New Jersey Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

We do not rank roads without current crash data. The settings our investigations focus on include wide state highways with commercial driveways, such as Routes 46 and 23, busy downtown streets in Paterson, Passaic and Clifton, and parking lots. What decides a claim is not the road’s reputation but the facts of the crossing: the signal, the crosswalk, the lighting, the driver’s speed and attention, and the video that recorded it.

Ambulance crews choose the hospital based on the injuries. Hospitals in and near Passaic County include St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson and Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains. For the claim, what matters is that the emergency record notes you were struck while walking and lists every injury, and that follow-up care is documented. We collect the ambulance, hospital and follow-up records for you.

A pedestrian can recover if their own negligence was not greater than the combined negligence of the drivers being sued; the damages are reduced by the pedestrian’s share. Example: a jury finds the walker 30% at fault and the driver 70%, so the walker recovers 70% of the damages. A walker found more at fault than the defendants combined recovers nothing from them. In a crosswalk crash, the jury may infer the driver was careless.

Generally two years after the claim accrues, usually the date of injury. If a government vehicle or a public road, sidewalk or signal may be responsible, a written notice of claim is generally due to that public entity within 90 days of accrual. If the driver cannot be identified and no policy applies, notice to the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund is generally due within 180 days. Children and people who lack capacity can have more time.

If you or a resident relative has a New Jersey auto policy, its PIP generally pays medical bills, unless that policy makes health insurance primary. From the at-fault driver you can claim economic losses PIP did not pay, such as further lost wages and unreimbursed medical bills, and pain and suffering; a qualifying injury may be required, depending on your policy and the vehicle that hit you. Available insurance usually limits what can be collected.

Report it to police right away and ask nearby businesses to keep their video. Your own or a household relative’s auto policy usually includes uninsured motorist coverage for hit-and-run vehicles. If no policy applies and you qualify, the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund may pay, but notice is generally due within 180 days and you must show that reasonable efforts were made to identify the driver and the vehicle.

No. Drivers must stop and stay stopped for a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk who is on, or within one lane of, the half of the road the driver is traveling on or turning into, and must yield at unmarked crosswalks at intersections without signal or police control. But pedestrians must not cross against a red or "stop" signal, must not step into the path of a car too close to stop, and must yield when crossing anywhere else.

Parking lots are usually private property, so crosswalk statutes for public roads may not apply in the same way, but every driver still owes ordinary care to people on foot, especially when backing up or turning into an aisle. Store and lot video is often the key evidence and should be requested quickly. The property owner may also be responsible if lighting, layout or a hazard in the lot contributed.

Drivers turning left or right through a crosswalk without looking, distraction from phones or navigation, speeding on wide roads, drivers passing another car stopped for a pedestrian, backing up in parking lots, impaired driving, and poor lighting or missing crosswalks. New Jersey law specifically forbids passing a vehicle that has stopped to let a pedestrian cross.

Usually yes. A pedestrian outside a crosswalk must yield to traffic, so a jury may assign part of the fault to the walker, but the statute also says drivers are not relieved of their duty to use due care for anyone in the road. If the driver was speeding, distracted or impaired, the walker can still recover, reduced by their share, as long as it is not greater than the drivers’ combined fault.

The same New Jersey rules apply, but these highways raise particular issues: several lanes, where a car in one lane stops and the next lane does not; higher speeds; turning traffic at commercial driveways; and night lighting. Because Routes 46 and 23 are state highways, a defect in the road, signal or lighting may involve a public entity and its 90-day notice. We look for signal timing, lighting and nearby business video early.