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In many places, drivers are required to share space with pedestrians. Unfortunately, many drivers completely disregard people walking and end up hurting someone. If this happens to you, call the police and a lawyer immediately.
You should talk to an attorney about starting a claim for damages after a pedestrian as soon as possible. Generally, potential plaintiffs have two years to initiate legal action, and the sooner you start, the better. Getting an early start is important as it allows you more time to assess damages. Damages in pedestrian accident cases often involve significant bodily injuries and emotional trauma or distress. To begin your claim, your attorney can help you prepare a formal complaint. The complaint is extremely important and sets the tone for the rest of your case. Although plaintiffs sometimes try to handle their cases alone, having an experienced attorney at the helm is best.
If you were hit by a car and are dealing with injuries and related expenses, call our pedestrian accident lawyers of Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 to set up an initial case evaluation free of charge.
Many accident survivors need time to recover and process what happened to them before making any decisions about taking legal action. While it is perfectly reasonable to take some time to rest and sort through your options, you should avoid waiting for too long. The statute of limitations in Indiana imposes a strict deadline for when you can file your case.
According to I.C. § 34-11-2-4, personal injury claims, like those in pedestrian accident cases, must generally be filed no later than two years from the date of the accident. If you miss this deadline, you might lose your right to sue for your injuries.
Having two years to file your case might sound like a long time, but it is a much tighter deadline than many realize. Preparations for these kinds of cases often take months or longer. If you and your attorney run into trouble gathering evidence or finding witnesses, your case might take even longer to get ready. As such, it is wise to reach out to a lawyer as soon as possible, even if you have not decided what you want to do.
Assessing damages is key to getting your case off the ground and getting closer to fair compensation. While damages are not awarded until the end of a trial or after a settlement, they usually must be calculated early. If damages are not claimed as part of your initial complaint, they might be difficult or impossible to add later, and you could lose compensation.
Many damages are rooted in physical injuries. In pedestrian accidents, broken bones, head injuries, and brain injuries are all possible. Very high medical bills usually accompany serious injuries. Even with health insurance, many people have trouble paying for high deductibles. You might still encounter costly medical bills if your injuries are less severe, like whiplash or minor lacerations. It is important to keep a thorough record of all medical treatment you receive after a pedestrian accident so our pedestrian accident attorneys can calculate damages.
Not all your injuries are physical. People often suffer mentally or emotionally after a pedestrian accident. For some, their distress comes from coping with a near-death experience. Others might experience intense survivor’s guilt if others were badly injured or did not survive. This psychological trauma often leads to conditions like PTSD and may follow a person for years. Your attorney can help you get significant compensation for everything you have endured.
Filing a pedestrian accident case starts with identifying the person who hit you. Ideally, the driver of the vehicle that struck you should stop, exit the vehicle, render any aid they can, and call for help. In this process, they can be identified. Even if you cannot exchange information with the other driver, the police should speak to them and note their identity in the police report.
For some, identifying the driver is not easy. In hit and run cases, the driver does not stick around to be identified. In such cases, the police should investigate and possibly work on bringing criminal charges against the driver.
Next, you should meet with an attorney and discuss damages and evidence. Your lawyer can help you assess the extent of your damages and collect any evidence in your case. These things are incredibly important to initiate your case.
When ready, your attorney can help you draft a formal complaint. The complaint should provide the court with a detailed explanation of who the parties are, how the accident happened, your damages, and any evidence you have to support your claims. The complaint kicks off your case, and as much information as possible must be included.
When you file the complaint, your attorney should help you serve notice on the defendant. The notice must be served according to rigid state laws and court protocols. Once the defendant is notified, they can answer your complaint, and your case can officially get started.
You are not legally required to have a lawyer when taking legal action, but having one is almost certainly in your best interest. Your attorney can quickly review your case and identify damages, evidence, and potential legal strategies. Your lawyer should also be experienced with the legal process and court procedures so your case will proceed much quicker and more smoothly.
Your lawyer can also protect you. The defendant or their insurance company might try to lowball you with paltry settlement offers, hoping you do not know any better or simply want to take the money and move on. An attorney can make sure you get the best offer possible and avoid being taken advantage of.
Call our pedestrian accident attorneys of Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 to schedule an initial case evaluation at no cost to you to get started.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
Contact Us:
Wruck Paupore P.C.
Injury Lawyers
275 Joliet St. Suite #250
Dyer, IN 46311
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