Among types of car crashes, accidents involving pedestrians result in some of the most devastating consequences for victims and their families. Roughly 5,000 pedestrians are involved in fatal traffic accidents each year, while as many as 70,000 suffer some type of injury. Many of these crashes result from drunk driving, distracted driving, or other careless behaviors behind the wheel. If you or a loved one is injured in a pedestrian accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Securing the settlement or the judgment that you deserve can be complicated, however, especially when insurance companies refuse to play fairly. At Cook, Bradford & Levy, our Boulder pedestrian accident lawyers have handed a wide variety of claims on behalf of injured Colorado residents.
Bringing a Negligence Claim to Recover Compensation for a Pedestrian AccidentEven though laws are designed to protect pedestrians from being involved in a motor vehicle accident, drivers often still fail to abide by the speed limit, get distracted by a cell phone, or fail to yield the right of way to pedestrians when appropriate. If you are injured as a result of another driver’s failure to use adequate care when operating their vehicle, you can bring a negligence claim to pursue compensation for your injuries and the expenses incurred as a result of the accident.
In general, all drivers must use reasonable care and skill when operating their vehicles and drive in a way that a prudent person would drive when faced with the same set of roadway conditions. For example, a prudent person would not get distracted behind the wheel. This includes not only chatting on a cell phone and texting behind the wheel, but also eating or drinking, paying too much attention to a navigation device, or focusing too much on animals or children in the vehicle. A seasoned pedestrian accident attorney can assist Boulder residents and other victims with gathering evidence and determining whether a driver failed to use due care at the time of the crash.
After showing that the defendant failed to use due care, a plaintiff in a pedestrian accident case is required to show that there is a causal connection between this failure and the injuries that they sustained. In other words, if the defendant can point to some other factor that was the substantial cause of the injuries, they may not be held liable. Colorado recognizes a doctrine called modified comparative negligence. This doctrine provides that a defendant can offer evidence suggesting that the plaintiff also acted negligently at the time of the crash, and it allows the jury to reduce the plaintiff’s award by the percentage of fault that it assigns to the plaintiff. If the jury concludes that the plaintiff’s fault was greater than the defendant’s fault, the plaintiff will be completely barred from recovering compensation. To avoid this outcome, you should consult a Boulder pedestrian accident attorney at our firm. We know how to build evidence against negligent motorists and ensure that the blame is not unfairly shifted onto victims.
The final phase of a personal injury action involves offering evidence to substantiate the amount of damages that you are seeking in the lawsuit. When it comes to the catastrophic injuries that often result from pedestrian accidents, such as broken bones, spinal cord injuries, brain trauma, lacerations, and soft tissue injuries, ensuring that your past and future medical needs are addressed is essential.
When it comes to the amount of compensation that you can recover, it is important to know that Colorado has enacted a variety of specific laws that govern the amount of compensation that a plaintiff can recover from a defendant. Retaining an attorney who understands how these damages caps work and knows when an exception allowing the jury to award damages in excess of the limits may apply can make a critical difference for a victim and their family’s future.
It’s no secret that Boulder has more pedestrians than most towns in Colorado. This is especially true when the weather warms up and students, tourists, and locals enjoy walk-friendly places like the Pearl Street Mall, North Boulder, and the University of Colorado campus. At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, we understand that sometimes there is a tension between motorists and pedestrians, and unfortunately, pedestrians get hit by inattentive, distracted, or careless drivers. According to Boulder’s 2016 Safe Streets report, between 2009 and 2014, there were 332 accidents where pedestrians were hit by vehicles. Of these pedestrian accidents about 25% resulted in serious injury or death. If you or a loved one has been involved in a pedestrian accident on Boulder’s streets, crosswalks, or sidewalks, we invite you to call us today at 303-543-1000 for a free consultation with one of our experienced Boulder pedestrian accident attorneys.
Helping You Recover After Your AccidentBecause pedestrians lack the protections that cars have, when a pedestrian gets hit by a car it is more likely that a serious injury will occur. Depending on your circumstances, your injuries can impact your life in different ways. For example, if you are a student at the University of Colorado who was hit while walking to class or even during a night out on the town, your injuries may cause you to withdraw from school for a semester or longer. Similarly, your injuries may cause you to be out of work for a period or even leave you with permanent restrictions in the types of jobs you are able to do in the future. Our Boulder pedestrian accident lawyers have successfully obtained compensation and reimbursement for CU students’ tuition costs, as well as for lost earnings, in addition to past and future medical bills, emotional stress like pain and suffering, and for permanent disabilities our clients have suffered from their accidents.
At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, we will listen to you to understand the impact of your pedestrian accident and then work to make sure you are in the best position to get fully compensated for your harms and losses. Oftentimes, especially when damages are high, insurance companies will fight to try to deny paying full and fair value of a pedestrian accident claim. Our Boulder pedestrian accident attorneys will work with your doctors to get documentation of your injuries so that the insurance company can see, as much as possible, the link between your damages and the accident. Not only that, but sometimes issues of who is at fault will arise, and we when this happens we can tap into our network of local and national experts in relevant topics such as human factors, accident reconstruction, or rules of the road, among many others.
Contingency Fee ArrangementsOver the years our lawyers have learned how difficult paying for an attorney can be. To combat this problem, the Colorado Supreme Court permits lawyers to represent clients on a contingency basis. This means that our clients never owe us any money up front, and we can get started on your case right away. We get paid at the end of your case as a percentage of the financial compensation that we can obtain for you. Our Boulder pedestrian accident lawyers typically charge 33% of the gross recovery we achieve without litigation (most cases resolve without needing to file a lawsuit), and only if we can get a settlement or verdict. The bottom line is that we can help you regardless of your financial resources.
Consult a Knowledgeable Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in BoulderIf you are coping with the painful and disruptive effects of a pedestrian accident, the compassionate personal injury lawyers at Cook, Bradford & Levy are ready to assist you with protecting your legal right to compensation. Having counseled victims in cities such as Boulder, Denver, Lafayette, Thornton, Aurora, Broomfield, Lakewood, Fort Collins, Greeley, and Breckenridge, our team of legal professionals is armed with substantial experience and prepared to help you fight for what you deserve. To schedule your free consultation, call us now at 303-543-1000, or you can contact us online to get started.