Hammond, LA Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

Hammond, Louisiana, with its vibrant downtown Historic District and the bustling campus of Southeastern Louisiana University, should be a safe place to travel on foot. Residents and visitors alike should be able to walk to a local shop, cross the street to class, or take a stroll through a neighborhood without fearing for their safety.

Pedestrians are incredibly vulnerable on our roads, lacking protection from the force of a vehicle. Careless or reckless drivers often cause catastrophic consequences, especially in busy areas like West Thomas Street (US-190) and North Morrison Boulevard (US-51). When negligence leads to a collision, injured pedestrians face devastating physical injuries and overwhelming medical bills. You shouldn’t have to navigate the complex insurance and legal processes alone after such a traumatic event.

What Makes Pedestrian Accident Claims Different?

An incident where a vehicle strikes a person on foot is fundamentally different from a collision between two cars. These cases present a distinct set of challenges that require a knowledgeable and meticulous approach to resolve fairly.

• Unfair Bias Against the Pedestrian: Insurance adjusters, and sometimes even law enforcement, may harbor an initial bias, assuming the pedestrian was not paying attention, was jaywalking, or “darted out” into traffic. Overcoming this prejudice requires a thorough investigation that clearly establishes the driver’s fault and demonstrates that the pedestrian was acting reasonably and lawfully.
• Severity of the Injuries: The human body is no match for the force of a multi-ton vehicle. Injuries are almost always severe, often involving traumatic brain damage, spinal cord injuries, or multiple complex fractures. The financial compensation required must be substantial enough to cover a potential lifetime of medical care, lost earning ability, and the profound impact on the victim’s quality of life.
• Complex Evidence Gathering: Proving liability often depends on piecing together evidence that can disappear quickly. This may involve securing traffic camera or private surveillance footage, identifying and interviewing witnesses whose memories can fade, and engaging accident reconstruction professionals to analyze vehicle speed, impact angles, and sightlines to create a clear picture of how the driver’s negligence caused the harm.

What Are the Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents in Hammond?

While every collision has unique circumstances, many fall into recognizable patterns of driver negligence. These incidents are not truly “accidents” but are often the predictable outcomes of dangerous choices made behind the wheel.

Some of the most frequent causes in the Hammond area include:

• Distracted Driving: This is a leading cause of preventable collisions. A driver who is texting, talking on the phone, adjusting a GPS, or otherwise not focused on the road can easily fail to see a pedestrian in a crosswalk until it is too late.
• Failure to Yield the Right-of-Way: Many pedestrian injuries occur at intersections. Drivers turning left or right may be focused on oncoming traffic and fail to check for people crossing the street, turning directly into their path. This is a common danger in downtown Hammond and near the SLU campus.
• Speeding and Aggressive Driving: A driver exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for conditions has less time to react to a pedestrian and requires a longer distance to stop. The higher the speed at impact, the more severe the injuries will be.
• Driving Under the Influence (DUI): Alcohol or drugs impair a driver’s judgment, coordination, vision, and reaction time, making them a lethal threat to everyone on the road, especially unprotected pedestrians.
• Backing-Up Incidents: A significant number of these events happen in parking lots, such as at Hammond Square, or in driveways when drivers fail to properly check their surroundings before reversing.
• Poor Visibility: Drivers have a responsibility to be more cautious at night, during heavy rain, or in foggy conditions. Failing to use headlights properly or driving too fast when visibility is limited can lead to tragedy.

What Are the Devastating Injuries Resulting from Pedestrian Collisions?

When a vehicle strikes a pedestrian, the body absorbs an immense amount of force, which can lead to a wide range of life-altering injuries. The physical, emotional, and financial toll on victims and their families is often staggering.

Common injuries include:

• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): A person’s head striking the vehicle, the windshield, or the pavement can cause the brain to impact the inside of the skull. This can result in injuries ranging from a concussion to a severe TBI, which may cause permanent cognitive deficits, memory problems, personality changes, and a complete loss of independence.
• Spinal Cord Injuries: Damage to the vertebrae or the spinal cord itself can have catastrophic consequences, including partial or complete paralysis (paraplegia or quadriplegia). These injuries necessitate a lifetime of specialized medical care, mobility aids, and assistance with daily activities.
• Orthopedic Trauma: Broken bones are extremely common, particularly fractures of the legs, pelvis, arms, and wrists. The force of impact can cause bones to shatter, requiring multiple surgeries, the implantation of hardware like plates and screws, and months or even years of physical therapy.
• Internal Injuries: The blunt force trauma can cause severe damage to internal organs such as the spleen, liver, kidneys, or lungs. Internal bleeding is a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate and intensive medical intervention at a facility like North Oaks Medical Center.
• Lacerations and Abrasions: Contact with the vehicle and the pavement can cause deep cuts and severe abrasions, often called “road rash.” These injuries carry a high risk of infection and can result in permanent scarring and disfigurement.

Beyond the physical pain, survivors often experience significant psychological trauma, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression.

