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You Can Trust Our Dallas Lawyers to Fight for Your Rights in Pedestrian Accident Cases
According to our records, the result obtained by (attorneys) Shane V. Mullen and Joseph R. Morrison in the case Pedestrian v. Motorist was one of the Top 10 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in Texas and a Top 50 Verdict in the United States in the year 2020.
Shane and his staff were AMAZING! I had a Lyft accident a year ago while I was pregnant and they were very helpful and checked in on my children and I even after the settlement had been handled. Thank you Mullen & Mullen Law Firm for all your help. May God continue to bless you all! Take care xoxo. -Tajae Short
Mullen & Mullen Law Firm has been recovering damages for injury victims for 40 years. Our lawyers know the arguments the insurance companies will likely raise before they even raise them. Many Dallas pedestrian accidents involve serious injuries and damages since people on foot are not protected at all from the impact of a motor vehicle.
Do pedestrians automatically have the right of way?
No. The insurance company for the negligent driver that hit you is likely to argue that you were also negligent in causing the automobile collision. They will attempt to “speed you up” while simultaneously “slowing the at-fault driver down.” The police report might say the at-fault driver was inattentive in the parking lot, but they will argue you were too.
In most pedestrian injury claims the at-fault driver’s insurance company will suggest you were also responsible for the collision. They can suggest you were not paying attention, walking too quickly, entered an intersection when it was unsafe, didn’t look both ways, or attempted to cross when it was unsafe.
How are Dallas pedestrian accident injury claims unique compared to regular auto accidents?
The vast majority of insurance issues and damages available in a Dallas pedestrian accident injury claim are similar to those of a regular auto collision. Please visit our car accident injury claims page for detailed information that should answer most of your questions regarding your potential case. However, some things are unique to pedestrian accidents in Texas, and our attorneys have listed them below.
Who’s responsible in a pedestrian accident?
Some people think that pedestrians always have the right of way. If you’re driving and hit a pedestrian you’re in big trouble, the thinking goes.
But, that’s far from the case. As with any personal injury case type, you can be totally or partially at fault or share none of the blame.
Take a look at a couple different situations where fault could lie on either side, and the law in Texas that helps determine fault:
Both drivers and pedestrians must exercise “reasonable care.”
The legal test for pedestrians is an objective one. This means that ideally, a typical person acts in a certain way in a given situation. This test applies to the pedestrian, regardless of what kind of person they really are. They could be low intelligence, high intelligence, or completely insane.
So, for example, it would be difficult for a pedestrian to say you were at fault if he or she walked through an intersection where you had a green light because they were messing around on their smartphone – assuming you weren’t breaking your own duty of care as a driver.
As a driver, you must also exercise a duty of care. If you drive distracted in any way, speed, don’t yield at a crosswalk, or are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, for example, you violate that duty of care. And when it comes to children ages 5 to 9, drivers have a higher duty of care because of children’s often unpredictable behavior. If you know, or should know, small children play in an area, you have a duty to exercise greater caution while driving in that area.
If the police report puts you BOTH at-fault can you still obtain an injury settlement?
Let’s say you were texting while driving and you hit a pedestrian doing the same thing while walking through a “Don’t Walk” sign. Both of you were negligent and violated your duty of care.
What happens then? Well, this is where things get complicated. The final outcome of the case depends on the skill of your lawyer and the makeup of the jury.
Texas is a “modified comparative fault” state. This means that if you are found by a jury to be 51% responsible for your injuries or more, you cannot recover compensation. So if you were that pedestrian that got hit because of a distracted driver, but you also walked through a “Don’t Walk” sign, and the jury said you were 50% responsible for your injuries, you have the total amount you should have been awarded reduced by 50%. If that was originally $100,000, you would walk away with $50,000.
Personal injury lawyers offer free consultations to learn the facts of your case. So there’s no risk for you to talk to one to learn what the potential legal outcome of your case could be.
What if the Pedestrian Accident Happened at an Intersection?
If you began walking through an intersection when the crosswalk sign directed you to will you automatically win?
Wrong. The insurance company could argue you that their insured had control of the intersection or that you failed to check for oncoming vehicles before entering the intersection, among other things.
If you began walking through an intersection when the crosswalk sign told you NOT to will you automatically lose?
Not necessarily. You can potentially contend you had control over the intersection prior to the accident. The at-fault driver can be found negligent if it is determined a reasonable and prudent driver would have avoided hitting you.
In the above scenario the insurance company would, of course, argue you were comparatively negligent.
What if the Pedestrian Accident Happened in a Parking Lot?
You were hit by an automobile in a parking lot. You automatically win right?
No. The insurance carrier for the at-fault driver could argue that you were not paying attention to your surroundings and that a reasonable person would have seen a car or truck backing up.
Does it matter if the collision caused you to fall to the ground or not?
It can. If a collision didn’t knock you down to the ground the insurance company could argue that it would be impossible for a person to be injured in such an accident. In addition, impacts where the victim has been knocked to the ground often involve more significant injuries.
Obtaining Medical Treatment
If you don’t have health insurance or can’t afford your out of pocket medical expenses can you still receive care?
Yes. Our Dallas pedestrian accident attorneys work with a variety of medical providers who agree to delay requesting payment for the services they render until your injury claim has settled. This allows you to focus on recovering instead of worrying about how you are going to pay for your medical bills.
What type of medical providers do your Dallas pedestrian accident lawyers work with?
Our attorneys work with orthopedic surgeons, medical doctors including pain management doctors and neurologists, chiropractors, surgical facilities, anesthesiologists, MRI facilities, radiology facilities, pharmacies, and hospitals in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth and all across North Texas.
What if surgery is needed after a pedestrian accident in Dallas?
Our Dallas injury lawyers have assisted countless injured victims who required a surgery to recover from injuries sustained in accidents. The possibility of surgery, however, is dependent on adequate automobile insurance coverage being available.
Our attorneys will make sure all available insurance proceeds are at play. In fact, the majority of potential insurance claims will be established at the onset of your case to make sure it progresses as smoothly as possible.
Consultations are Free. Talk to a Dallas Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Today.
Mullen & Mullen Law Firm
1825 Market Center Blvd #200
Dallas, TX 75207
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Joseph R. Morrison is the Senior Associate Attorney at Mullen & Mullen Law Firm in Dallas, TX, where he represents people personally injured due to the negligence of others. He was recognized by VerdictSearch for obtaining a Top 5 Premises Liability verdict in the State of Texas, and has been quoted in the ABA Journal.
