Many famous and popular casinos are along Las Vegas Boulevard, including Caesar’s Palace, Mandalay Bay Beach Resort, the Bellagio, and MGM Grand. As a result, this area sees heavy pedestrian traffic – especially at intersection crosswalks – daily.
Unfortunately, the high number of pedestrians in the vicinity brings the potential for serious accidents. This is especially true when motorists disregard traffic laws and drive carelessly and negligently.
When a car or truck collides with a pedestrian, the chances are good that the pedestrian will suffer permanent or even fatal injuries. This is because pedestrians have no exterior barrier between themselves and the ground.
If the force of a collision knocks a pedestrian onto the ground, they are likely to suffer injuries that require ongoing medical treatment, including surgeries, physical therapy, and rehabilitation. In cases where a pedestrian suffers a permanent injury in their accident, they may experience complications and pain for the rest of their life.
If you recently sustained injuries in a Las Vegas pedestrian accident, obtain the legal help you need as quickly as possible. A skilled Las Vegas pedestrian accident attorney can investigate your accident circumstances for you and determine your eligibility for filing a claim against the at-fault motorist.
Your lawyer can then file a claim on your behalf with the responsible driver’s insurance company, negotiate with insurance company representatives, and pursue the maximum amount of monetary recovery you deserve.
If the insurance company does not compensate you fairly, then your attorney – with your permission – may file a lawsuit in the court system on your behalf.
Every step of the way, your attorney will zealously advocate for your legal rights and interests. Your lawyer can also represent you at all legal proceedings in your case and pursue the highest monetary recovery available based on your injuries and accident circumstances.
Who Causes Pedestrian Accidents?
Pedestrian accidents are almost always the result of negligent drivers. On Las Vegas Boulevard and surrounding areas, pedestrian accidents frequently occur at intersections – even those with crosswalks and pedestrian/traffic control devices.
Accidents may also happen on sidewalks, such as when a driver is not paying attention and causes their vehicle to jump the curb, striking a pedestrian. Pedestrian accidents may also happen in local parking garages and parking lots when drivers fail to watch their surroundings attentively.
Driver negligence can take on various forms, and many pedestrian accidents happen when drivers are careless and violate standard traffic laws. For example, a driver may cause a pedestrian accident when they speed excessively in high-pedestrian-traffic areas, such as near intersection crosswalks, parking lots, or parking garages.
A driver may also cause a pedestrian accident when they exhibit road rage near traffic intersections, such as by attempting to pass other vehicles or weave around traffic. In the process, they might fail to notice a pedestrian lawfully present in a crosswalk, negligently striking them and causing them to fall on the ground.
A local pedestrian accident may also happen when a driver is not paying sufficient attention to the road. Instead of watching the road, a driver may be roughhousing with vehicle passengers, applying makeup, brushing their hair, adjusting the volume on their stereo system, listening to loud music, programming a GPS navigation system, or texting while driving. These activities may cause a driver to take their eyes off the road and fail to see a nearby pedestrian.
Finally, some pedestrian accidents occur when people drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A passenger vehicle driver is legally intoxicated if their blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, measures at least 0.08 percent.
In that situation, a police officer can arrest them for DUI or some other drunk driving offense. In addition, the driver, if guilty, may be subject to both civil and criminal penalties.
Drivers who are intoxicated frequently experience both physical and mental symptoms. Physically, they may experience blurred vision that prevents them from seeing nearby pedestrians. Additionally, a drunk driver may experience limited depth perception, limited concentration, and delayed reflexes. As a result, they may not hit their brakes in time to avoid striking a pedestrian – even if they see the pedestrian ahead of time.
If you suffered injuries in a recent pedestrian accident, seek the medical assistance you need as quickly as possible. Additionally, contact a pedestrian accident attorney in your area for the legal help you need.
Your attorney can immediately investigate your accident circumstances and determine your potential legal options for moving forward. For example, your lawyer can file a personal injury claim with the at-fault driver’s insurer or go ahead and file a lawsuit in court if the statute of limitations is running short in your case. Your attorney can go over all potential legal options with you and chart the best course of action for your personal injury case.
Why Are Pedestrian Accident Injuries so Serious?
Pedestrian accident injuries are often serious because pedestrians typically do not have a barrier between their skin and the ground. If the force of a collision knocks them to the ground, they will likely suffer serious injuries that may affect every aspect of their lives.
The specific injuries a pedestrian may suffer in an accident will depend upon several factors, including the accident location, the surface where they fall, the amount of force involved, and the number of vehicles involved.
Some of the most common injuries that pedestrian accident victims may suffer include:
- Broken bones
- Rib fractures
- Soft tissue injuries
- Traumatic head and brain injuries
- Internal bleeding or organ damage
- Open lacerations
- Road rash
- Spinal cord damage
- Complete and incomplete paralysis injuries
- Eye injuries
- Mouth and teeth injuries
- Death
If you suffered one or more of these injuries in a local pedestrian accident, seek help from a medical provider as quickly as possible. Follow through with all of your medical provider’s treatment recommendations, including follow-up visits, medical procedures, and physical therapy.
