Many Floridians enjoy taking advantage of our state’s warm climate to walk for exercise and to access shopping, dining, and entertainment options, especially in walkable spaces like Boca Raton’s Mizner Park. Florida is also considered the most dangerous state for pedestrians, with the country’s highest rate of pedestrian accidents.
Pedestrian accidents can often result in serious personal injuries or even death. This can leave injured pedestrians and their families with substantial medical debt, as well as stress from lost wages and exhausting recoveries. When you have been seriously injured or lost a loved one because of someone else’s negligent actions, you may have the right to seek damages with the help of a Boca Raton pedestrian accident lawyer. A personal injury attorney could handle the legal work while you focus on recovery.
Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable road users and may suffer catastrophic injuries when a negligent driver’s recklessness causes a pedestrian accident. The Boca Raton lawyers of Keller, Melchiorre & Walsh have dedicated the last decade to supporting injured pedestrians as they pursue fair settlements that represent the true extent of their financial, physical, and emotional losses.
KMW Legal has earned a sterling reputation based on our ability to successfully recover maximum compensation for our injured pedestrian accident clients. Our legal prowess and tireless work ethic have made us the go-to pedestrian accident lawyers in Boca Raton.
When we take on a client, their needs become our priority. On the other hand, an insurance company’s priority is to protect its bottom line by offering you the lowest settlement possible. Our team isn’t intimidated by the prospect of going to trial to secure you the compensation you deserve for your pedestrian accident injuries.
We have faced off against powerful insurance companies in negotiations and in court and emerged with fair settlement offers that respect the costs associated with painful recoveries, lost job opportunities, and medical treatments. KMW Legal is also familiar with the extensive legwork it takes to build a persuasive pedestrian accident lawsuit, including analyzing evidence to prove the impact of injuries and strategizing to find a fair solution.
Our award-winning team is not afraid to take your pedestrian accident lawsuit to trial in the event that negotiations with the insurance company stall, and our prior trial experience gives us an advantage that many other injury lawyers do not have. Reach out to our office today to schedule a no-cost, no-commitment strategy session with our team to learn more about your legal options for pursuing compensation in a pedestrian accident lawsuit.
Despite being the third-largest state population-wise, Florida ranks number one as the deadliest state for pedestrians. In most cases, pedestrians are injured by negligent drivers. Drivers are expected to act with reasonable care towards their fellow road users by abiding by traffic laws and exercising caution when sharing the road. Unfortunately, when a driver fails to meet this standard, known as a duty of care, they can be held liable for their reckless behavior when it results in severe injury or death of a pedestrian.
One of the most common reasons for pedestrian accidents is an inattentive driver. Drivers may become distracted by a text, get lost in a conversation with a passenger, engage in rubbernecking, or engage in some other task that takes their attention from driving. By dividing their visual, manual, and cognitive concentration, distracted drivers may make a turn into an intersection or reverse out of a parking space before looking for pedestrians, speed through stop signs, or generally neglect to yield the right of way. Too often, this results in a tragic pedestrian accident that can cost someone their life.
Driving requires a high level of multi-tasking that is dependent upon drivers being able to quickly identify, judge, and react to environmental stimuli, such as a light turning red. When a driver’s ability to do so is diminished by fatigue or alcohol, pedestrians can pay the price.
Drowsy drivers’ senses are damped by fatigue, which can lead them to make devastating mistakes like entering an exit ramp or swerving into another lane while fighting sleep. Drunk drivers also have trouble accurately perceiving and reacting to their environments. For example, a drunk driver may not notice a speed limit sign and therefore lack the space to stop for a crosswalk in time, severely injuring the pedestrians in their path due to their higher speed.
While driver error as a result of impairment or distraction is the most common factor in pedestrian accidents, circumstances that involve high traffic volumes, reduced visibility, and pedestrians walking in unexpected places are also contributing factors in pedestrian accidents.
An attorney in Boca Raton could help an injured pedestrian determine the cause of the crash.
Pedestrians are not always completely blameless in serious pedestrian accidents. If they are intoxicated, distracted, impatient, or just misjudge a situation, their actions in addition to a negligent driver’s behavior may contribute to the cause of an accident.
Pedestrians may engage in risky behaviors like wandering into oncoming traffic while drunk, jaywalking to avoid waiting for a light, or underestimating the speed of an oncoming car. Florida law provides a way for pedestrians who are partially at fault for their injuries to still recover a portion of their costs.
