In 2019, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) reported 52 pedestrian accidents in Hayward that resulted in injuries or death. Consistent with pedestrian accident statistics, many of these incidents involved negligence and were entirely avoidable.
If you or a loved one sustained an injury in a pedestrian accident caused by a negligent driver, you might be able to recover compensation from them. This compensation could help you pay for your recovery and support your family. A Hayward pedestrian accident lawyer from Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers will pursue compensation for you while you focus on other matters.
We have been representing pedestrian accident victims since 1990, helping them recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, pain, suffering, wrongful death and more. Our Hayward pedestrian accident lawyers have recovered over 0,000,000 on behalf of clients. We are vastly experienced in handling pedestrian accident claims and this experience will allow us to recover the most possible compensation for you.
If you have been injured as a pedestrian and can’t afford treatment for your injuries, a Hayward pedestrian accident attorney at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers can get you to a doctor who will treat you on a lien, which means you won’t be charged for treatment until your case is over. When pedestrian accidents occur, doctors are willing to do this for our clients because they know that we get great results for our clients who have suffered pedestrian accident injuries.
Best of all, if you are an injured pedestrian, an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers will handle your case on a contingency fee basis, meaning that we won’t charge you any fee until and unless we recover compensation for you. We won’t charge you any upfront fees or out-of-pocket fees to handle your pedestrian accident case, even if we have to file a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf. If a pedestrian accident occurred and you were injured, the only fee we’ll charge you is a percentage of any compensation we recover for you.
Call us today if you or a loved one suffered injuries, whether they be minor or serious injuries, or was killed in a pedestrian accident in Hayward or Alameda County. You can also fill out the free case evaluation form on this page, or you can even text us from this page.
What Damages Can I Recover After a Pedestrian Accident in Hayward?
Pedestrian accidents can leave victims with catastrophic injuries, incurring debt due to medical expenses from which they never fully recover. Unfortunately, a deceased victim’s family may never recover from their loss.
These people deserve compensation for their damages, including their noneconomic, intangible damages. If you, your family, or a loved one suffered due to a pedestrian accident, a personal injury lawyer from our firm can help you claim damages for:
Medical Bills
The most common pedestrian accident injuries, such as broken bones and traumatic brain injuries, often lead to huge medical bills. You may already be facing huge medical bills if you were involved in a car accident as a pedestrian. You might also need future treatment which will mean even more medical expenses related to your pedestrian accident. When we handle pedestrian accident lawsuits and claims, we help injury victims recover compensation for their past and future medical bills.
Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers
(510) 342-5780
Lost Wages
Many pedestrian accidents leave their victims unable to work for a period of time. This might be due to them being injured too badly to work, or this might be due to them having to take time off from work to get their injuries treated. No matter why you had to miss time from work, if it was because of your pedestrian accident, we can help you recover financial compensation for those unearned wages.
Loss of Earning Capacity
Many pedestrian accident victims are left permanently disabled by their injuries. When this occurs, they suffer a loss or reduction of their earning capacity, and this loss or reduction of your earning capacity is something that we can help you recover financial compensation for from an insurance company or another party when we file a pedestrian accident claim on your behalf.
Pain and Suffering
Injured pedestrians often undergo a lot of physical pain and mental suffering. While it can be complex to calculate how much money an injury victim is entitled to for their pain and suffering, we have been doing this for over 30 years. We will put an accurate value on your pain and suffering after your pedestrian accident and ensure you are fairly compensated for it.
Wrongful Death
Unfortunately, pedestrian deaths sometimes occur. If you have lost a loved one to a pedestrian accident, we can help you recover financial compensation for:
- Your grieving
- Your suffering
- Your loved one’s pain and suffering
- Your loved one’s medical bills
- Your loved one’s funeral bills
- Your loved one’s burial bills
- The loss of your loved one’s income
- The loss of your loved one’s love and companionship
- The loss of your loved one’s household services
- The loss of your loved one’s consortium (spousal benefits)
How Do You Prove Negligence in a Pedestrian Accident Case?
To recover your due damages, our team must establish the other party’s negligence in your case, such as driving while impaired or driving recklessly. There’s a lot involved in establishing negligence—from investigating the incident to defending the claimant from accusations of their negligence.
Investigating Your Incident and Finding Evidence for Your Case
An investigation can entail speaking with the authorities about the incident, determining whether anyone witnessed the crash, finding video footage of the accident, and more. Finally, your lawyer will seek evidence for your case.
The evidence may be the police report, a witness statement, traffic camera footage, and your medical records establishing the extent of your injuries. Once your lawyer has foundational evidence for your case, they will seek corroborating evidence, such as testimony from a medical expert.
Showing How the Other Party Was Negligent
As required by California Civil Jury Instructions No. 400, our team will establish how:
- The at-fault driver negligently caused the accident that hurt you while you walked along a Hayward street.
- Their “negligence was a substantial factor in causing (your) harm.”
