As a pedestrian, you have certain legal protections in order to keep you safe while you are in transit in Florida. This starts with things such as sidewalks and dedicated foot traffic areas, but extend to crosswalks, pedestrian crossing lights, footpaths, bridges, and more. However, there are many different times in Florida that a pedestrian is unsafe because of cars, trucks, cyclists, skateboards, scooters, and other travelers. If you have been injured as a pedestrian in Florida, one of the most important things that you can do after addressing your immediate medical concerns is to begin working with an experienced and aggressive personal injury attorney.
1-800-Injured is a referral network of personal injury and pedestrian accident lawyers in Florida that are ready and willing to take your case and fight for the money that you are rightfully owed. We connect pedestrians who have been injured in accidents with proven accident lawyers who can provide impactful information and take on the case immediately. During your initial consultation, you will be able to speak with your attorney about your injuries, the accident, the circumstances that caused the accident, and what steps you have already taken in order to get your situation under control.
Read more below about pedestrian accidents in Florida, and how an attorney that you are connected with through 1-800-Injured will help you work through this complicated process in order to get the settlement or award that you deserve.
What Is a Pedestrian Accident?
A pedestrian accident is an accident that takes place when one person is on foot, either walking, running, hiking, jogging, or any other situation where an individual is using their feet, and are in an accident with a motorized vehicle of some type. As mentioned before, there are many different protections in place to protect pedestrians from vehicles, such as speed limits, school zones, pedestrian bridges, crossing lights, and more. If you are involved in an accident when you have the right of way and you are able to prove that the person operating the motor vehicle was at fault, then you will likely immediately begin working with the driver’s insurance company. We will discuss the proper steps to take during your interactions with the insurance company below.
What To Do After a Pedestrian Accident
The most important thing to do after any type of accident is to make sure that your medical needs are addressed as soon as possible. If you are able to, call 911 immediately so that you can have professional emergency help, and so that the police will be able to arrive on site in order to take control of the situation, divert traffic, and make a report. In some cases, such as if the driver was intoxicated when they caused the accident, the police may also make arrests. Regardless of the outcome, the police report will be extremely helpful as a tool to establish the timeline of the accident, strengthen your claims, and set a narrative that will be understandable for anyone who attempts to understand the overall situation.
If you are injured, the EMTs will be able to help make suggestions and recommendations about what you need to do in order to get the right care. In some cases, this may mean that you take an ambulance to the emergency room for urgent care. In other cases, you may be able to take yourself to see your primary care physician. If you choose the latter option, it is absolutely essential that you see your physician as soon as possible. First, it is important that you address your medical needs in a timely manner. However, just as a police report will help to establish the narrative of your accident and injuries, all of your medical records will give additional details to your story and will help a judge or jury understand the magnitude of your suffering if you must pursue your damages in a full personal injury lawsuit.
Next, you will need to begin working with an insurance company (both yours and the driver’s insurance company) in order to get the money that you need. Read more about that in the next section.
Working With an Insurance Company to File a Claim
You or your attorney will need to deal with an insurance company at the outset of your claims process, meaning that you will be in close contact with an insurance adjuster as they are putting together their own interpretation of your situation. It is absolutely essential during this process that you never forget who the insurance company is working for. They are representing the person who caused your injuries, and are doing so in a way that will hopefully save them as much money as possible while protecting themselves (and their client) from additional legal obligations.
Shortly after you begin this claims process, you will get a settlement offer from the insurance company. The insurance company understands that you may be in a position where your medical bills are mounting, you have missed work because of your injuries, and you are beginning to become acutely concerned about the costs that you will need to confront. The company relies on this discomfort in order to get you to settle, which is why they make a much lower offer than you actually deserve. NEVER accept the initial offer from an insurance company without consulting with a personal injury attorney first. Once you accept the offer, you will be required to waive your rights to any future legal action regarding this accident, even if your situation becomes more complicated after the fact.
Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney After a Pedestrian Accident
Instead of dealing with an insurance company and attempting to navigate the claims process on your own (while also focusing on recovery), it is a much better process to work through with the help of an experienced personal injury attorney. When the insurance company makes an initial offer, they will make it seem as if this is the best that you can do. This is not the case. Instead, your personal injury lawyer will use this initial offer as a starting point for a series of negotiations where they will attempt to get the money that you truly deserve without needing to pursue your damages in a civil lawsuit in the Florida courts. Lawsuits are time-consuming and costly, so there is a significant amount of calculations involved to determine the amount that you will accept in a settlement versus the amount of money that you may be able to get at the end of a lawsuit.
Choosing the Right Personal Injury Attorney in Florida
Before you can decide whether or not you will accept a settlement or move forward to a personal injury lawsuit, you will need to hire the right attorney for your case. This process can be extremely stressful. While you are attempting to recover from your injuries, navigating the necessary adjustments to your life, and keeping things moving forward in your household, you will also need to consult with many different attorneys. Unless, of course, you contact 1-800-Injured.
1-800-Injured allows victims to avoid this lengthy process by connecting them with the right attorney for their situation. We will be able to tap into our established referral network in order to pair you with the best lawyer for your needs, which will give you the space that you need in order to manage your life. All of the pedestrian accident lawyers in our network offer free consultations and work on a contingency basis.
Contact 1-800-Injured Today
The sooner you contact 1-800-Injured, the sooner you will be able to stop worrying about how you will be able to get your life on track after this catastrophic accident. Once you are connected with your network attorney, you will be able to get a professional perspective of your situation, understand their opinion on your options, and begin to set a strategy for how you will get the money that you need in order to settle your situation and get the financial support that will help you move forward with your life.
Contact us now to be connected with a lawyer for a free consultation where you will be able to discuss your injuries. We are proud to help accident victims meet the right attorneys for their needs in order to get them all of the help that they need.