Colorado Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

Walking is good for your health and the environment. Unfortunately, for pedestrians walking along Colorado’s roads–whether in rural or urban areas or on side streets or main corridors–there is the potential for danger. Pedestrians are completely outmatched if involved in an accident with a motor vehicle, commonly suffering severe injuries with serious consequences or death.

If you are the victim of a pedestrian accident, and someone else holds fault for that accident, you have the right to demand compensation from the at-fault party, and the team of Colorado personal injury lawyers from Heuser & Heuser, LLP can help. Our firm is dedicated to supporting victims’ rights, fighting for justice, and giving our clients and cases the respect and individual attention they deserve.

Colorado Pedestrian Accidents by the Numbers

Data collected in recent months and years show Colorado’s pedestrians are in increasing danger. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CODOT) reported that for the most recent full year of data collection, Colorado hit its “highest level of pedestrian fatalities on record,” seeing 111 pedestrian fatalities. Additional data shows that the trend of increased deaths is continuing, and Colorado’s roads are particularly deadly for pedestrians from May to September, the CODOT reports. 

Colorado is not alone. The Governor’s Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) reports that nationwide, the yearly count of pedestrian deaths increased from 4,302 to 7,624 over a recent ten-year period. According to the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), 60,000 pedestrians sustained injuries according to a recent full year of reporting. 

Kinds of Injuries Sustained in Pedestrian Accidents

It requires no imagination to understand why pedestrians are the most vulnerable motor-vehicle accident victims. A recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states the average weight of passenger vehicles as 4,156 pounds. This average includes sedans, car SUVs, truck SUVs, minivans, and pickup trucks. Of course, delivery or other large trucks and semi-trucks are even heavier. When fully loaded, a semi-truck can weigh in at a staggering 80,000 pounds.

Pedestrians are defenseless when hit by a vehicle, and even if the hit is “tap” from a lighter car–say 3,000 pounds–damage is inevitable. Pedestrian injuries range from moderate to severe, but even those fortunate enough to escape with those so-called moderate injuries still have a long road to recovery ahead.

Broken Bones

Broken bones and teeth are not uncommon pedestrian-accident injuries. Often the breaks or fractures require surgery (or surgeries) and the insertion of metal pins or screws to keep the bone in place while it heals. Typically, victims undergo rehabilitative therapies for months following the injury. In the best cast scenarios, through these interventions, the bones heal properly, leaving victims with no long-term effects.

However, best-case scenarios are not guaranteed. Sometimes, bone breaks lead to life-threatening infections, or victims can experience complications during surgery. Other times, the bones do not heal completely–they are too damaged to return to their pre-accident state. In these cases, accident victims can face a lifetime of chronic pain or limited mobility or use of the affected area.

Soft Tissue Damage

Muscles, nerves, ligaments, tendons, and other soft tissue can be strained, sprained, bruised, or torn when hit, or even grazed, by a motor vehicle. The outcomes are painful and can limit physical capabilities and quality of life, potentially long term. 

Lacerations and Burns

Lacerations can result from the sharp metal edges or other parts of a vehicle’s body or from violently falling against, or being thrown against, the roadway and any debris on that roadway. If skin scrapes along the ground, victims can experience road burns. And since gasoline or lithium batteries power vehicles, should those power sources ignite, victims can also experience burns from the sparks or flames.

Back, Neck, or Spinal Cord Injuries

Even “small” jolts can damage back and neck muscles, discs, or vertebrae. In the most severe situations, victims experience spinal cord damage, which can cause partial or total paralysis. Spinal cord injuries also lead to dysfunction in other body systems and put victims’ psycho-emotional well-being at risk. 

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs)

Pedestrians can easily sustain a TBI from the impact of the vehicle to their head or from being knocked to the ground or into an obstacle. TBIs, even concussions, which are more moderate forms of these injuries, have serious effects–hopefully only temporary, but potentially permanent. They include dizziness, confusion, headaches, nausea, and other symptoms.

More serious damage can leave victims with pain, and other physical complications as the brain may not be able to communicate with other body systems and cognitive disabilities. For example, victims may struggle to remember, process information, think critically, make reasonable judgments, experience changes to mood and emotional regulation, have vision or hearing problems, or find it hard to either sleep or stay awake.

Effects of Pedestrian Accidents 

The effects of a pedestrian accident reach into all aspects of victims’ lives. The physical damage, the most obvious and immediate outcomes, generates an expansive ripple effect. Physical injuries bring pain and limitations, which create feelings of frustration and despair. 

