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Practice Areas When a motor vehicle strikes a pedestrian, the results can be disastrous. A victim may never be the same after a pedestrian accident in Lakewood, Colorado. At Fang Law Firm, our Lakewood pedestrian accident attorneys are committed to seeking justice and fair financial compensation for injured pedestrians. We know how much these accidents can impact victims and their families. We will be there for you when you need legal advice, aggressive advocacy and a helping hand during the recovery process.
At Fang Law Firm, our clients are our number one priority. When we accept a case, we give our undivided attention to it to achieve the best possible results. We will start your pedestrian accident claim with a comprehensive investigation of the crash. We can interview witnesses and hire crash reconstruction experts, as necessary. Then, our Lakewood pedestrian accident attorneys will take care of the complex filing process and legal paperwork on your behalf.
We will use our years of legal experience to negotiate with an insurance company for maximum financial compensation for you. We can protect you from tactics insurance companies might use to take advantage of you. Most importantly, we will answer your questions, give you the legal advocacy that you deserve and provide the mental peace that you need to focus on healing.
If you suffered serious injuries from being hit by a car in Lakewood, it is important to hire an attorney to represent you during insurance settlement negotiations. The insurer may try to devalue your injuries or losses and offer less than your case is worth in an effort to protect its profits. A lawyer can fight for fair and full compensation on your behalf. It is also important to hire a lawyer if your case has complications, such as a liability dispute or more than one defendant.
During a pedestrian accident case in Colorado, you may be entitled to financial compensation (damages) for many economic and noneconomic losses, including
Understanding the value of your personal injury claim is something that our Lakewood pedestrian accident lawyers can help you with. You can trust our evaluation to be fair and honest – unlike an insurance company, we wish to maximize your payout, not minimize it.
If you wish to obtain financial compensation for your pedestrian accident in Colorado, you or your lawyer will need to prove that someone else is liable, or legally and financially responsible, for the crash. This is how Colorado’s fault-based insurance system works. After a motor vehicle accident, all affected parties seek financial benefits from the insurance provider of the person or party most responsible for causing the crash. The at-fault party will pay through his or her automobile insurance company using bodily injury liability coverage.
A pedestrian accident case often names a motor vehicle driver as the liable party. A driver may be liable for your accident for any number of driver errors. An investigation may also place liability on a third party. For example, if a driver was working at the time of the collision, you may be able to hold the employer vicariously liable. If you were hit by a city employee, such as a bus driver, the government in Lakewood could be liable for your injuries.
As a plaintiff, or the filing party, in a pedestrian accident claim, the burden of proof is yours. This means that you or your lawyer must establish fault based on a preponderance of the evidence to hold someone liable for your losses. This evidentiary standard is proof that a defendant is responsible for your accident with at least a 50% certainty. Proving fault requires clear and convincing evidence, such as photographs, videos, eyewitnesses, police reports and crash reconstruction. A lawyer can help you determine and prove liability in your pedestrian accident case.
Most pedestrian collisions in Lakewood are preventable. They take place most often when a motor vehicle driver fails to pay attention or obey Colorado’s traffic laws. In Colorado, it is necessary to determine the cause of your pedestrian accident before filing an insurance claim. Although every case is unique, certain issues tend to cause pedestrian accidents more than others in Lakewood. This includes driver errors. Common examples include:
When a pedestrian accident is caused by a careless or reckless driver in Colorado, the driver must pay for the victim’s bills using his or her car insurance. Your pedestrian accident may have instead been caused by an unsafe road or a crosswalk. In this case, the state or city could be held accountable rather than a driver. Our Lakewood accident lawyers will thoroughly investigate your case to determine fault. Then, we will help you bring a personal injury claim against one or more parties.
