with co-pays, deductibles, and unpaid medical costs. Issues may also arise if claimants lose their jobs and associated health coverage due to the accident.

Some states permit uninsured claimants to apply for Medicaid retroactively, but both public assistance programs and private health insurers may demand reimbursement from liability settlements. Using medical insurance benefits following an accident often gives health insurers authority to place a medical lien on pedestrian accident settlements or judgments. These priority liens often ask for a substantial portion of claimants’ overall financial recovery. Pedestrian injury professionals usually recommend pursuing alternative avenues of coverage before relying on health insurance benefits.

State-Based Pedestrian Injury or Victim’s Compensation Fund

Some states have emergency funds that cover injured pedestrian’s medical costs if the vehicle owner committed a criminal act or violated local insurance laws. State-based compensation generally exists to pay necessary medical costs and does not include compensation for pain or suffering. These last resort funds only cover claimants without another avenue of recourse, and only certain persons qualify for compensation. Legal professionals may help injured pedestrians take advantage of state-based victims’ compensation programs, especially if drunk drivers caused or contributed to the accidents. These funds could help pedestrians receive immediate compensation for medical bills while considering their private litigation options.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ compensation laws apply to claimants struck by vehicles during their employment.

These cases might involve:

• Assistants hit by vehicles while getting coffee
• Delivery professionals struck while crossing the road
• Traveling salespersons hit in parking lots
• Construction workers run-over by heavy equipment or crushed between machinery
• Landscapers and waste management professionals hit by vehicles while loading and unloading trucks
• School crossing guards struck by inattentive drivers
• Employees struck in employer-owned parking garages
• Bus and truck drivers injured while helping coworkers maneuver vehicles

Employees injured during their employment must file claims with their employers’ workers compensation (workers comp) insurers. Nearly all states mandate workers’ compensation coverage, which pays injured employees’ medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault. In exchange, the employee cannot sue their employer for accident-related injuries. This prohibition on bringing lawsuits applies only to the employer, not the negligent driver. Pedestrians injured while working may utilize their workers’ comp benefits for immediate medical expenses and simultaneously demand pain and suffering compensation from the negligent driver.

While this system seems relatively straightforward, injured employees often require legal representation. Many employers unlawfully avoid workers’ compensation laws by paying staff under the table or disclaiming their status as employees.

Companies often claim the injured staff member was only an independent contractor (1099) and not an employee (W-2). However, the law decides the injured pedestrian’s employment status regardless of their employer’s allegations. Consider speaking with a workers’ compensation lawyer if the carrier denied your claim or an employer refused to provide the necessary paperwork after a workplace automobile accident.

SSDI or Private Disability Insurance

Pedestrian accidents often result in life-altering injuries and long-term disabilities. When claimants only have coverage through the driver’s liability insurance policy, this often means accepting maximum insurance payouts (typically $50,000 to $100,000) for serious injuries. Unfortunately, disabling auto accidents often cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial losses over the claimant’s lifetime. This disparity often means relying on private insurance to cover remaining medical bills and lost wages or applying for federal disability insurance.

Pedestrians may have disability insurance coverage through their employers to cover lost wages for disabling injuries occurring outside work hours. These policies often compensate claimants for 50 percent to 80 percent of their lost income, which may go towards medical expenses. Disabilities lasting less than one year typically fall under short-term disability coverage, which certain states mandate.

Disabilities expected to incapacitate claimants for more than one year necessitate long-term disability coverage and often result in job loss. Claimants without private long-term disability policies should consider applying for federal disability and early Medicare benefits through the Social Security Administration (SSA). Pedestrian accident attorneys frequently help their clients recover maximum compensation from liable parties before assisting them with the SSDI process.

Past & Future Medical Expenses Recoverable After a Pedestrian Accident

Injured claimants should consider both their past expenses and future needs when demanding medical compensation. After a serious car accident, claimants often focus on getting overdue hospital bills covered and obtaining payments for immediate rehabilitation and medication. They may unwittingly accept quick medical settlement offers to pay these bills without considering their prognoses.