Victims who cannot care for themselves independently during their recovery or perhaps ever again are likely to feel trapped by their dependence on others and their compromised physical condition. This emotional turmoil can affect entire households, straining family dynamics, roles, and relationships. 

If victims cannot engage socially or participate in recreational activities or special vacations or events as they once could, feelings of depression and grief for those losses can overwhelm them. Of course, injuries prevent victims from working either for a time or forever, causing financial distress, which just adds to the emotionally distraught atmosphere in the household, which now faces a financially insecure future. Should a pedestrian victim die in the accident or from injuries sustained in the event, families experience tremendous emotional and financial challenges. 

Types of Pedestrian Accident Claims

As the victim of a pedestrian accident, you can pursue compensation for their losses for the party at fault for the accident. Depending on the circumstances, a Colorado pedestrian accident lawyer can help you file a personal injury claim or a wrongful death claim.

If you survive the accident but suffer damages, your attorney will file a personal injury claim. Your attorney will carefully calculate your losses, which include the following:

• Medical care costs and future medical expenses
• Income lost during recovery, and if you cannot go back to work, lost future earnings and job benefits
• Any property damaged or destroyed in the accident
• Other expenses incurred by the accident. For example, you may need to pay for help with household or family responsibilities or restructure your living space to suit your changed abilities
• Acknowledgement of the physical and emotional pain you have endured as well as your diminished quality of life

Wrongful death claims apply if your loved one dies in an accident. As a surviving family member, you can recover related medical costs, end-of-life expenses, lost income, and contributions to the household and receive financial acknowledgment for your loss of affection and relationship.

It is essential to have an experienced pedestrian accident attorney review your situation and derive a fair settlement amount. While under physical and emotional stress, it is easy for victims to overlook losses and underestimate the compensation they are owed. By partnering with an attorney, you avoid putting your settlement at risk. 

Statute of Limitations

In Colorado, most personal injury cases must be filed within a two-year statute of limitations. A statute of limitation is a legal deadline, and if victims do not file within that deadline, their case may be dismissed. However, for personal injury claims involving motor vehicles, that deadline is extended to three years. 

The timer starts on the date of the accident. There are some exceptions. For example, if an injury is not immediately recognized, the timer may not start until the injury is diagnosed. If the at-fault party goes into hiding, the clock does not run while that party is “absent.” An experienced pedestrian accident attorney can sort through these dates and deadlines to maintain your claim’s validity. 

When a pedestrian is killed in a motor vehicle accident, the surviving family has to file a wrongful death claim within a four-year statute of limitations. The clock starts on the date of the victim’s death.

Statute of Limitations

In Colorado, most personal injury cases must be filed within a two-year statute of limitations. A statute of limitation is a legal deadline, and if victims do not file within that deadline, their case may be dismissed. However, for personal injury claims involving motor vehicles, that deadline is extended to three years. 

The timer starts on the date of the accident. There are some exceptions. For example, if an injury is not immediately recognized, the timer may not start until the injury is diagnosed. If the at-fault party goes into hiding, the clock does not run while that party is “absent.” An experienced pedestrian accident attorney can sort through these dates and deadlines to maintain your claim’s validity. 

When a pedestrian is killed in a motor vehicle accident, the surviving family has to file a wrongful death claim within a four-year statute of limitations. The clock starts on the date of the victim’s death.

For Claims Against the Government

For victims filing against a government entity, there are different rules. First, within 180 days of discovering the injury, victims must send a written notice of the potential claim, and this notice must include specific information. If victims do not send the notice, they cannot pursue a claim. 

Clearly, the best course of action is to connect with a pedestrian accident lawyer in Colorado as soon as possible after an accident. An attorney will ensure all filing deadlines and procedures are met.

Our Pedestrian Accident Attorneys in Colorado Will Fight for a Maximum Settlement

The skilled pedestrian attorneys at Heuser & Heuser, LLP will make a fair settlement demand and protect that settlement from unwarranted deductions. Colorado follows a comparative fault system for personal injury claims. 

Under this system, victims can only seek compensation for damages if they are less than 50% responsible for causing the accident leading to their injuries. If they meet this criterion but still hold a percentage of fault, that same percentage is deducted from the total settlement amount. This means if you are assigned a share of fault, say 15%, you receive compensation that is 15% less than the total determined amount of your damages. 

You can see how the at-fault party’s insurance or other representatives will try to use the rules of comparative fault to lower their payout. Insurance companies are good at twisting victims’ words into admissions of fault or at interpreting the details of an accident in their client’s favor. They are also skilled in intimidation and presenting false generosity, either using fear tactics to scare victims into accepting a lower-than-adequate settlement or showing apparent sympathy and convincing vulnerable victims a low offer is actually generous.