When a pedestrian is hit by a car, the physical harm inflicted can be severe. At Fang Law Firm, we’ve represented clients with many different types of serious injuries connected to vehicle-pedestrian accidents. We understand the most common injuries associated with these accidents, as well as how best to help our clients achieve fair financial compensation for them. Common pedestrian injuries include:
If you or a loved one suffered any type of injury from being hit by a car while walking or jogging in Lakewood, our attorneys can help. We will connect you to the best doctors in the city and make sure that you have what you need to heal. We have years of experience handling serious injury cases and know how to obtain the best possible results for our clients. If someone close to you tragically lost his or her life in a pedestrian collision, we can also help you with a wrongful death lawsuit.
Case timelines can vary considerably based on the facts and issues involved. If you have serious injuries, for example, you must wait until you reach the point of maximum medical improvement. This is the only way to understand how much your injuries will cost you and your family over time. Your claim timeline can also depend on whether your case settles or goes to trial.
Settlements are faster than full-blown court trials with judges and juries. Most injured pedestrians reach settlements with car insurance companies within three to six months of an accident. Note, however, that a settlement timeline can be longer if an insurance company needs additional time to investigate. If the parties involved cannot reach a settlement, a personal injury trial may delay case resolution by a year or more, depending on the schedule at the courthouse.
A pedestrian accident case in Colorado is a complicated legal matter that may take several months to a year or longer to resolve. While you may be anxious to end your personal injury claim as soon as possible, it’s important not to jump at the first settlement offered to you by an insurance company. Initial offers are often low on purpose. Instead, take your time and work with an attorney to negotiate a fair and full settlement with an insurance company. It is worth the wait to achieve the compensation that you deserve.
In Colorado, a law known as the statute of limitations limits your right to bring a personal injury or wrongful death claim after a pedestrian accident. This law gives you three years from the date of injury (or the date of death) to file a car accident case. For injuries not related to motor vehicle accidents, the statute of limitations is two years. You have significantly less time if you wish to bring a lawsuit against the city, county or state government. In this scenario, Colorado law gives you just 180 days to file.
In general, if you miss the statute of limitations, you will be unable to pursue financial compensation in the courts. Even if the courts agree to hear your case, the defense attorney will most likely file a motion for case dismissal based on the broken regulation. This is why it is important to talk to a pedestrian accident lawyer as soon as possible. Your lawyer will file a claim within the deadline and help you obey all other state laws that apply.
The moments immediately following a pedestrian accident in Lakewood are chaotic and confusing. Everything moves quickly in the aftermath of a crash. You may have suffered a substantial injury that makes it difficult to focus on anything else. If you can, however, remember to remain calm and take the following steps to protect your safety, health and legal rights as an injured pedestrian:
From the moment you contact a pedestrian accident lawyer, you can rest and focus on rebuilding your life. An experienced and knowledgeable attorney will take over the complicated legal process for you by investigating the collision, gathering evidence and handling claims filing processes. You don’t have to handle a pedestrian accident claim alone.
Pedestrian accidents occur often in Colorado. They are especially frequent in urban areas where pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic intersects the most. Reviewing the latest pedestrian accident statistics can help you be more aware of this risk and help you avoid becoming a victim. Here are a few facts and figures:
According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, 92 pedestrians lost their lives in 2017 (the most recent year data is available). Pedestrian deaths accounted for 14 percent of all traffic accident fatalities that year.
Sadly, the number of pedestrian accidents in Colorado is increasing. A new analysis from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and AAA Colorado found an increase in pedestrian deaths in Colorado in 2018, up 89% when compared to 2008. The DOT had similar findings in the five-year period from 2013 to 2017, where the percentage of pedestrian fatalities in Colorado increased by 84%. This uptick in the number of pedestrian deaths may be connected to an increase in distracted drivers and cell phone use behind the wheel.
You have already been through enough as the victim of a pedestrian accident. Give yourself the ability to rest, relax and focus on recovery by hiring an experienced Lakewood pedestrian accident attorney from Fang Law Firm. We will explore all of your legal options, choose the best one for your situation and guide you seamlessly through the legal process as our client. Tell an attorney your story today during a free, no-obligation consultation. Call us or contact us online.