Attorneys frequently work with expert physicians and family economists to help claimants understand and calculate the value of their medical claims, which often include the following healthcare expenses:

• Ambulance
• Emergency room
• In-patient hospital care
• Radiology and lab testing
• Surgery
• Implanted medical hardware
• Medical devices, such as wheelchairs, casts, and neck braces
• Household medical modifications, such as ramps, special beds, and shower rails
• At home or in-patient nursing care
• Doctors and specialists
• Increased healthcare premiums
• Chiropractors, acupuncturist, and masseurs
• Physical, occupational, and cognitive therapy
• Mental health counseling
• Prescription and over-the-counter medications
• Specialized medical transportation

Experts often draft reports calculating the value of these out-of-pocket expenses based on your overall injuries and prognosis. Accepting medical settlements too soon can mean waiving your right to demand future compensation from negligent drivers or property owners. Lawyers might help pedestrians recover immediate medical payments from insurers without waiving their clients’ litigation rights before diligently pursuing their clients’ claims in court.

Additional Compensation Available to Injured Pedestrians & Families

Sudden injuries often leave claimants focusing on their pain and immediate health. Hospital bills and initial treatment costs can also overwhelm families primarily focused on recovering compensation for their loved ones’ imminent healthcare needs. However, claimants often realize how their injuries impact their careers, personal lives, and mental health after treating their initial injuries.

Pedestrians may demand compensation for certain non-economic (pain and suffering) losses in addition to their medical expenses. Compensation might further include lost wages, work benefits, career opportunities, and property damage (broken phone).

Different rules govern pain and suffering recovery in each jurisdiction, but most states permit claims for the following non-economic damages:

Legal professionals may recommend claimants keep mental health logs following the accident concerning their daily frustrations and emotional lows. These logs may include notes about the depression associated with your inability to cook, lift your children, go out with friends, sleep without discomfort, or play soccer. You may recover compensation for both physical and emotional injuries associated with the accident. Still, it’s important to keep honest and detailed logs about post-injury mental and social struggles to prove your claims.

Spouses, dependent children, and the minor’s parents may also bring loss of consortium and caretaker claims in some states. These rights permit eligible relatives to recover damages for their direct financial and emotional losses stemming from the accident, including compensation for increased household responsibilities, loss of physical companionship, or loss of parental guidance. Local car accident lawyers may help claimants injured in pedestrian accidents understand their medical compensation rights and calculate their cases’ true values.

Requesting Settlements After a Pedestrian Accident

A single accident may result in multiple liable persons and insurance carriers. As such, injured pedestrians often wonder where to start. Legal and medical professionals often encourage patients to focus on their health and treatment while trusting dedicated injury lawyers with administrative matters.

Pedestrian accident attorneys frequently help claimants in many ways immediately following the accident, including filing no-fault claims and providing relevant insurance information to treating doctors.

Experienced counsel may also appeal unjust insurance denials, respond to medical records requests, and challenge the adjuster’s medical claims decisions. Lawyers often focus on getting injured pedestrians the immediate medical compensation and treatment they need before demanding liability settlements. Claimants often receive faster and more comprehensive medical payments when working with a dedicated accident lawyer.

Injured pedestrians often hesitate to contact local attorneys due to increasing financial concerns. Between unexpected medical bills and lost wages, families can seldom afford to cover legal expenses. Fortunately, nearly all pedestrian accident lawyers provide these services to eligible clients on a contingency fee basis. This delayed fee structure means attorneys take approximately one-third of their clients’ overall settlements or judgments.

Most car accident law firms even front the money for investigative, expert witnesses, records request, mailing, and litigation costs. Many represented claimants can recover compensation for their medical bills and pain without any upfront or out-of-pocket costs. Consider contacting a local pedestrian accident lawyer today to discuss your medical reimbursement options and financial recovery rights.