Experienced Attorneys Getting The Compensation You Deserve
If you’ve suffered an injury from being hit by a vehicle while walking, running, or jogging, contact our Buffalo pedestrian accident lawyers to fight for you.
Motor vehicle accidents are traumatic experiences for drivers or passengers. And if you’ve been injured in one, we want to say how very sorry we are.
Unlike occupants of motor vehicles, pedestrians have no safety features to shield them from death or injury when they are hit.
Read Our FREE Pedestrian Accident Guide
When a pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle, and fortunate enough to survive, injuries from the collision are generally severe, costly, and life-altering.
Immediately following such an event, the pedestrian and their family are confronted with a myriad of pressing questions and concerns that demand immediate attention.
Who will pay for my medical bills? What if I cannot return to work? What if I never heal? How will I support my family? Should I speak with the driver’s insurance company?
These are just a few of the many questions that typically bombard a pedestrian if they are fortunate enough to survive the accident. It is essential that the injured pedestrian or their family retain one of our experienced Buffalo pedestrian accident lawyers immediately.
What to Do After an Accident
The two most important things an injured pedestrian should do following a motor vehicle accident are 1. Seek medical attention as soon as possible; and 2. Refrain from conversations about the details of the accident with the other driver’s insurance carrier.
Get Immediate Medical Care
Most victims of a pedestrian motor vehicle accident are immediately transported from the scene of the accident to the emergency room by ambulance. There are some cases where less forceful impacts are involved, and the injured pedestrian may be tempted to turn down an ambulance, under the belief that they are okay or “too tough” to go to the ER.
Regardless of whether or not the injured pedestrian believes they are okay, seeking emergency room treatment immediately after the accident is important for two reasons.
First, it allows for the early detection of hidden injuries that may not be visible or felt by the victim who is likely in shock following the event.
Second, it documents the injuries and symptoms one experienced after the accident, allowing that person to be referred immediately to the particular specialists they need to see in order to initiate the healing process.
When a person refuses to go to the emergency room at the scene of the accident, it gives the adverse driver’s insurance carrier the impression that the victim was not harmed.
The refusal of emergency treatment at the scene of the accident can create an uphill battle for the injured pedestrian when they later seek to get their injuries rightfully compensated by the adverse driver. Delaying treatment only gives the adverse driver’s insurance carrier an opportunity to attribute the pedestrian’s injuries to some cause other than the accident.
Do Not Speak to the Insurance Company
An injured pedestrian should never give a statement to the other driver’s insurance carrier without their attorney. It is common practice for the other insurance carrier to solicit a recorded statement from the injured pedestrian.
While the insurance representative may sound sympathetic, it is important to remember that they represent the liable driver who hit you. Their only goal is to pay you as little money as possible.
They are recording the statement for a reason. It is their goal to get the injured pedestrian talking in the hopes that they make a statement that is unfavorable to their case. In turn, the insurance carrier will later produce that statement and use it to get the injured pedestrian’s case dismissed from court.
It is so important that the injured pedestrian or their family retain one of our experienced Buffalo pedestrian accident lawyers as soon as possible after the accident.
Get a lawyer to properly guide you to avoid all of the early traps that insurance carriers spring in their attempts to limit and deny you compensation. All it takes is one early misstep by the injured pedestrian in dealing with the insurance carrier and the entire case may be crushed.
No-Fault Insurance Benefits
New York is a “No-Fault” insurance state. The law provides that the other driver’s mandatory no-fault insurance covers an injured pedestrian’s economic damages of up to $50,000.00. This includes all costs associated with ambulance, hospital, physical therapy and physician bills related to the accident. It also includes the costs of prescription medications and all diagnostics such as x-rays, CTs, and MRIs.
Also included in the liable driver’s no-fault insurance are lost earnings of up to $2,000.00 per month for the injured pedestrian. The other driver’s no-fault insurance, however, does not include compensation for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, permanent disabilities, and disfigurement.
When to Seek More Damages
It is important to remember that an injured pedestrian’s no-fault benefits are capped at $50,000.00 and do not include damages for pain and suffering. Given the severe nature of the injuries that pedestrians routinely sustain in a motor vehicle accident, the no-fault insurance benefit can be easily exhausted.
In cases where an injured pedestrian’s economic losses exceed the $50,000 no-fault limit, or in cases where the pedestrian’s injuries qualify as “serious injuries” under the law, the injured pedestrian can step outside of New York’s no-fault system and pursue litigation to collect additional economic damages and non-economic damages for pain and suffering, and permanent disabilities and disfigurement as well.
Additionally, the law permits families of a deceased pedestrian to pursue Wrongful Death benefits as well. In order to recover these additional damages, the injured pedestrian or their family must prove that the adverse driver was responsible for causing the underlying accident, as well as the pedestrian’s injuries and losses.
7.7 Million Dollar Pedestrian Accident Settlement
An experienced Buffalo pedestrian accident lawyer will know how to combat the insurance company’s tricks right from the start and will ensure that you get fully compensated for all of your injuries and losses.
Contact Our Experienced Buffalo Pedestrian Accident Lawyers
We are not afraid to fight the insurance companies all the way to trial. Our goal is to take the financial stress and uncertainties out of the process so that you can focus on making a complete recovery from your injuries.
There’s no cost to you whatsoever, as we work on a contingency fee basis and only get paid if we win. Don’t allow yourself to get jerked around by greedy insurance companies. Call us today so that we can get working on your case immediately!
-
-
Client Reviews
“Couldn’t be happier with the way my case was handled. A very thorough, encouraging , professional and hands-on firm to work with. You are treated with respect, and not merely as a number here.”
– Todd Hannel
Read More Reviews Related Blogs
Exploring the relationship between traffic flow and pedestrian safety in Niagara Falls
Analyzing the most dangerous intersections for pedestrians in Springville
The relationship between vehicle speed and pedestrian injuries in Buffalo
How Buffalo’s infrastructure impacts pedestrian safety
Pedestrian Accident Injury Tips
