Pedestrian Accident Lawyer | Crosswalk Accident | Hit by a Car
Busy New York City roadways are filled with buses, taxis, cars, bicycles and pedestrians and all of them share the same roadways. This can made things dangerous, especially for pedestrians. Crosswalk accidents unfortunately occur quite often in New York City injuring pedestrians. Injuries caused by a pedestrian being hit by a car may range from a slight tap by the car or a graze by the car which may cause bruising, abrasions or fractured or broken bones to a hard hit resulting in life threatening injuries and possibly death.
Unfortunately thousands of pedestrians get hit by cars and other vehicles every year. A car hitting a pedestrian may happen for a variety of reasons including:
- Driving negligently
- Driver speeding
- Driver distracted by a cell phone, ipod, cd player or other device
- Drunk driving
- Driving recklessly
- The blame game - The insurance adjuster may try to put the blame on you or anything else possible to try to avoid putting out money on behalf of the person who hit you. Sadly, they may even try to blame you. If the driver was supposed to yield to you at the time of the accident their insured driver was being negligent and they should not be trying to convince you of otherwise but they may.
- Undermining your injuries - The insurance adjuster may also try to settle your claim quickly which sounds nice right? Wrong. Settling a claim fast (with an insurance adjuster) is a bad idea. Insurance adjusters try to settle cases quickly, often times quicker than you even fully finding out what is wrong with you from the accident. This could leave an injured pedestrian out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The insurance adjuster is there for one reason alone to settle for little or nothing.
If you were hit by a car in Staten Island or any other part of New York City you do not necessarily need an attorney but it would be in your best interest to consult with one prior to signing anything that an insurance adjuster offers you. Signing certain documents that insurance companies provide to you may actual prohibit you from starting a pedestrian accident lawsuit in New York if you wanted to later on. Again, while you do not NEED a lawyer it may be beneficial for you to at least speak with one before making a decision as to whether or not you need one. In some cases a case can be settled alone and in others hiring an pedestrian injury lawyer will result in obtaining higher amounts of money. If you do decide to hire an injury lawyer remember the injury lawyer should not ask for money upfront. Injury lawyers usually do not get paid until after they settle your case and the money comes out of your settlement money.