If a car hit you while you were walking, you are hurt and probably frightened, and you are wondering who pays for any of this. I help injured pedestrians in Northeast Florida sort that out. There is real coverage that can pay your bills, even though you were on foot, and there are deadlines. Call and let's talk.
Call 904-383-7448Reviewed by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., Florida Bar No. 39104. Last updated .
Florida pedestrian crashes follow most of the same legal framework as car-on-car crashes, with one wrinkle that surprises clients: the pedestrian's own auto PIP coverage usually pays first for medical and wage benefits. Section 768.81 comparative fault applies, with the more-than-50-percent bar.
Section 316.130, Florida Statutes, governs pedestrian movement on highways. Section 316.075 governs traffic-control signal devices. Together they set out the duties of pedestrians and drivers at intersections, crosswalks, and signalized crossings.
Key rules: drivers must yield to pedestrians within crosswalks. Pedestrians outside crosswalks must yield to vehicles. Both have a duty of due care to avoid collisions. The driver's duty is heightened when the driver sees, or should see, a pedestrian.
The misunderstood part. Pedestrians struck by a motor vehicle in Florida often have access to PIP coverage even though they were not in a car. The PIP coverage that follows the pedestrian comes from:
The 14-day treatment rule applies. The $10,000 cap applies. The EMC determination still controls the difference between $2,500 and $10,000.
Get the police report and the scene photos fast. Pedestrian-vehicle crashes often turn on lighting, signage, and witness perspective. Locations look very different in daylight than they do at the time of the crash.
Pull every PIP policy that might apply. The pedestrian's, the household's, the driver's. PIP exhaustion in serious-injury cases happens fast and the case becomes a third-party claim against the driver's BIL and the pedestrian's UM coverage.
Watch for the "darting out" defense. Defense experts often try to construct a timeline showing the pedestrian appeared too suddenly to avoid. Pedestrian-conspicuity testing and reconstruction can rebut.
You are hurt, and the next few days matter more than you might think. Here is what I tell people who call after a car has hit them on foot.
First, get medical care, and get it now. A walk-away feeling after a crash is not the same as being fine, and Florida's PIP rules give you fourteen days to begin treatment. If you wait, you can lose coverage you did not even know you had.
Second, make sure the crash is reported and write down everything you remember while it is fresh. The street, the light, the weather, the time of day, the direction the car came from. Memory fades faster than you would believe.
Third, photograph the scene if you can, or ask someone to do it for you, and get the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw what happened. Pedestrian cases often turn on a single witness, and witnesses scatter.
Fourth, do not give a recorded statement to the driver's insurance company. They will call, they will be friendly, and they are not working for you. You are allowed to say no and to talk to a lawyer first.
Then call me at 904-383-7448 before any deadline runs. The sooner we start, the more I can do for you.
Yes. PIP follows the pedestrian's own policy, then a household policy, then the at-fault driver's PIP. Section 627.736.
Comparative fault under section 768.81 applies. The more-than-50-percent bar caps it: more than 50 percent at fault means no recovery.
PIP eligibility, comparative-fault disputes, scene reconstruction. Call.
Call: 904-383-7448