By seeking the medical help that you need early on in the process, you increase your chances of making a full recovery. Additionally, if you later file a personal injury claim or lawsuit for monetary damages, the insurance company is more likely to recognize the seriousness of your injuries and compensate you appropriately.
How Do You File a Pedestrian Accident Claim?
An experienced pedestrian accident lawyer in your area can file a claim on your behalf, usually with the at-fault motorist’s insurance company. To file a claim, your lawyer will first gather important supporting documents.
These documents may include copies of police diagrams and reports, medical treatment records, medical bills, lost income documentation from your employer, photographs of your injuries, and video camera footage showing the accident in real time, if available.
Your attorney will send these documents and a formal settlement demand letter to the insurance company and request a certain amount of monetary compensation. If the insurance company accepts fault for the accident (meaning that they admit their insured driver caused it), they might make you a monetary offer to settle your case.
However, never accept the first offer you receive from an insurance company adjuster, as it will likely be far less than the true value of your case.
Your pedestrian accident lawyer can negotiate with insurance company settlement adjusters on your behalf by pointing to expert reports, highlighting the strengths of your medical records, and pointing to other favorable evidence in your case.
In many situations, settlement negotiations may take weeks or months before the insurance company appropriately increases its offer. If that does not happen, your lawyer can threaten the insurance company with litigation and may ultimately file a lawsuit in the court system on your behalf.
Once your case is in litigation, it may still settle later in the process, up until the time of trial. Your lawyer can let you know what constitutes a good settlement offer, given your case’s specific facts and the injuries you suffered.
Your lawyer can also recommend whether you should accept a pending settlement offer, continue negotiating with the insurance company adjuster, or file a lawsuit in the state court system.
What Do I Need to Prove to Recover Monetary Damages in My Pedestrian Accident Case?
To recover monetary compensation as part of a pedestrian accident claim or lawsuit, you must first establish your legal burden of proof.
First, you must show that a motor vehicle driver was negligent under the circumstances. For example, the driver might have failed to yield the right-of-way to you at a traffic intersection or otherwise drove recklessly or carelessly. You also need to demonstrate that both the pedestrian accident and your injuries directly resulted from the driver’s negligent behavior.
To establish your legal burden of proof, your pedestrian accident attorney can retain one or more experts who can testify as witnesses in your case. For instance, a qualified medical expert, who may be one of your treating doctors, can physically examine you and draft a medical report that causally relates your claimed injuries to the pedestrian accident. A medical expert might also testify on your behalf at a discovery deposition or jury trial.
If the insurance company is disputing fault for your pedestrian accident, your attorney can retain a qualified accident reconstructionist who can visit the scene, review camera footage and photographs (if any), speak with witnesses, analyze police diagrams, and draft a report about their conclusions. Similarly, an accident reconstructionist can take the witness stand and testify to support your case at a civil jury trial.
What Types of Monetary Damages Can I Recover in
My Pedestrian Accident Case?
Pedestrian accident victims frequently suffer debilitating injuries that may affect them for years to come. Consequently, if they can establish their legal burden of proof, they may be entitled to recover various types and amounts of monetary damages through a favorable settlement offer from the insurance company or verdict in court.
A knowledgeable pedestrian accident attorney in your area will accurately calculate your damages so you know how much you deserve and when to reject insufficient settlement offers.
The ultimate damage award that a pedestrian accident victim receives will depend upon various factors, including the nature, extent, and severity of their injuries and the total cost of their medical treatment.
Other factors may include whether the accident victim suffered one or more permanent injuries in their accident and whether or not they had to miss time from work to seek appropriate medical care.
Some of the most common monetary damages that pedestrian accident victims can recover include compensation for:
- Related past medical expenses
- Anticipated medical costs
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental distress
- Inconvenience
- Loss of spousal consortium
- Permanent disfigurement or disability
- Humiliation from permanent visible scarring
- Long-term or lifetime care costs
- Loss of the ability to use an injured body part
- Lost quality of life
Your attorney can determine which monetary damages you can recover in your case and will do everything possible to maximize those damages on your behalf.
Speak With an Experienced Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Today
You need to act quickly if you recently suffered injuries in a pedestrian accident. This is because accident victims must file a personal injury lawsuit within just two years of their accident date. Otherwise, they forever waive their right to recover monetary compensation and damages for their injuries.
A pedestrian accident attorney can start working on your case right away and pursuing the monetary recovery you need for your injuries. If the insurance company will not make you a fair settlement offer and your attorney must litigate your case in the court system, then they will represent you at all legal hearings – including a civil jury trial, binding arbitration proceeding, or mediation hearing – in pursuit of a fair and favorable monetary award.
Whether you live in Las Vegas or were visiting when your injuries happened, you should hire a local pedestrian accident attorney right away. An experienced personal injury lawyer understands the risks to pedestrians on Las Vegas Boulevard and can protect your future.