Bowie, MD Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Pedestrian accidents are responsible for some of the most devastating injuries in Columbia. Most pedestrian accidents result from a driver’s negligence, and they should be held liable for the damages they caused in court.

Fortunately, an experienced Bowie pedestrian accident lawyer can help you hold the responsible driver accountable. Pedestrian accidents can occur in several ways and can be more challenging than a typical car accident case. However, injured pedestrians have a few paths to get compensation for their injuries. Our Bowie pedestrian accident lawyers help you whether you decide to file for insurance or want to go straight to a lawsuit. Our firm can also help fight any accusations that you contributed to your injuries.

If a negligent driver injured you, our Bowie pedestrian accident lawyers can help you recover the compensation you deserve for the harm you suffered. For a free case assessment, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291.

Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents in Bowie

Many pedestrian accidents occur when people walk near busy streets that border closely with the sidewalk. Probably the most common place where pedestrian accidents happen is crosswalks. Because pedestrians must cross several lanes of traffic, their chances of being involved in an accident with a car increase. If a person is distracted while driving, like texting when approaching a crosswalk, they can cause devastating injuries and death.

Parking lots are another common location for pedestrian accidents to occur. Most parking lot drivers are distracted by looking for a spot or searching for the exit. Drivers also tend to drop their guard when driving in a parking lot since they are not on the road. Considering that most parking lots do not have pedestrian walkways, it is very easy for a negligent driver to cause a pedestrian accident.

While it might not happen as often, it is still very much possible for a pedestrian to be injured by a car while walking on the sidewalk. These types of accidents usually happen when a driver loses control of the car or is so distracted that they fail to realize they have drifted onto the sidewalk. However, the cause of the accident could have been a malfunction with the car, like a brake failure. In other cases, a driver might take a turn too sharply at a crosswalk and hit a pedestrian waiting to cross the street. Our Bowie pedestrian accident lawyers can help regardless of how a negligent driver caused your injuries.

Recovering Compensation After a Pedestrian Accident in Bowie

Pedestrians injured by negligent drivers have numerous legal options to recover compensation. In some cases, an injured pedestrian can recover damages for their injury by filing an insurance claim. In many other cases, though, insurance is insufficient to cover the full extent of a pedestrian’s losses, making a lawsuit the best option to recover compensation. Whichever path you choose, our Bowie pedestrian accident lawyers can help you throughout the process.

Filing an Insurance Claim

Maryland follows at-fault insurance rules, meaning injured pedestrians can file an insurance claim against a negligent driver’s car insurance to recover damages. However, you will need to submit evidence to the insurance company to prove that their policyholder was responsible for your injuries. However, your claim could be denied even with convincing evidence of the driver’s negligence. Alternatively, the insurance company might offer you a settlement that pales compared to your losses. In these situations, the next step would be to consider filing a lawsuit against the driver that hit you.

If the other driver did not have car insurance when they injured you, or you would rather settle the matter in court rather than through insurance, you can go straight to filing a lawsuit for damages without having to go through insurance first.

Lastly, you can likely file a claim with your health insurance if an uninsured driver injured you. However, you will be liable for those costs unless you recover compensation from the driver in a successful lawsuit.

Filing a Lawsuit

Since Maryland is an at-fault state, you can elect to file a lawsuit against a negligent driver without filing for insurance benefits first. Like insurance, though, you will need to prove your case by providing evidence supporting your claims. To prevail in a lawsuit in Bowie, you will need to show that your version of events is more likely than not to have occurred that way. Taking a pedestrian accident lawsuit from start to finish can be challenging, but our Bowie pedestrian accident lawyers can help you take your case to trial if necessary to recover the compensation you deserve.

How Liability is Determined in a Bowie Pedestrian Accident Lawsuit

When the court decides on a personal injury lawsuit at the conclusion of the trial, they will evaluate whether the plaintiff contributed to causing their injuries in any way. Unfortunately, Maryland is one of only a few states that follow pure comparative negligence rules. This means that if you are found to be partially to blame for the accident, you will not be able to recover any compensation for your injuries. It does not matter if you were only found 1% at fault for the accident. If you were found to have contributed to your accident in any way, the court will bar you from recovering even a dollar for the injuries you sustained.

This can prove challenging for pedestrian victims injured by a negligent driver. Insurance companies and defense counsel will do everything in their power to shift the blame to you. If there is no surveillance or smartphone footage of your accident, your case will be your word against theirs, supported by the evidence obtained for the case. Our Bowie pedestrian accident lawyers can review your case and fight any accusations that you are to blame for your injuries.

Our Bowie Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Can Help

If you were injured by a careless driver while walking around, our Bowie pedestrian accident lawyers can help you hold them accountable for their negligence. Contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras today at (410) 694-7291 for a free case review.