Pedestrian Accident Lawyer — San Bernardino & Riverside County

What to Do After Being Hit by a Car

• Get medical care first. Call 911 or go to the emergency room. Injuries from being struck on foot are often worse than they first feel, and a prompt medical record protects your health and your claim.
• Call the police. Ask for the officer’s name and the report number. A report from the police department, sheriff, or CHP documents where you were and what the driver did.
• Get the driver’s information. Name, phone number, license, plate, and insurance. If the driver leaves, note anything you can: the car’s color, make, partial plate, and direction of travel.
• Find witnesses and video. Ask bystanders for a phone number and look for cameras on nearby businesses, buses, and homes. Footage can be recorded over quickly.
• Photograph the scene. The crosswalk or crossing point, signals, lighting, the car’s position, and your injuries.
• Don’t give the driver’s insurer a recorded statement before you understand your rights, and don’t accept an early settlement offer while treatment is ongoing.
• Call a pedestrian accident attorney. The consultation is free, and early help preserves evidence that disappears in days.

Who Is at Fault When a Pedestrian Is Hit?

Drivers are expected to watch for people on foot, and a car can do far more harm, so in many pedestrian cases the driver carries most of the responsibility. Common situations in San Bernardino and Riverside County:

• Left turns at intersections, where a driver watching for oncoming cars never looks at the crosswalk.
• Right turns on red, where the driver looks left for traffic and rolls into a pedestrian on the right.
• Backing out of driveways and parking spaces, especially large SUVs and trucks with big blind zones.
• Distracted or speeding drivers near schools, shopping centers, and bus stops.
• Night-time crashes on poorly lit roads, where driver speed and lighting both matter.
• Drunk or impaired drivers and drivers who flee the scene.

If the insurance company argues you were partly to blame, for example because you crossed mid-block, that does not end your claim. Under California’s comparative fault rule (jury instruction CACI 405), your damages are reduced by your own share of responsibility, not eliminated.

Who Pays: The Driver’s Insurance, Your Own Coverage, and Hit-and-Runs

Several sources of insurance can cover a pedestrian’s injuries:

• The driver’s liability insurance. This is usually the main source. California’s minimum required coverage is $30,000 for injury to one person, according to the California DMV, which serious injuries can quickly exceed. That figure is a coverage floor, not a measure of what a case is worth.
• Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Under California Insurance Code Section 11580.2, the people covered by a policy’s uninsured motorist protection include the policyholder and household relatives “while occupants of a motor vehicle or otherwise.” In plain terms, a household auto policy can protect you when you are walking, if the driver had no insurance or too little.
• Hit-and-run drivers. When the driver can’t be identified, uninsured motorist coverage generally requires physical contact with you, a report to the police (or CHP or sheriff) within 24 hours, and a sworn statement to your insurer within 30 days. These deadlines are short, so call us quickly.
• Commercial and government vehicles. A delivery van, company truck, rideshare car, or bus may carry larger commercial coverage. See our pages on truck accidents and rideshare accidents.

Damages You Can Pursue

• Economic damages: medical bills and future care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs such as transportation to treatment.
• Noneconomic damages: pain and suffering, emotional distress, physical impairment, scarring, and loss of enjoyment of life. California sets no formula for these; jurors are told no fixed standard exists and to use their judgment based on the evidence (CACI 3905A).

There is no fixed figure for a pedestrian accident case. Value depends on the injuries and treatment, how fault is shared, and the insurance available. We never promise a dollar amount; we build the strongest possible record so the full value of your losses is on the table.

Related Practice Areas

Pedestrian Accident FAQ

Answers to common questions from people hit by a car while walking. For your own case, call (909) 915-0181 (Redlands) or (760) 835-9353 (Palm Springs).