What Are a Driver’s Legal Duties Toward Pedestrians in Louisiana?

In Louisiana, all drivers have a legal “duty of care” to operate their vehicles in a reasonably safe manner to avoid harming others, including pedestrians. This general duty is supplemented by specific traffic laws that protect people on foot.

For example, Louisiana Revised Statute 32:212 requires that drivers yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. This means stopping and remaining stopped to allow the person to cross.

Drivers are also required to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian and must give a warning by sounding the horn when necessary. Proving that a driver violated this duty of care is a key element in building a successful personal injury claim.

Who Can Be Held Legally Responsible for a Pedestrian’s Injuries?

While the driver of the vehicle is often the primary at-fault party, a comprehensive investigation may reveal that other entities also share legal responsibility for the harm caused. Identifying all potentially liable parties is vital to ensuring the victim can recover full compensation for their injuries.

Possible defendants could include:

• The Negligent Driver: A motorist who was speeding, distracted, intoxicated, or violated a traffic law can be held personally liable for the injuries they cause.
• The Driver’s Employer: If the driver was working at the time of the incident—for instance, a delivery driver, a commercial truck driver, or a rideshare operator—their employer might also be held liable.
• A Government Entity: If a dangerous road condition contributed to the accident, the responsible government agency could be at fault. This might include a poorly designed intersection, malfunctioning traffic signals, a crosswalk with faded markings, or inadequate street lighting that the City of Hammond or Tangipahoa Parish knew about but failed to fix.
• A Vehicle Manufacturer: In rare cases, a defect in the vehicle, such as faulty brakes or a steering system failure, may have caused the driver to lose control. If so, a product liability claim could be brought against the manufacturer.

How Does Louisiana’s Comparative Fault Rule Affect a Claim?

Insurance companies will almost always try to shift blame onto the injured pedestrian to reduce or deny a claim. They might argue the person was jaywalking, crossing against a signal, wearing dark clothing at night, or was distracted by their phone.

Louisiana law operates under a “pure comparative negligence” system. This means that if you are found to be partially at fault for the accident, your financial recovery can be reduced by your percentage of fault.

For instance, if a court at the 21st Judicial District Court in Amite awards you $200,000 in damages but determines that you were 10% at fault for the incident, your award would be reduced by $20,000, and you would receive $180,000.

Insurance adjusters are skilled at using this rule to their advantage. They will scrutinize your every action to assign you as much blame as possible. This is why having a strong legal advocate is so important. An experienced attorney can build a case that counters these tactics, preserves key evidence, and clearly demonstrates the driver’s primary responsibility for the collision.

What Is the Critical One-Year Filing Deadline in Louisiana

It is absolutely essential for all accident victims in Louisiana to know that the state has one of the shortest deadlines in the nation for filing a personal injury lawsuit. This deadline is known as the statute of limitations.

For almost all pedestrian accident cases, you have only one year from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit in civil court.

If you fail to file your claim within this strict one-year period, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case permanently. You will lose your right to recover any compensation for your injuries, regardless of how severe they are or how clear the other party’s fault is. This short window makes it imperative to contact a knowledgeable attorney as soon as possible after an accident to protect your legal rights.

What Is the Role of a Hammond Pedestrian Accident Attorney?

Navigating the legal system after a severe injury is an overwhelming burden. An experienced pedestrian accident lawyer handles every aspect of the legal claim so you can focus on your health and recovery.

This includes:

• Conducting an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the cause of the collision.
• Gathering and preserving all evidence, including police reports, medical records, witness statements, and surveillance footage.
• Identifying all potentially at-fault parties and all sources of insurance coverage.
• Working with medical and financial experts to calculate the full, long-term value of your claim.
• Managing all communications with insurance companies and defense lawyers.
• Filing all necessary legal documents correctly and before the one-year deadline expires.
• Negotiating for a full and fair settlement or, if necessary, presenting your case persuasively at trial.

How Should You Handle Inquiries from Insurance Companies?

Shortly after the accident, you will likely be contacted by an insurance adjuster representing the at-fault driver. While they may seem friendly and compassionate, their job is to protect their company’s financial interests. This means finding ways to minimize or deny your claim.

It is advisable to be extremely cautious in these conversations.

• You are not obligated to provide a recorded statement.
• You should not sign any documents, medical releases, or settlement offers without having them reviewed by an attorney.
• Anything you say can be used against you to assign fault to you or to devalue your injuries.

The most effective approach is to politely decline to speak with them and direct them to your legal counsel.

Secure the Legal Support You Need to Move Forward

The aftermath of a pedestrian accident is a physically painful, emotionally draining, and financially devastating time. If you or a loved one has been injured as a pedestrian in Hammond or anywhere in Tangipahoa Parish, the Trainor Law Firm is here to help. We have the resources, knowledge, and resolve to stand up to insurance companies and fight for the justice you deserve.

Contact us today at 985-545-3422 for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your case. Let us handle the legal complexities so you can focus on what is most important: your health and your future.