Report it and get checked
A medical record made on the day is worth a great deal later. Head injuries in particular are often missed at the roadside.
Vehicle Accidents
Ohio Pedestrian Accident Lawyers
There is nothing between a person on foot and a vehicle. The injuries are severe and the insurer will still look for a way to blame you.
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Severe injuries, and an argument about where you were standing.
A pedestrian struck by a vehicle has no crumple zone, no seat belt and no airbag. The injuries are routinely serious: head injuries, pelvic and leg fractures, internal injuries, and long recoveries that keep people off work for months.
Almost every one of these claims turns into an argument about the same thing. Were you in the crosswalk. Did you step out. Were you looking at your phone. The insurer does not need to prove you caused it. It only needs to attach a percentage to you, because every point it attaches reduces what it pays.
That argument is answerable, and it is answered with evidence rather than with indignation: the point of impact, the vehicle damage, the driver’s speed and sight lines, the signal timing, and whatever camera happens to overlook the intersection.
Who this page is for
You were on foot in Ohio and were struck by a motor vehicle. That includes crossing at an intersection, walking in a parking lot, being hit on a sidewalk or roadside, and being struck by a vehicle reversing.
- Right of way Who had it, and what the signals were doing.
- Point of impact Where the vehicle struck you tells a story.
- Severe injuries Often with a long and uncertain recovery.
- No fee unless we win Paid out of the recovery, never up front.
What the insurer will try to establish
Expect the file to be built around your conduct rather than the driver’s. The recurring themes are these.
That you were not in a crosswalk
Being outside one does not remove a driver’s duty to look and to drive at a safe speed. It is a factor, not an answer.
That you stepped out suddenly
This is asserted far more often than it is demonstrated. Vehicle damage, braking evidence and the driver’s own account frequently contradict it.
That you were distracted
A driver who did not see a person in the road has a visibility problem of their own. Both sides can be looking at something else, and only one of them was operating a vehicle.
What to do if you are able
Some of this will be impossible at the scene. Anything you can manage helps.
Names of witnesses
Anyone who saw the approach rather than the aftermath. They are rarely findable two weeks later.
Photographs of the scene
The intersection, the signals, the vehicle, the light and the weather. The scene changes and nobody photographs it twice.
Say as little as possible
To the other driver's insurer especially. You are not obliged to give a recorded statement and an early casual answer is quoted back months later.
Questions
Pedestrian accident questions
General information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. The only way to know where yours stands is to have someone look at it.
I was not in a crosswalk. Can I still claim?
Usually yes. Crossing outside a crosswalk can be treated as contributing to a collision, but it does not remove the driver’s duty to keep a proper lookout and to drive at a speed that lets them stop. Whether it reduces a recovery, and by how much, is an evidence question rather than an automatic bar.
The driver says I stepped out in front of them.
That is the most common account given and it is frequently not what the physical evidence shows. Where the vehicle struck you, how far you traveled, the damage pattern and any braking evidence all speak to speed and reaction, and they are not matters of opinion.
The driver left the scene.
A hit and run does not necessarily leave you without a claim. Uninsured motorist cover on your own policy, or on a policy in your household, may respond to a collision with an unidentified driver. There are notice requirements, so this is worth asking about early.
Who pays the medical bills while the claim runs?
Usually health insurance, medical payments cover on a motor policy where one exists, or providers who will wait to be paid out of a recovery. Part of what we do is make sure treatment is not interrupted while liability is argued about.
What does it cost to ask?
Nothing. The consultation is free, the case is handled on a contingency fee, and if there is no recovery there is no fee.
The deadline
Ohio generally allows two years from the date a personal injury claim arises to bring it (Ohio Revised Code § 2305.10), and two years from the date of death in a wrongful death claim (§ 2125.02).
Shorter notice periods can apply where a government entity or a public vehicle is involved. Because the consequence of missing a deadline is total, it is worth confirming the one that applies to you early rather than assuming. General information about Ohio law rather than advice on your own facts.
Other Vehicle Accidents pages
The rest of this practice area, in case your situation fits one of them better.
All Vehicle Accidents
Car, truck and motorcycle collisions.
Car Accidents
Collisions with another driver, and the adjuster who follows.
Truck Accidents
Commercial carriers, federal safety rules and layered insurance.
Motorcycle Accidents
Rider bias, severe injuries and a case built on the facts.
Bicycle Accidents
Cyclists get blamed first. The evidence usually says otherwise.
Rideshare Accidents
Uber and Lyft, and which policy actually pays.
Wrongful Death
A claim that belongs to the family, handled so they do not have to.
Catastrophic Injuries
Life-changing injury, valued across a lifetime rather than a year.
The three areas we handle
One incident can open more than one claim, and they are handled together here.
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