Many people, including tourists and local workers, regularly frequent the traffic intersections, parking lots, and parking garages in Downtown San Bernardino, including at the San Bernardino Transit Center. Unfortunately, these areas are typical venues for dangerous pedestrian accidents.
Whenever a vehicle hits a pedestrian, it may forcefully knock the pedestrian onto the ground, causing them to suffer traumatic injuries that require ongoing medical care. Unlike motor vehicle occupants, pedestrians experience direct exposure to their surrounding environment. They are more likely than vehicle drivers and passengers to suffer permanent (and sometimes fatal) injuries in a collision.
The San Bernardino pedestrian accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP realize the severe and permanent injuries that often accompany pedestrian accidents. When you allow our legal team to handle your pedestrian accident claim, you can rest assured that we will aggressively fight for your legal rights and work to maximize the compensation you receive from the insurance company.
If the insurance company is unfair in your case, we can pursue litigation in the California court system and, if necessary, resolve your case at a jury trial or binding arbitration proceeding.
Our knowledgeable team has recovered millions of dollars in favorable settlements, jury verdicts, and arbitration awards for our personal injury clients. Let us help you maximize the monetary recovery you receive for your pedestrian accident injuries in San Bernardino.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a skilled San Bernardino pedestrian accident attorney, please call us or contact us online to learn more.
Our law firm has the experience and resources to handle complex, high-stakes personal injury cases. We regularly accept referrals from other law firms involving clients with severe injuries. If you are another firm, please reach out today to learn about our strong referral network and how we might assist with an injury claim.
Common Locations for Pedestrian Accidents in San Bernardino
According to statistics, California, with its high number of motor vehicles on the road, continues to be a hotbed for motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents.
In addition to traffic intersections, even those with crosswalks, other pedestrian accidents in San Bernardino may occur:
- Near sidewalks
- In parking lots
- In parking garages
- At driveway entrances
- On open roads and highways, such as California State Route 1 or State Route 55 (especially when a driver pulls over to the side of the road and exits their vehicle)
You are not alone if you suffered injuries in a pedestrian accident in one of these locations. The San Bernardino pedestrian accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can speak with you about your accident, determine how it occurred, and decide if you can file a personal injury claim or lawsuit seeking monetary damages.
If you are eligible to pursue a claim for compensation, we can assist you with every step of the process and work to bring your case to an efficient and favorable resolution.
What Happens When Pedestrians Hit the Ground Hard?
When the force of a collision from a motor vehicle causes a pedestrian to hit the ground hard, the pedestrian is likely to experience injuries that leave them out of capacity for a long time. The injuries that pedestrian accident victims suffer will usually depend on how they fall, how hard they land on the ground, and the exact body part or parts injured. The collision force also plays a role in determining the extent of an accident victim’s injuries.
Common pedestrian accident injuries include:
- Road rash injuries
- Permanent soft tissue injuries
- Rib fractures
- Broken bones
- Internal organ injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Paralysis
- Spinal cord injuries
- Death
If you suffered any of these injuries in your recent pedestrian accident in San Bernardino, you should receive the medical treatment you need to improve over time. You should begin your medical treatment at a local hospital emergency room or urgent care center. The medical provider on duty can order brain scans, take X-rays, and determine your medical condition. The provider can also recommend additional treatment if your injuries require it.
While you go to medical appointments and focus your attention on recovering from your injuries, the San Bernardino pedestrian accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can start to help you with the legal process.
Specifically, we can gather investigation paperwork, including photographs of your injuries, medical reports, and lost income documents. Once you finish your medical treatment, we can start the claims-filing process on your behalf and begin negotiating a fair settlement offer with the responsible driver’s insurance company.
How do Negligent Drivers Cause Pedestrian Accidents?
In most instances, pedestrian accidents occur when people drive recklessly or carelessly. First, a pedestrian accident may happen when a driver fails to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian at a traffic intersection. Similarly, when drivers speed and violate other traffic laws near traffic intersections and sidewalks—or in parking lots and parking garages—they increase their chances of hitting a pedestrian and causing severe injuries.
Pedestrian accidents can also occur when drivers fail to use their mirrors, especially when backing out of a parking place. When a driver fails to look into their rearview or side view mirror prior to backing out of a parking space, they might fail to see a pedestrian behind them and negligently cause their vehicle to hit the pedestrian.
Pedestrian accidents can also occur when drivers ignore their surroundings, especially in parking lots and parking garages where there might be low or limited visibility. The driver may become distracted when they look at electronic devices in their vehicle, like tablets, cellular phones, and GPS navigation devices. Vehicle passengers may also distract drivers from watching the road attentively. When a driver becomes distracted, they may not notice a nearby pedestrian, bringing about a severe collision.
Finally, some pedestrian accidents occur when drivers are legally intoxicated. A passenger vehicle driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least 0.08 percent is per se intoxicated. Commercial vehicle operators, including truck drivers, are legally intoxicated if their BAC is at least 0.04 percent. Drivers under 21 are legally intoxicated with a 0.01 percent BAC or higher.
