Hit By a Car While Crossing the Street?

Wyoming Pedestrian Accident Attorney Grant Lawson

Video Transcript:

Grant Lawson: 

If you were jaywalking, does that give a drunk driver or a driver who's texting the right to hit you and not be on the lookout and not drive safely? Absolutely not.

Rob Rosenthal: 

If you're hit by a car while you're walking down the street, do you know what your rights are and how you can get help? Well, we're gonna find out right now because that's what we're going to ask the lawyer. Hi again, everybody. I'm Rob Rosenthal with askthelawyers.com. My guest is Wyoming attorney, Grant Lawson, with the Metier Law Firm. I wanna remind you right off the top, if you wanna ask Grant questions about your situation, it's easy to do, just go to askthelawyers.com, click the button up in the upper right-hand part of the page that says 'Ask a Lawyer' and it'll walk you right through the process, it doesn't cost anything to ask a question. Grant, it's always great to see you, thank you for making some time to answer our questions.

Grant Lawson: 

Always, love being here, love being with you, Rob, so thank you.

Rob Rosenthal: 

So I imagine with the beautiful weather this time of year, people are out walking, people are also driving. Unfortunately, that means more collisions between cars and pedestrians. Let's talk about that a little bit, if someone's a pedestrian, they're walking down the street, they're struck by a car, what's your advice? What should they do after obviously getting medical attention?

Grant Lawson: 

Yeah, well, it's that time of year. Kids are going back to school, both college and grade school, people are out enjoying the nice weather, people are walking their kids to school, riding their bikes. There's a lot more pedestrian traffic starting in August through the fall, for people going back to school, going back to work, with COVID restrictions relaxed, people are starting to get out there a little bit more, and so there are gonna be a lot more people on the road and walking and a lot more pedestrian traffic, so to speak. And so, it's important that if you're involved in a collision, an accident where you're hit as a pedestrian that you, of course, get medical treatment and go through that process. But the next thing to do is to make sure that you are talking with the investigating officer and make sure a report is made.

Grant Lawson: 

Typically, that happens regardless, but if not, you wanna make sure you contact law enforcement and then you wanna contact an attorney because what you're gonna need to know is whether or not that driver had insurance, whether there's gonna be medical coverage that is going to help pay for your medical bills, also for serious injuries, whether or not there's insurance coverage to cover you for future medical treatment, any lost wages, lost claims, any sort of pain and suffering, damages, things that had come along those lines. And so it's very important to make sure that you're not just contacting the insurance company for who hit you, because that's gonna be who's gonna wanna try and get you to settle it out cheap, and not give you the full value for what you've been through.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Let's talk a little bit more about the hospital coverage and paying for that, is that the kind of thing that someone should initially use their own health insurance for? Is there ever a time when their auto insurance would cover a pedestrian accident? How does that work?

Grant Lawson: 

Yeah, so absolutely, start with your own health insurance. There's gonna probably be a situation where your health insurance will be able to recover or be paid back from whoever hit you, their insurance company, and the process would be that your insurance will kick in, cover you for the health needs that you have, but then you're gonna find out whether or not their insurance policy covers medical expenses, and then also as kind of a backstop, if you have your own auto insurance and potentially a home insurance policy that may have some coverage to provide medical benefits on top of your own health insurance, if you have it or if you don't have it.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Grant, what if it turns out to be a hit-and-run, and the driver of the car drives off, is there anything someone like yourself can do to help in that situation?

Grant Lawson: 

Absolutely. In this day and age, fortunately, cameras are everywhere, whether there's city cameras at the intersection, where the hit occurred, or there's businesses that have... Or homes that have cameras outward-facing towards the street, a lot of times, and it may not just be the exact location, there may be a house or a business or an intersection that's within close proximity that we know that driver had to drive through, that may have been on camera and so even though the hit itself, the collision itself didn't happen on camera, there may be other cameras out there and other witnesses out there who could help identify who the driver was, who the vehicle was, provide details, maybe even a licence plate number, those sort of important details that help law enforcement track down who did the hit-and-run. And of course, the law enforcement, in their investigation, will be doing this as well, but attorneys have a little bit more power in that they can start really looking into what businesses, homes, other places were in the vicinity to try and track down if there's additional cameras and information that other people may have.

Rob Rosenthal: 

That makes a lot of sense. We hear a lot of talk about jaywalking, does it matter if the pedestrian was jaywalking, not crossing in a crosswalk or something like that? Does that mean they don't have a case?

Grant Lawson: 

It depends. Obviously, it depends on the factual situation. There may be a comparison of, well, if you were jaywalking, does that give a drugged driver or a driver who's texting the right to hit you and not be on the lookout and not drive safely? Absolutely not. So just because somebody may be technically jaywalking, that doesn't alleviate a driver from their responsibilities and duties to be watching what's going on on the road, to be driving smart, and following the laws and the rules. So that doesn't necessarily just mean, "Hey, I was jaywalking, I can't do anything about this," there may be more to the story, and that's why it needs to be investigated.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Still go ahead and contact an attorney and get their expert opinion.

Grant Lawson: 

Absolutely.

Rob Rosenthal: 

What if the collision occurs with, say, a city bus or some other municipal vehicle, does that change things? Complicate things? What happens there?

Grant Lawson: 

Well, it changes things in a couple of respects. One, Those drivers, especially of city buses or commercial vehicles, anything along those lines, have almost a heightened duty because they know that they're gonna be driving through areas with pedestrian traffic, they have bigger vehicles, they're harder to stop, they've gotta be driving slower, be on the lookout, they're being paid, they're professional drivers, that's what they do. And so, one, there's gonna be additional responsibilities that may come up. Two, There's gonna be most likely increased insurance, the insurance coverage that a city bus or some sort of commercial vehicle that's involved will have additional insurance, there's gonna be probably investigators who are gonna wanna call insurance representatives who are gonna wanna call you if you've been hit, try and pick you off, so to speak, on information. And it's important that you contact a lawyer and make sure that you prevent them from getting you to make statements that they're gonna try and use against you at a later time.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Always helpful advice, Grant. Thank you so much for making some time to answer our questions.

Grant Lawson: 

Yeah, absolutely, and stay safe out there, everyone while you're out walking and riding bikes, and I hope everybody has a great fall.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Yeah, I love that. Alright, that's gonna do it for this episode of Ask the Lawyer. My guest has been Wyoming attorney, Grant Lawson, with the Metier Law Firm. Remember, if you'd like to ask Grant questions about your specific situation, it's easy to do, go to askthelawyers.com, click the button in the top of the page that says 'Ask a Lawyer' and it'll walk you right through the very simple process right there. Thanks for watching. I'm Rob Rosenthal, with Ask The Lawyers.

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