The evidence your lawyer gathers will establish the other party’s negligence and protect you from any claims you contributed to the accident. Also, your lawyer will know how to counter an insurance adjuster’s tactics to get you to admit fault or show your injuries weren’t as bad as you claim.
How Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers Will Protect Your Payout
By protecting you from accusations about your negligence in your case, your lawyer protects your right to an adequate payout for your injuries. Otherwise, a finding that you were partially at fault for the accident would reduce your payout in proportion to your percentage of fault, per California’s comparative negligence law. For instance, if a jury determines you were 20% at fault, you will only receive 80% of your award.
Your attorney also protects your payout by preventing the insurer from pushing a lowball settlement offer that doesn’t sufficiently cover all your damages. Insurance companies prey on desperate victims who need money to pay immediate bills without considering their future expenses.
Instead, your lawyer protects your interests by either negotiating a fair settlement with the insurer or fighting for a fair verdict before a judge and jury.
About Our Hayward Pedestrian Accident Attorneys
Since 1990, our personal injury attorneys have worked for people like you in Hayward and throughout California. Over the years, we’ve helped many pedestrian accident and other personal injury victims recover substantial settlements and verdicts.
We’re confident we can help you with your case, too. Your attorney will take over your case, establish the other party’s negligence, and pursue due compensation on your behalf. Also, since your attorney works for you on a contingency basis, you won’t pay your attorney anything unless they recover a payout for you.
Additionally, if you need further medical care, your attorney can refer you to a trusted doctor who could treat you under a medical lien agreement. This arrangement allows you to receive treatment without paying the doctor until your case resolves.
Your Pedestrian Accident Case May Have a Deadline
If you’re considering filing a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, you must abide by the filing deadline that applies to the suit. Your lawyer will keep your case progressing to meet the applicable deadline.
Per CCP § 335.1, you have two years to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. The clock starts on the accident date for personal injury claims and the day your loved one died for wrongful death actions.
However, if a government entity is involved, such as in the case of a pedestrian accident caused by a dangerous roadway condition, then this time limit is reduced to only six months after the date of the accident.
Common Reasons for Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian accidents in Hayward often happen because of the recklessness or negligence of the driver of an automobile. While drivers aren’t always to blame, the most common reasons for pedestrian accidents include:
Distracted Driving
It is growing increasingly common for people to drive while distracted, and this is largely due to drivers using devices such as smartphones inappropriately. Unfortunately, accident risks are exponentially increased by distracted driving. A distracted driver will overestimate their ability to drive safely.
Evidence shows that drivers who lose their focus due to things like device usage or texting are the most likely drivers to get into accidents which injure others or themselves.
Not Giving Pedestrians the Right of Way
This accident type typically occurs at crosswalks. A lot of drivers wrongfully think pedestrians are obligated to yield, whereas in reality this is almost never the case. In California, drivers are obligated to yield to people in crosswalks. When drivers fail to do this, they are liable for any injuries sustained by the pedestrian.
Not Using Turn Signals
Drivers who don’t communicate their intent to turn can cause pedestrians to think crossing the road at intersections is safe when it’s not safe. Drivers cannot assume that pedestrians are aware of what drivers are going to do next. Because of this, pedestrians are given the right of way.
Fatigued, Drugged or Drunk Driving
Drivers who drive while drugged or drunk, or while fatigued, put everyone else on the road, especially pedestrians, at a higher risk for fatalities, injuries and accidents. It’s not a coincidence that so many accidents involving pedestrians occur at night when the most drivers are driving fatigued, drunk or drugged and visibility is poor.
Malfunctioning Vehicles
Sometimes accidents occur even when drivers do everything right. Sometimes this happens when vehicles malfunctions due to defective components like brakes or tires. When vehicle defects cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles, the retailers, distributors and manufacturers of those products put everybody at risk of going through a catastrophe, especially vulnerable pedestrians.
Reckless Driving and Speeding
A driver who recklessly passes other vehicles or exceeds the speed limit, especially when they do this in an urban area, doesn’t have enough time to slow down for pedestrians who are in crosswalks or walking along the roadside.
Poor Roadway Maintenance or Design
Everyone who uses roads relies on local governments and contractors to maintain and design safe roads – these roads must be safe for pedestrians as well as others. When a crosswalk is put in a poor location by a road engineer, a visual obstruction is allowed to intrude upon a road, or shoulders and sidewalks aren’t maintained adequately, the result can be pedestrian accidents. When this occurs, local governments and their contractors may be held liable for any injuries which result.
Contact a Hayward Pedestrian Accident Lawyer at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers Today
A pedestrian accident case often involves severe injuries and loss of life. In addition, most result from negligence. Our attorneys regularly handle pedestrian accident cases, so we’re extremely confident we can handle your or your loved one’s case. We’ll pursue a fair outcome for you while you focus on getting your life back on track.
During a free consultation with a team member, you’ll learn more about what one of our attorneys will do for you. So, to schedule your free case evaluation, contact Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers today.
