300+ Google Reviews
A pedestrian accident lawyer could help you go after compensation for your injuries and other losses if someone else’s carelessness hurt you. When someone harms another person through negligence, they should pay the person’s losses. A pedestrian accident attorney at Schiller & Hamilton could hold the at-fault party accountable and recover damages, such as your medical bills and pain and suffering.
When our personal injury lawyers handle your pedestrian accident injury claim, you can focus your attention and energy on healing, knowing that we are handling legal matters for you. Pedestrians often suffer catastrophic injuries when struck by a motor vehicle. Also, we can help your family seek additional compensation if your loved one suffered fatal injuries in a pedestrian accident.
Common Injuries in Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrians usually suffer more severe injuries than people inside vehicles because pedestrians are not sitting inside metal structures that protect them from harm. After getting hit by thousands of pounds of metal and hard plastic, even at low speed, the harm to the human body can be devastating.
Here are just a few examples of wounds the pedestrian can suffer in one of these accidents:
- Paralysis
- Spinal cord injury
- Amputation
- Broken bones
- Internal organ damage
- Head injury
Sometimes, severe injuries like these can be life-changing, causing the injured person’s life never to be the same.
The Scope of the Problem
Thousands of pedestrians die yearly in traffic crashes in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) attributes these collisions to three causes:
- Motorist behavior. Driver behavior that can cause a pedestrian accident includes distracted driving, violating traffic laws, speeding, drug or alcohol impairment, or lack of awareness of traffic laws.
- Non-motorist behavior. Sometimes, the pedestrian was impaired after drinking alcohol or another substance, did not know or follow the traffic laws, or was not highly visible to motorists.
- Infrastructure issues account for many pedestrian accidents. When the area where a person needs to walk lacks sidewalks, adequate lighting, signage, or crosswalks or does not provide enough separation between pedestrians and motorists, the area is likely to see more pedestrian accidents than a location with the appropriate infrastructure.
Motorists should use care when driving through areas that contain infrastructure issues.
Recoverable Economic Damages in Pedestrian Injury Cases
Economic damages after a pedestrian accident are typically things like medical bills, lost income, and other direct financial losses from the accident and injuries. Usually, we can include damages like these in your injury claim:
- The reasonable cost of the medical treatment you need for your injuries. This category can include things like ambulance services, emergency room care, X-rays and CAT scans, diagnostic procedures, surgery, specialists, hospital stays, blood transfusions, physical therapy, and prescription drugs.
- The income you missed when you could not work because of your injuries.
- Unpaid time away from work to attend doctor’s appointments and therapy sessions and recuperate from additional procedures like operations.
- Decreased earning capacity. Severe injuries from a pedestrian accident could limit your ability to make as much income as you did before the pedestrian crash. You might have weakness, chronic pain, loss of function, decreased range of motion, or some other impairment that could impact your employability.
- Rehabilitation facility. Catastrophic injuries often require undergoing healthcare services at a specialized treatment facility for maximum recuperation. Sometimes, for example, a person who suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a pedestrian accident must relearn how to walk, talk, and feed themselves.
If you lost a loved one in a pedestrian accident, we could help the family pursue additional compensation for their losses if they can recover it under state law.
How Intangible Losses Work in Pedestrian Accident Cases
Some losses are challenging to measure in terms of dollars after a pedestrian accident. Still, these damages have a monetary value that we can calculate. A pedestrian accident victim can receive an award for intangible losses, also called non-economic losses, in addition to economic losses like medical expenses and lost income.
Examples of intangible losses after a pedestrian accident include the following:
- Pain and suffering, which accounts for the inconvenience, mental anguish, and physical discomfort of the accident and your injuries
- Loss of enjoyment of life when your injuries prevent you from engaging in activities you enjoy
- Disfigurement from extensive scars, amputation, and other visible changes to areas of the body
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which many people develop after motor vehicle or pedestrian crashes. This significant condition can decrease a person’s ability to maintain full employment or meaningful personal relationships. Some people become afraid to leave the house and develop severe anxiety and stress.
Be sure to talk to our pedestrian accident lawyer about all the ways your life has changed because of the crash.
We Can Represent You Without Upfront Fees or Costs
We handle pedestrian accidents on a contingency fee basis, which means you do not have to come up with a large deposit toward our legal fees. In fact, we do not charge you any upfront legal fees on your case.
Instead, we wait until the end of your case, and then, we receive a percentage of the settlement proceeds or jury award for our work on the case. We have a no-fee guarantee. If we do not recover compensation for you, you do not owe us any legal fees.
The Filing Deadline for a Pedestrian Accident in South Carolina
Under South Carolina law, you generally have three years to file a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation for your losses from the party who caused the pedestrian accident through negligence, according to S.C. Ann. §15-3-530. The deadline is likely shorter if the accident involves a government agency.
If you miss the filing deadline for your case, the at-fault party will be entirely off the hook. They will have no liability for the accident or your injuries. Negotiating with the insurance company does not satisfy the filing deadline, also called the statute of limitations.
Call Schiller & Hamilton Today for Help From a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
You can contact Schiller & Hamilton today to get started on your pedestrian accident case. We help people seek the financial recovery they deserve when they suffer injuries because of someone else’s negligence. We can review the circumstances of the accident and advise you on your legal options and next steps.