Lafayette, LA Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

In a community as vibrant as Lafayette, walking should be a safe and pleasant way to experience the city, whether heading to a festival downtown, crossing campus at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or simply taking a stroll through a neighborhood. Yet, pedestrians are uniquely vulnerable on our roads. With no physical protection to shield them from the force of a motor vehicle, the consequences of a collision are often catastrophic. Busy corridors like Johnston Street and Ambassador Caffery Parkway, designed primarily for vehicle traffic, can present significant dangers for anyone on foot.

When a driver’s negligence leads to a pedestrian being struck, the victim is left to cope with devastating injuries, overwhelming medical bills, and a long, uncertain road to recovery. The moments after such an incident are confusing and traumatic. Navigating the complex legal and insurance processes that follow should not be another burden to bear alone.

Why Are Pedestrian Accident Claims Different?

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

• Bias Against the Pedestrian: Unfairly, insurance adjusters and even juries may harbor an initial bias, assuming the pedestrian was not paying attention, was jaywalking, or somehow 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 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 from the scene. This can involve analyzing traffic camera footage, interviewing witnesses whose memories may fade over time, and sometimes hiring 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?

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

Some of the most frequent causes include:

• Distracted Driving: This is a leading cause of preventable collisions. A driver who is texting, talking on the phone, adjusting the 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 other vehicles and fail to check for people crossing the street, turning directly into their path. Louisiana law is clear about a driver’s duty to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
• 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, 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 or 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.

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.

• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): A person’s head striking the vehicle 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.
• 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 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 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.

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 or a rideshare operator—their employer might also be held liable under the legal doctrine of “respondeat superior.”
• 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 or state 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.

Can a Pedestrian Be Blamed? Explaining Louisiana’s Comparative Fault Rule

Insurance companies will often 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 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 Types of Compensation Can Be Recovered?

If you were injured because of a driver’s carelessness, you have the right to seek financial compensation for all of your related losses. The goal of a personal injury claim is to secure the resources you need to cover both your tangible financial costs and your intangible quality-of-life damages.

Economic Damages

These are your measurable, out-of-pocket financial losses. A comprehensive claim should account for:

• All past, present, and future medical expenses (hospital stays, surgeries, medication, rehabilitation, assistive devices)
• Lost wages and income from being unable to work
• Loss of future earning capacity if your injuries prevent you from returning to your job or require you to take a lower-paying position
• Any other related expenses, such as the cost of modifying your home to accommodate a disability

Non-Economic Damages

These damages compensate you for the intangible, personal losses that have profoundly affected your life. They may include:

• Physical pain and suffering
• Emotional distress and mental anguish
• Disfigurement and scarring
• Loss of enjoyment of life (the inability to participate in hobbies, activities, or relationships you once enjoyed)
• Loss of consortium (for the negative impact your injuries have on your relationship with your spouse)

Do Not Miss Louisiana’s Strict One-Year Filing Deadline

It is vital for all accident victims to know that Louisiana 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 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.

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. You should not have to face the legal battle against a driver and their insurance company alone while trying to focus on your recovery. Having a dedicated legal team on your side ensures that your rights are protected and that you have a strong advocate fighting for the full and fair compensation you need to rebuild your life.

If you or a loved one has been injured as a pedestrian in Lafayette or anywhere in Acadiana, 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.