Florida Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Trial-Experienced Florida Pedestrian Accident Attorneys
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable users of roads and sidewalks. Without the protective walls of a vehicle, or even the potential means of escaping an accident afforded by a bicycle, pedestrians have little to save themselves from serious injury from oncoming cars and trucks. Without any shield from an accident, pedestrians are at risk of suffering severe injuries when hit.
Being hit by a car can alter the course of a victim’s life. Victims of Florida pedestrian accidents are often left with a mountain of medical debt. After suffering painful injuries such as broken bones, lacerations, or brain injuries, they might not be able to return to the work they once did, sometimes permanently.
At Meldon Law, our personal injury lawyers have spent decades going to bat for accident victims in Florida, and we know how to win. Don’t wait to take action after an accident. Contact the experienced Florida pedestrian accident lawyers at Meldon Law to receive a free evaluation of your claim.
Why You Want an Accident Attorney from Meldon Law On Your Side
Any car accident lawyer can handle a pedestrian accident case. But those other attorneys won’t be as dedicated to you and your case as we are. Meldon Law truly CARES. We represent clients with these five things always in mind:
- Compassion
- Accountability
- Reliability
- Excellence
- Success
However, don’t think that our compassion means we won’t fight tooth and nail against the driver who hit you and their insurer. We never back down from a fight. This dedication to our cause has made us a force to be reckoned with. Insurers and their lawyers know our skill, knowledge, and experience are formidable.
They know they can’t mess with Meldon Law.
In addition to fighting for what you deserve and protecting you from the insurance company, we also ensure that you are as informed as possible when making decisions. We know that dealing with catastrophic injuries or caring for a severely injured family member is a scary situation. We offer several different types of resources from books to podcasts to our weekly talk radio show. Our team is also available for any questions you may have.
You Pay No Upfront Costs for Our Help
A pedestrian accident is expensive. You may be suffering from a traumatic brain injury, severe lacerations, or a spinal cord injury. A traumatic brain injury or spinal trauma can cost you hundreds of thousands in the first year alone. You shouldn’t also need to put down thousands of dollars to get legal help.
With us, you don’t. Our legal team takes cases on a contingency-fee basis, which means you only pay our attorney’s fees if we recover compensation for you.
Working with us will never be a risk to you.
What Damages Can You Recover After Being Hit By a Car in Florida?
Your injuries are unique; the damages you can recover will be, too. However, common economic and non-economic damages we have helped our pedestrian accident clients obtain include:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
Wrongful Death Damages
If you lost a loved one due to a pedestrian accident, please accept our condolences. We want to help you seek justice for your loved one and the compensation you need to cover your expenses and losses. Damages we can help you recover include:
- Funeral and burial costs
- Medical bills (both current and future medical care)
- Lost support and services
- Loss of companionship
- Pain and suffering
- Lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance
We will fight for every dollar you need. We have spent the last 50 years fighting for people injured in motor vehicle accidents. One example of a settlement we obtained:
- We recovered $305,000 for the family of an 18-month-old who was run over by a car backing out of a driveway. The child suffered a closed supracondylar fracture of the femur, a fractured rib, lung contusions, and multiple abrasions.
Call Meldon Law today to learn more about what we can do for you.
What Insurance Policy Will Cover My Injuries and Losses?
People are often confused as to whose insurance policy kicks in after a pedestrian accident. It depends on the specifics of your situation.
Typically, your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage will apply, even though you weren’t driving. You will file a PIP claim with your insurance company. If you meet a certain threshold, you can step outside the no-fault system and hold the driver liable.
If you do not own a car, you can file a claim with the driver’s insurance company.
What If I Contributed to My Injuries?
Accident victims we work with are often concerned about what they can recover if they contributed to the accident or their injuries. In many cases, you’ll still be able to recover compensation. However, there are a few limitations.
Florida follows a modified comparative negligence law, which means that accident victims can hold a negligent party liable for their injuries even if they contributed to the accident. However, they must be 50% liable or less.
For example, you were crossing inside a crosswalk, but you didn’t look before stepping into the roadway. A driver turned right as you stepped into the crosswalk and hit you. Pedestrians have the right-of-way inside a crosswalk, but they must always look for cars. The investigation found you to be 10% at fault for your accident, which means you could recover 90% of your final award.
Florida Is One of the Nation’s Most Dangerous States for Pedestrians
Florida holds the dubious distinction of being one of the most dangerous places in the United States for pedestrians. According to a 2022 study by the Governors Highway Safety Association, Florida ranked number 3 in the nation for pedestrian fatalities. Pedestrian traffic fatalities in Florida decreased from 2021, where they had spiked from previous years. Florida was a close third (824) to Texas’ second place (834) in 2022.
Nine of the nation’s 13 metropolitan areas found to have the highest pedestrian fatality rates are located in Florida, according to a Smart Growth America report. Four different metro areas throughout Florida ranked in the top 10 most dangerous for pedestrians, with the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach area taking the top spot.
What Are the Most Common Reasons for Pedestrian Accidents?
Why does Florida experience so many more pedestrian fatalities than other states? The reasons aren’t entirely clear as to why Florida’s roads are so disproportionately dangerous for pedestrians. Safety experts have found that the following types of negligence are some of the most common reasons that pedestrians become victims of vehicle accidents:
- Low visibility: In general, over half of all pedestrian accidents occur at night. Among pedestrian fatalities occurring at night, a larger share occurs on unlit roads than roads with street lights. The greater prevalence of nighttime fatalities is due in part to the lowered visibility, but can also be attributable to the greater likelihood that drivers are intoxicated when driving after dark.
- Speeding: Drivers traveling at an unsafe rate of speed are less likely to be able to stop in time to avoid hitting a pedestrian.
- Distracted driving: Drivers who are distracted by their cell phones or in-vehicle entertainment centers are another major cause of pedestrian accidents. Even if drivers aren’t staring at their phones when the collision occurs, drivers attempting to use their phones or entertainment systems while driving are more prone to simply making quick glances up at the road. These quick glances do not afford drivers enough time to scan the road ahead for smaller visual objects, such as someone on foot or riding a bicycle.
- Dangerous intersection or roadway design: Some intersections are designed so that oncoming drivers do not have an optimal view of pedestrian crosswalks. Likewise, some roadways offer few safe crossing locations for pedestrians, forcing them to run between lights to get to their destination. Without a safe, visible place to cross, pedestrians are at risk of injury.
Get Help from a Florida Pedestrian Accident Attorney
If you or someone you love has suffered a pedestrian accident in Florida, you don’t have to fight with massive insurance companies on your own. These corporations employ hundreds of adjusters and attorneys who focus their energies on denying accident victims’ claims or attempting to pay less than what they’re owed. Without a background in injury or insurance law, it can be difficult not to feel hopeless and overwhelmed when going up against these Goliaths.
After an accident, get the legal help you can rely on from the Florida pedestrian accident victim attorneys at Meldon Law. We know all the tactics that insurance companies use to try to bully accident victims into accepting a cheap settlement. We make sure that our clients don’t get taken advantage of during settlement negotiations by accepting less than they deserve for their injuries. Contact Meldon Law to discuss your legal options after a pedestrian injury accident.