Our team of pedestrian accident lawyers is well prepared to anticipate and recognize these strategies and stop them from gaining traction. Leave all conversations with insurance companies to our team. We will not be tricked or intimidated and will work to keep your settlement secure. 

Building a Case

To collect a personal injury settlement for a pedestrian accident, you must prove the at-fault party’s negligence caused your injuries and led to your damages. To prove this, you need substantial evidence. Trying to find that evidence on your own will not serve your interests. You may not realize what types of evidence are convincing or even relevant to your case.

The team at Heuser & Heuser, LLP knows what kinds of evidence you need, where to find it, and how to present it. Your attorney will first investigate the accident to determine its cause and identify the at-fault party. For example, your accident may be the fault of a distracted driver, but it could also have resulted from a vehicle malfunction. After identifying the negligent party, your lawyer will continue digging through the details of the accident, gathering evidence to support your claim and settlement demand. Your lawyer will pursue every possible source of evidence, including:

• Consulting with experts such as accident reconstructionists, traffic and roadway planners, medical professionals, and vehicle specialists
• Interviewing accident witnesses
• Accessing photo images and video recordings from nearby traffic or security cameras, or dashboard cameras
• Reviewing the driver’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) report (if applicable) and the car’s inspection history
• Speaking with your caregivers, family, and friends for input on how your life has changed since the accident

Negotiating a Settlement

Based on the strength of the evidence and the extent of your losses, your Colorado pedestrian accident lawyer will make a settlement demand, usually from the at-fault party’s insurance company. The company will respond, usually not with immediate agreement but with a counter-offer, and negotiations will begin.

Our firm’s pedestrian accident attorneys are skilled negotiators. Your lawyer will know what you deserve and what the evidence supports and will argue boldly on your behalf to ensure you are fairly compensated.

Fighting in Court

Personal injury claims frequently settle out of court–you and your attorney will come to an agreed-upon amount with the at-fault party’s insurance company, and your case will end. However, there are times when the other side just refuses to make a reasonable offer or even engage in productive negotiation.

If this happens, your attorney will discuss your options with you. Should you determine the best course of action to take your case to court, your lawyer will provide exceptional representation in all case proceedings. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
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How Pedestrian Accidents Happen

In the CODOT’s report on pedestrian fatalities, the chief of the Colorado State Patrol states 

“There is no contest between a vehicle and a person on foot, bicycle, skateboard, or scooter. Drivers have to stay alert and watch for the unexpected…Pedestrians also need to unplug, look up, and follow traffic safety rules.”

Both drivers and pedestrians can contribute to an accident. As a pedestrian, protect yourself from injury, and protect your settlement from reduction, by staying vigilant and following traffic safety laws for pedestrians. Cross streets within crosswalks, obey traffic signals, and avoid using alcohol and drugs while walking, as they can impair judgment and coordination. 

Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents

It is rare for a pedestrian to be found fully or even mostly at fault for a pedestrian accident. In most cases, the driver commits an error such as:

• Driving above-posted speed limits
• Driving while distracted and failing to notice pedestrians
• Entering crosswalks. Drivers must stop before crosswalks
• Failing to look for pedestrians when a light turns green
• Pulling out of a parking space or driveway without checking for passersby

Other causes include:

• Vehicle malfunctions
• Poorly lit roads
• Damaged roads causing drivers to lose control 
• Broken traffic signals

Hit-and-Run Pedestrian Accidents

Sadly, many pedestrian victims are victimized twice–once when hit and then again when the driver flees the scene. If this happens to you, hope for securing compensation is not lost. Partner with Heuser & Heuser, LLP, and our team of Colorado pedestrian accident lawyers will put our investigative skills and resources into finding the party who hit you and holding them accountable. 

We Have Helped Thousands and Are Here to Help You

The aftermath of a pedestrian accident is fraught with fear, confusion, and stress. As a victim, you are likely undergoing serious medical treatment and looking toward a long period of rehabilitation. You deserve to achieve the highest level of recovery possible and to do that, you need a substantial settlement to cover your financial losses, bring a sense of justice for your suffering, and stabilize your economic future. 

Heuser & Heuser is ready to fight for the compensation you need. We have helped thousands of clients secure substantial settlements, and we look forward to partnering with you to add your case to our firm’s history of success. Send an electronic message or give us a call today to schedule your free consultation. We are here to help.