Drunk driving is dangerous because alcohol significantly affects a driver’s abilities and perceptions. In some instances, alcohol intoxication causes physical symptoms, such as blurred vision, which may prevent a driver from seeing a pedestrian in a crosswalk or in a dark parking garage. Similarly, alcohol intoxication may significantly slow down a driver’s reflexes and reaction time. Therefore, even if a driver observes a pedestrian in the vicinity, they may be unable to stop their vehicle in time to avoid a collision.
If your pedestrian accident and resulting injuries occurred because of another driver’s negligence, the San Bernardino pedestrian accident attorneys at Bentley & More LLP are ready to help. We can assist you with filing your claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company—and with negotiating or litigating your claim effectively and efficiently.
Can I Sue the City for My Pedestrian Accident Injuries?
In some instances, San Bernardino pedestrian accidents do not result from negligent driving. Instead, they happen when a pedestrian trips and falls due to defective sidewalks and roadway conditions. Concrete spalling, as well as deep cracks and potholes in roadway macadam, may cause a pedestrian to lose their balance, fall on the ground, and suffer serious injuries.
In these instances, an injured pedestrian can take legal action against a municipality, such as a city or a county. These municipalities are responsible for adequately maintaining roadways in their jurisdiction in a safe, careful, and reasonable manner. When they fail to promptly warn about or correct a defect on the road or sidewalk, and a pedestrian accident occurs, you can hold them legally liable.
When taking legal action against a municipality or governmental entity, it is essential to remember that strict notice provisions and time limitations often apply. After serving the proper notice on the municipality, you can file a claim with the municipality’s insurance company—or a lawsuit against the municipality directly in court. After that point, the case may proceed normally.
The San Bernardino pedestrian accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can help you take prompt and efficient legal action in your case, safeguarding your right to pursue the monetary damages you deserve for your pedestrian accident injuries.
We Ensure a Fair Damage Award for You Under the Circumstances
A good settlement offer in a pedestrian accident case should favorably compensate an accident victim not only for their physical and out-of-pocket losses but also for their intangible losses, such as their inconvenience, suffering, and pain.
Monetary damages that injured pedestrians recover in a personal injury claim or lawsuit often depend upon various accident-related circumstances, including the speed of the vehicle, the injuries that the accident victim suffered, the medical treatment that they underwent, the total cost of their medical treatment (both past and anticipated), and the extent of their overall losses.
Injured pedestrian accident victims can recover several categories of damages, including economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.
Economic damages compensate injured pedestrians for their total out-of-pocket losses. For example, an accident victim can recover the cost of their past and anticipated medical expenses—as well as their lost income, if they can not work after their accident. In addition, if their injuries necessitated that they switch jobs and take a pay cut, they may be eligible to recover damages for their loss of earning capacity.
In addition to these economic damages, injured pedestrians can pursue non-economic damages for their intangible losses.
Those losses may include compensation for their:
- Mental distress
- Emotional anguish
- Inconvenience
- Past and anticipated pain and suffering,
- Loss of their ability to use a body part, such as from a paralysis injury or spinal cord damage
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Loss of spousal consortium
Finally, in some pedestrian accident scenarios, accident victims can recover punitive damages from an at-fault driver. These damages are available in cases where people drive in a particularly aggressive, egregious, or reckless manner, given the circumstances. For example, the driver who caused the pedestrian accident may have been under the illegal influence of alcohol or drugs at the time.
Courts award punitive damages to accident victims to punish the at-fault defendant driver. The other purpose of punitive damages is to discourage others from behaving in the same reckless or careless manner in the future.
The skilled San Bernardino pedestrian accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP know the tricks and tactics that insurance companies frequently use to undervalue pedestrian accident claims and lawsuits. We can aggressively fight for your right to recover favorable monetary damages during our settlement negotiations with insurance company representatives. We can also threaten the insurance company with litigation if they refuse to take your case seriously and compensate you accordingly.
Speak to a San Bernardino Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Right Away
Greg Bentley & Keith More, Pedestrian Accident Lawyers
If you suffered debilitating and catastrophic injuries in a recent pedestrian accident, you should obtain the legal help you need right away. Pedestrian accident victims only have two years from their accident date in which to file a lawsuit seeking the monetary recovery they deserve. Reach out to a San Bernardino personal injury lawyer.
If they do not file a timely lawsuit in the court system, they may inadvertently waive their right to recover monetary damages. In almost all circumstances, the two-year personal injury statute of limitations is a hard-and-fast rule. Therefore, it is in an accident victim’s best interest to act quickly after their accident.
At Bentley & More LLP, our knowledgeable legal team understands the importance of filing a timely personal injury claim or lawsuit arising from a pedestrian accident. We can file your claim well in advance of the statutory time limit. After filing a lawsuit in the court system, we may continue our settlement negotiations with the insurance company and continue litigating your case to a favorable resolution. Throughout your pending claim or lawsuit, we will help you make informed and intelligent decisions that will increase your likelihood of recovering favorable monetary damages.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a skilled San Bernardino pedestrian accident lawyer, please call us at (949) 870-3800or contact us online.
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