Under Florida’s pure comparative negligence policy, a pedestrian who was injured while jaywalking in front of a speeding driver would be assigned a percentage of the fault, and that percentage would then be deducted from the value of their settlement. This statute is intended to allow people who have been seriously injured to have some relief for their expenses, while also acknowledging their role in the situation.
Palm Beach County experienced nearly 500 pedestrian accidents in 2020 alone, with over 90% of those resulting in injury or death. Injuries may range from bruises and scrapes to debilitating injuries, like paralyzing spinal cord injuries, that completely alter the trajectory of your life.
In most cases, the lower extremities absorb the worst of the impact from a crash. You may be off your feet for weeks dealing with multiple fractures, surgery to realign bones or insert metal pins, or having to relearn how to walk in physical therapy. Pedestrians often experience these types of harm when hit by a vehicle:
After a pedestrian accident, it is always worth getting checked out by a medical professional as soon as you are out of harm’s way. You may not realize just how serious your injuries are due to adrenaline or want to avoid the inconvenience and expense of an emergency room trip.
This is a mistake; if left untreated, injuries like concussions and broken bones could result in serious complications that leave you with permanent loss of function. It is also important to get professionally evaluated to avoid giving an insurance company the chance to claim you exaggerated your injuries to falsely inflate the value of your settlement. Once you have received medical care, reach out to a pedestrian accident attorney in Boca Raton to discuss your claim options.
Motor vehicle collisions with pedestrians often result in more severe injuries which means the injured party often requires more time off from work to physically heal. For many injured pedestrians, this means that they are stuck with the difficult situation of trying to may payments on medical bills while receiving only a portion of their normal salary, plus trying to care for themselves while injured.
The non-economic costs can be just as detrimental after a pedestrian accident injury. You may be forced to sacrifice your independence, forfeit hobbies, and lose relationships. These losses accumulate and often work to the detriment of the injured pedestrian’s mental health. In a pedestrian accident lawsuit, you may be eligible to recover all of these costs provided that they are directly connected to your injuries and the accident caused by another’s negligence.
If you have been seriously injured or lost a loved one as a result of someone else’s negligence, you do not have to figure out what damages you are eligible for on your own. A skilled pedestrian accident attorney in Boca Raton will consider the full picture of the damages you have incurred and gather evidence to connect your damages to your injuries so that they can be properly compensated in a lawsuit.
If you are considering facing off against a powerful insurance company by yourself in a pedestrian accident lawsuit, you are taking a big risk. Powerful insurance companies will rely on your inexperience to convince you to accept a lower settlement than a lawyer would advise you to consider.
Experienced pedestrian accident lawyers in Boca Raton will have handled hundreds of claims like yours, which makes them experts in leveraging their knowledge and resources to negotiate a fair settlement. They will know how to dissect medical records, witness testimony, and insurance policies in order to form a cohesive claim for damages. Hiring an attorney to handle your claim can also relieve you of other duties, like responding to bill collectors’ inquiries or crafting negotiation strategies so you can focus on your recovery.
Seeking out legal representation from an established and successful firm also indicates to the negligent party’s legal team that you are willing to invest the time and effort to take your pedestrian accident lawsuit seriously. KMW Legal’s knowledge from thirty years of combined experience and comprehensive legal services have enabled many injured pedestrians to recover their costs in pedestrian accident lawsuits.
Boca Raton is a coastal city with 97,422 residents located in Palm Beach County. This affluent community is known as a destination for upscale shopping, inviting beaches, and business opportunities. KMW Legal has been committed to going above and beyond for our injured pedestrians for the past decade.
Our clients expect to receive expert legal advice, clearly communicated expectations, and attentive service. KMW Legal consistently delivers results. It is in your best interest to consult a reputable pedestrian accident lawyer in Boca Raton as soon as possible if you are struggling with medical debt, lost wages, and emotional distress as a result of a pedestrian accident caused by someone else’s negligence.
After a serious pedestrian accident, contending with the burden of medical bills, physical recovery, and a compromised income can be incredibly stressful and frustrating. You have the right to recover these costs in a lawsuit against the negligent party who is responsible for your injuries.
KMW Legal will relentlessly advocate to secure you a settlement that acknowledges these costs, even if that means we need to take your claim to trial. With the Keller, Melchiorre & Walsh team by your side, you can feel confident that you will not be pressured to settle for a dollar less than you deserve for your financial and emotional losses.
Reach out to our office to speak with our team in a free, no-obligation strategy session. A Boca Raton pedestrian accident lawyer looks forward to learning more about your needs and determining the most beneficial course of action to recover your damages in a lawsuit.
