Pedestrian crashes happen in parking lots, at crosswalks, on dark stretches of road without sidewalks, and at intersections where a driver turning right is watching for cars and never looks for people. The injuries are usually serious: leg and pelvic fractures, head injuries, and spinal injuries. The person who was hit is often taken away by ambulance, and the only account the police hear at the scene is the driver's.
That is why the early work in a pedestrian case focuses on rebuilding the scene. The driver will usually say you came out of nowhere. Florida's traffic rules, applied to good evidence, often say something very different.
1. Get medical care, and use PIP correctly
Get to the emergency room and follow every referral. Pedestrians struck by cars are covered by Florida's no-fault system. PIP covers "other persons struck by the motor vehicle and suffering bodily injury while not an occupant of a self-propelled vehicle" (§ 627.736(1)), and medical benefits require initial services and care "within 14 days" after the accident (§ 627.736(1)(a)).
Which policy pays depends on your household. If you own a car, your own insurer generally pays your PIP benefits when you are hurt by contact with a motor vehicle while on foot (§ 627.736(4)(e)1.). A relative living with you who has a policy may provide coverage if you do not own a car (§ 627.736(4)(e)3.). If neither applies and you are a Florida resident, the insurer of the vehicle that hit you may owe the benefits (§ 627.736(4)(e)4.). Bring every household auto policy to your first meeting with us.
“other persons struck by the motor vehicle and suffering bodily injury while not an occupant of a self-propelled vehicle”
§ 627.736(1)
2. Identify the driver and the vehicle
If you can, or if someone at the scene can, photograph the driver's license, insurance card, plate, and vehicle. A driver involved in a crash causing injury must give his or her name, address, and registration number, show a license on request, and render reasonable assistance, including arranging medical transport (§ 316.062(1)).
If the driver left, tell the police everything you remember about the vehicle: color, make, damage, partial plate, direction of travel. A hit-and-run claim often depends on your own uninsured motorist coverage, so keep that policy ready.
3. Rebuild the scene before it changes
Pedestrian cases turn on details that disappear fast. Go back, or send someone, as soon as possible, at the same time of day if lighting was a factor.
- Photograph the crosswalk markings, signs, and signals, and note whether there was a walk signal or pedestrian button.
- Photograph the street lighting, any burned-out lights, and anything blocking the driver's view, such as parked vehicles, landscaping, or a bus stop.
- Measure or pace off where you were struck relative to the curb and crosswalk.
- List every camera that may have recorded the crash, including traffic cameras, storefronts, gas stations, and doorbells. Footage is often overwritten within days.
- Get the names and phone numbers of witnesses, especially anyone who saw the signal.
4. Keep your clothing and shoes
Store the clothing and shoes you were wearing without washing them. They show where the vehicle made contact and whether you were wearing anything light-colored or reflective, which answers the driver's claim that you could not be seen. Keep any phone, headphones, or bag you were carrying; the defense will ask whether you were distracted, and the physical items help answer that.
5. Understand the right-of-way rules that apply
Florida's pedestrian statute puts duties on both sides, and the claim usually turns on which rule governed the moment of impact.
- At a crosswalk with no traffic control signal, the driver "shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield" to a pedestrian in the crosswalk (§ 316.130(7)(c)).
- At a signalized crosswalk, the driver must stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian with a permitted signal who is in or entering the crosswalk on the driver's half of the road (§ 316.130(7)(a)).
- Every driver "shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian," and must take extra precautions around children and obviously confused or incapacitated people (§ 316.130(15)).
The defense will look to the pedestrian's duties: walking on the sidewalk where one exists (§ 316.130(3)); walking on the left shoulder facing traffic where there is none (§ 316.130(4)); not suddenly leaving a curb into the path of a vehicle that cannot yield (§ 316.130(8)); yielding to vehicles when crossing outside a crosswalk (§ 316.130(10)); and crossing only in a marked crosswalk between adjacent signalized intersections (§ 316.130(11)). A pedestrian who crossed mid-block can still have a strong claim; the question becomes how fault is shared.
“shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield”
§ 316.130(7)(c)
6. Do not give the driver's insurer your version yet
The driver's insurer will want a recorded statement about where you were walking, what you were looking at, and what you were wearing. Those questions are aimed at shifting fault. Decline until you have counsel, and do not post about the crash.
The Florida rules that matter
- PIP. Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles are covered, subject to the 14-day rule and the priority rules in § 627.736(4)(e). Pain and suffering damages against an insured driver require an injury within one of the categories in § 627.737(2).
- Right of way. Section 316.130 sets the duties of drivers and pedestrians.
- Deadline to sue. An action founded on negligence generally must be filed within two years (§ 95.11(5)(a)).
- Comparative fault. Damages are reduced by your share of fault (§ 768.81(2)), and if you are found more than 50 percent at fault for your own harm, you "may not recover any damages" (§ 768.81(6)). Pedestrian cases are often fought on this line.
- Road design and government vehicles. If a government vehicle was involved, or a road condition such as missing lighting contributed, a written claim must be presented to the agency, and in many cases to the Department of Financial Services, within the time limits in § 768.28(6)(a) before suit.
“may not recover any damages”
§ 627.736(4)(e)
Your checklist
- Get emergency care and see a doctor within 14 days.
- Gather every auto policy in your household for the PIP claim.
- Photograph the driver's documents and vehicle, or record every detail of a vehicle that left.
- Photograph the crosswalk, signals, lighting, and sight lines, at the same time of day if possible.
- List all nearby cameras and witnesses.
- Keep your clothing, shoes, and belongings unwashed and unaltered.
- Call a lawyer before giving any statement to the driver's insurer.
How we handle these cases
We rebuild the scene: signal timing, lighting, sight lines, video, and the physical evidence on the vehicle and your clothing. We send preservation letters immediately, sort out the PIP priority question so your medical bills are paid, and identify every liability and uninsured motorist policy. Josef Timlichman Law, PLLC is a Florida trial firm handling cases throughout the state, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville. Meetings are by appointment only. Call 305-748-3789.
This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.