In a word, the answer is “yes.” If you have been injured as a pedestrian by a motor vehicle, you likely have suffered serious personal injuries. While it may seem clear that the driver was at fault, in fact insurance companies go to great length, and often considerable expense, to defend against claims brought by injured pedestrians, primarily to avoid payment of substantial compensation for the serious injuries suffered.
The pedestrian accident attorneys at Clifford & Raihala have represented many clients severely injured by a car while they were walking. In one of our Illinois cases, for example, a bus turned left at an intersection striking our 36-year-old client who was crossing the intersecting street. The bus driver was cited for failure to yield to the pedestrian’s right of way, but the insurance company defended against our client’s right to compensation claiming she was not in the cross walk and that the driver’s view was obstructed by shadows from the setting sun. Our pedestrian accident attorneys retained an accident reconstruction expert (who actually acquired a similar bus to reconstruct the accident) and two bus safety experts to overcome the insurance company’s claims. Clifford & Raihala’s personal injury lawyers also obtained interviews with two witnesses supporting our client’s claim that she was in the cross walk. Because our pedestrian accident lawyers knew how to handle the complexity of her pedestrian accident claim, we successfully obtained a $9,000,000.00 settlement for her.
In another Wisconsin pedestrian accident, our client was crossing a street in Madison when a truck turned left into her right of way, again causing severe leg injuries. Our pedestrian accident attorneys searched the area of the collision for street or commercial video cameras, but found that the closest camera was two blocks away and didn’t have sufficient range to film the collision. Nonetheless, we recovered full insurance policy limits for her injuries, without having to file a lawsuit. The driver’s insurance company claimed our client was at fault and was responsible for the collision. Attorney Raihala had promptly obtained a sworn statement from a witness who confirmed that our client was “entirely in the crosswalk,” and that the driver was “not slowing down” and was “100% responsible for causing the collision.” The insurer promptly settled when our pedestrian accident lawyer presented it with the affidavit, and we recovered $640,000.00 for our client.
Similarly, on another Madison, Wisconsin street, our client was crossing at an intersection when a car turned into his right of way. The insurance company tried to argue that our client had not been in the cross walk, but our pedestrian accident attorneys had obtained a street camera video showing the car striking him as he crossed in the intersection. As well, the video showed our client being hit by the front end of the car and sent flying over the car, landing on the street behind the vehicle. The graphic video helped us recover full, fair and substantial compensation of $260,000.00 for our client’s injuries.
Sometimes, pedestrians are injured by mechanisms other than being struck by a motor vehicle. In one of our pedestrian accident cases, our client was walking on a city street alongside a 4-story parking ramp when, without warning, several hundred pounds of ice and snow were blind- dumped over the top floor of the ramp, falling on and crushing her. She suffered multiple vertebral fractures, a crushed rib cage, and other injuries, plus a year-long delay in starting medical school. Our pedestrian accident attorneys obtained 911 recordings on which she was clearly heard groaning in severe pain. As well, we retained a national expert in snow removal protocols to establish the equipment operator’s clear negligence. By those efforts, our pedestrian accident attorneys in Madison helped our client recover $1,250,000.00 to compensate her.
So, the answer is yes: if you’ve been injured as a pedestrian by the negligence of another, whether a driver of a car or truck, or a heavy equipment operator, you need an experienced pedestrian accident attorney to make sure that the defenses raised by the responsible party’s insurance company do not prevent you from being fully, fairly and, often, substantially compensated. The personal injury attorneys at Clifford & Raihala include experienced pedestrian accident attorneys who know how to investigate pedestrian accidents and to assure our clients receive full compensation. Our personal injury attorneys have been representing injured clients for almost 50 years. To speak with one of our pedestrian accident attorneys, call 608-257-7900 (or toll free at 888-791-8422), or click https://myjustice.com to connect now. There is no fee or obligation for this consultation. We would be proud to help.
