Columbus Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

When pedestrian accidents occur, victims can recover compensation for their injuries. If you were injured as a pedestrian, a Columbus pedestrian accident lawyer may be able to collect compensation from the party or parties responsible for your injuries and any other damages you suffered in the accident. You do not have to fight for compensation on your own. A Columbus Personal Injury Lawyer from The Fitch Law Firm can handle your personal injury insurance claim or lawsuit while you focus on recovering from your injuries.

Pedestrian accidents occur with alarming frequency. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows over 6,500 pedestrian fatalities in the United States in 2020. The NHTSA also reports that there were roughly 55,000 pedestrians injured across the country. 

To learn more about your rights in a free case review, you can call our firm today. We’ll discuss your case and how we can help you after an accident.

 

Filing Personal Injury Claims

If you suffered injuries or other losses as a result of someone else’s negligent actions, you can file a personal injury insurance claim or lawsuit against them. A lawyer from our firm can help you decide which is the best path for your case, though you may end up pursuing both.

Anyone operating a motor vehicle on the road owes other road users a duty of care. This means that all vehicle operators must be licensed and must follow all driving laws that apply to them. These laws include, but are not limited to, following posted traffic signs, avoiding drinking and driving, avoiding distractions while driving, and ensuring vehicle upkeep.

Failing to follow traffic laws may qualify as a breach of the duty of care. Anyone who fails to meet their duty of care may be held liable for their actions. To file a personal injury claim against an at-fault driver after a pedestrian accident, you typically must:

• Gather evidence to prove their guilt
• Prove you suffered damages serious enough to warrant a claim
• Quantify your damages
• File your claim with the at-fault party’s insurer

A Columbus pedestrian accident lawyer from The Fitch Law Firm can manage all of these tasks for you when we represent you. To learn more about our services during a free case review with a member of our team, you can call our firm today.

What Our Columbus Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Can Do for You

A Columbus pedestrian accident lawyer from The Fitch Law Firm can help you in a number of ways. When you choose our firm, your lawyer will:

• Communicate on your behalf with the other parties involved in your case
• Gather evidence, such as police reports and witness statements, to support your claim
• Evaluate and quantify your losses and damages
• Negotiate with the at-fault party’s insurer or their representatives toward a settlement
• Take your case to trial, if necessary
• Give you legal advice, answer your questions, and provide updates on the progress of your case.

The Cost of Hiring a Columbus Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

When considering hiring a pedestrian accident attorney, you should not let costs stand in your way. Pedestrian accident lawyers generally work on a contingency fee basis. That means these lawyers only collect compensation if they are able to secure compensation for their clients.

The only fee your pedestrian accident attorney will receive will come as a fixed percentage of the compensation you recover from the liable party. Should your lawyer fail to get you money, they won’t get paid. Alternatively, the more compensation you receive, the higher the payday for your attorney. 

How Long Do I Have to File a Pedestrian Accident Lawsuit?

As per Ohio Revised Code Section 2305.10, there is generally a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury lawsuits in Ohio. If you wait too long to file your lawsuit and the deadline expires, the court can dismiss your case without hearing any evidence. Because of this general deadline, we encourage you to contact our firm as soon as possible after your accident. 

Even if the deadline has already passed, that does not necessarily mean you are out of options for pursuing compensation. Several exceptions to the statute of limitations exist that may allow you to pursue compensation long after the statute of limitations has expired.

Common Pedestrian Accident Damages

After your accident, you may be dealing with the pain of your injuries, the treatment process, and an inability to work and perform basic tasks at home. 

If you can prove your accident was caused by the negligence, recklessness, or driving errors of another driver, you can seek compensation for your damages, including medical care costs, lost income, and other accident-related expenses.

The Damages You May Be Able to Claim

There are a number of economic and non-economic damages you may be able to seek in a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Economic damages are financial losses and expenses, while non-economic damages are non-financial, such as pain and suffering. A lawyer from our firm can determine which damages you can claim and then calculate your damages for you.

For example, you might be able to claim:

• Medical bills, including any bills you incur in the future
• Medical device expenses, such as the cost of a wheelchair
• Your therapy costs, such as the cost of any physical therapy you require
• The costs of any ongoing care you may need, such as in-home care
• Wages you can’t earn due to an inability to work
• Lost earning potential in the future
• Your pain and suffering
• Mental anguish

If You Lost a Family Member

It may have been a family member who was injured in a pedestrian accident. If your loved one lost their life due to their injuries, you can claim wrongful death damages. Our Columbus wrongful death lawyers can help with this. Wrongful death damages include:

• Any medical costs your loved one incurred
• Lost income for your family
• Funeral expenses
• Your loss of companionship and consortium
• Your children’s loss of support and guidance
• Your deceased loved one’s pain and suffering

Damages to Punish the Liable Party

If the actions of the at-fault party were particularly egregious, you could be eligible to collect punitive damages. These damages are only awarded in a small percentage of cases and are used as a means of punishing the responsible party.

If a judge rules that the liable party acted in a criminally negligent manner or that they intended to cause harm to others, you may be able to collect these damages.

Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents in Columbus

The Ohio State Highway Patrol recorded 13,834 pedestrian-related traffic crashes on Ohio roadways between 2019 and 2024, the majority of which took place in Franklin County. Although local organizations like the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission have made efforts to formulate better pedestrian infrastructures and safety measures, pedestrians continue to be intensely vulnerable on the roadways and more around urban pathways.

A number of factors and situations can contribute to a pedestrian being harmed by other motorists, including:

• Distracted driving: When drivers take their eyes off the road for even a few moments, they can miss nearby pedestrians.
• Impaired driving: Driving under the influence at any level of intoxication always poses the risk of severely diminishing a driver’s ability to accurately perceive their surroundings and properly react to what’s on the road. 
• Failure to yield: Although drivers must yield to pedestrians, some may fail to do so, misjudging factors like distance and how aware the pedestrian is of other vehicles.
• Speeding and other forms of reckless driving: Reckless driving hinders drivers from having full control of their vehicle, heightening the risk of creating harm.
• Faulty traffic signs and signals: Malfunctioning or defunct traffic lights and other signals can prevent drivers and pedestrians alike from being able to safely predict where the other is on the road.
• Flawed road design and safety: Aspects like unmarked crosswalks, inadequate lighting, and obstructed sightlines can increase the risk of danger for pedestrians.
• Turning collisions at crosswalks and intersections: Drivers on the look out for oncoming traffic may miss pedestrians that are sharing an intersection with them.

In cases where a pedestrian is struck by a commercial vehicle or injured while taking public transit, the victim’s legal claim can take on another degree of complexity. This is because there may be multiple parties responsible for their accident such as:

• Drivers
• The drivers’ employers
• Property owners
• Government entities 

Several of these parties may have their own team of lawyers whose primary concern is protecting their bottom line rather than your legal rights. That’s why having an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer on your side can help you defend your right to justice and fair compensation. 

The accident claims process can appear complex and daunting, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. At The Fitch Law Firm, our Columbus personal injury lawyers can keep you informed at every stage as we fight to recover the damages you deserve.

Common Pedestrian Accident Injuries

You can sustain a wide range of injuries in a pedestrian accident. The larger a vehicle and the faster it is traveling when it strikes a pedestrian, the more serious the pedestrian’s injuries may be. Common injuries seen in these accidents include:

• Head and brain injuries
• Spinal cord, back, and neck injuries
• Broken and fractured bones
• Internal organ damage
• Internal bleeding
• Sprains and strains

These injuries can take days, weeks, or months to recover from. Injuries like brain contusions, nerve damage, and broken bones can require long-term treatment and may never fully heal.

About The Fitch Law Firm

With Mr. Fitch’s 30+ years of experience handling personal injury cases, our firm is fully capable of managing your pedestrian accident claim or lawsuit for you. We’ve received excellent feedback from our clients, as well as a 10.0 (Superb) rating from Avvo, which rates lawyers and firms in every state. You can be confident in our ability to manage your case.

Our founder, attorney John Fitch, is rated among the best personal injury attorneys in Central Ohio by Three Best Rated. In 2019, he obtained a verdict of $134 million*, which may be one of the highest personal injury verdicts ever in Ohio. Our other attorneys have also achieved outstanding results under John Fitch’s guidance.

How The Fitch Law Firm Can Help

If you were injured as a pedestrian due to another’s negligence, The Fitch Law Firm can help you manage your accident claim. Our legal team can:

• Investigate your accident 
• Hire investigation reconstruction experts
• Gather crash reports, surveillance footage, and witness statements 
• Work with medical professionals to document your injuries and recovery needs
• Identify all liable parties
• Calculate damages for current and future medical expenses, lost wages, and care needs
• Negotiate settlements with insurance companies and responsible parties
• Represent you in settlement negotiations and provide litigation support if necessary

Because pedestrians are often unprotected at the moment of their accident, their resulting injuries can be severe and recovery can take a considerable length of time. In Columbus, there are several highly rated medical centers who can help injury victims receive treatment and achieve recovery, such as:

• The Mount Carmel Health System
• The OhioHealth Grant Medical Center
• The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

But we also understand that long term treatment can be costly for the average person, and dealing with accumulating medical bills while being forced to take time off work can add to your stress. At The Fitch Law Firm, our legal team can help accident victims like you alleviate the financial burden that comes with getting adequate medical care by obtaining a fair and reasonable settlement on your claim. We work on a contingency-fee basis, which means that you’ll owe us nothing unless we secure compensation for you. 

We’ll focus on your legal needs so that you can focus on getting your life back.

Contact Our Columbus Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Today

At The Fitch Law Firm, we have helped countless pedestrian accident victims recover the compensation they need to get back on their feet after an accident. If you have suffered a serious injury, our team of Columbus pedestrian accident lawyers can help get you maximum compensation.

Call The Fitch Law Firm today for a free, no-obligation case review with a member of our team. We offer representation on a contingency fee basis, in which clients are not obligated to pay us any fees unless we win their case and recover their damages for them.