New York City is a great place to get around on foot, whether for recreation purposes, commuting, or taking in the sights. Sadly, NYC also sees far more than its fair share of pedestrian accidents, as careless motorists fail to pay attention to the road and respect the rights of vulnerable and defenseless pedestrians.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a pedestrian accident in New York City or anywhere in the surrounding metro area, the attorneys at Friedman, Levy, Goldfarb, Green & Bagley, P.C., are here to stand up for your rights.
An experienced New York pedestrian accident lawyer at our firm can help you pursue maximum compensation for your injuries while holding the negligent party or parties accountable to the full extent allowed by the civil court system.
Pedestrian Hazards on NYC Streets
Pedestrian accidents can strike anywhere motor vehicles coexist with people on foot, but some New York City neighborhoods pose more serious risks than others.
In 2023, Borough Park proved the most dangerous place in NYC for pedestrians, with six fatal accidents involving cars, trucks and other motor vehicles occurring in the Brooklyn neighborhood.
The Upper West Side, Flushing, East Harlem and Williamsburg also ranked among the neighborhoods with the highest rates of pedestrian fatalities.
Queens was the most dangerous borough with 31 pedestrian deaths, followed by Brooklyn with 26, Manhattan with 19, the Bronx with 12 and Staten Island with four.
Every fatal accident is a tragedy for those who have lost a loved one due to the negligence of a motorist or other at-fault party. The New York personal injury lawyers at our firm are committed to helping pedestrian accident victims recover fair compensation for the injuries they have suffered.
When pedestrian accidents result in fatal injuries, we handle wrongful death claims on behalf of surviving family members.
Negligence and NYC Pedestrian Accidents
From Vision Zero to Sammy’s Law, New York City officials have taken welcome steps toward making our streets safer for pedestrians. No legislative action can completely remove careless drivers from the equation, however, so we must do what we can to expose and prevent acts of negligence whenever possible.
Some of the most common ways negligence contributes to pedestrian accidents in New York include:
- Distracted driving, including texting, speaking on a phone, eating, operating a GPS system and engaging in other distracting behaviors while behind the wheel
- Failure to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks
- Pulling out of parking spaces without checking for pedestrians behind the vehicle
- Driving while under the influence of alcohol and drugs
- Speeding and reckless driving
If you were injured by a careless motorist, an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer in New York can investigate the circumstances of your accident to determine who was at fault and how their negligence contributed to the injuries you now suffer from.
If texting or multitasking behind the wheel was to blame, a distracted driving lawyer in New York knows how to find important—although often elusive—evidence of this dangerous practice.
Whatever the cause of your accident, our law firm has the experience and resources to conduct the thorough investigations required to build a successful and compelling case on your behalf.
No Protection From Serious Injuries
Unlike drivers and passengers in motor vehicles, pedestrians have nothing to protect them in the event of a collision. The injuries pedestrians suffer are often severe and life changing, including:
- Brain injuries: Head trauma after a pedestrian accident can result in severe headaches, nausea, mood swings, and life-long impairments to memory and cognition.
- Spinal cord injuries: Spinal fractures, herniated discs and other injuries to the back and neck can cause significant mobility impairments. In severe cases, victims may suffer paraplegia, quadriplegia and other forms of paralysis.
- Organ damage: An impact with a moving motor vehicle can inflict severe damage on internal organs such as the liver, kidneys and stomach. Internal bleeding after a pedestrian accident can prove life-threatening, while damaged organs can result in life-long health problems.
- Fractures: Broken bones can have consequences that last far beyond the setting and healing of the bone. Severe fractures to the femur, pelvis, clavicle, scapula, ribs and other bones can result in permanent nerve damage and impaired mobility.
One of the most important responsibilities of a New York pedestrian accident lawyer is to fully and accurately assess the extent of injuries—and the impact they will have on the injury victim’s life—so the eventual settlement and jury award is sufficient to cover present and future needs.
What Does Fair Compensation Look Like?
You may know you are entitled to financial compensation after suffering a pedestrian accident in New York, but what does fair compensation look like?
Under New York personal injury laws, people who suffer serious and life-changing injuries due to the negligence of others are entitled to compensation for:
- Medical bills
- Wage loss
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional trauma
- Diminished quality of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
Only after thoroughly reviewing the circumstances of your case can we give you an idea of what your claim may be worth. Some of our past results for injured pedestrians include:
- $1,500,000 settlement on behalf of a pedestrian struck by a city bus in the Bronx
- $1,250,000 Settlement on behalf of a pedestrian struck by an SUV in Queens
- $600,000 settlement on behalf of a pedestrian struck by a city bus in Brooklyn
We invite you to visit our results page to learn more about the settlements and verdicts we have obtained for injured New Yorkers in the past. Remember, every case is unique, and past results are not indicative of future outcomes.
What we can guarantee is that we will apply the same aggressive and painstaking legal approach in your case that has helped make us a leader in NYC personal injury law.
Were You Partly To Blame? You Still Have Rights.
Pedestrians are not always without fault, even when they are injured by drivers of motor vehicles. Pedestrian negligence has taken new forms in the age of smart phones, as people multi-task while walking—sometimes walking right into a lane of traffic or other hazard.
Even if the accident was partly your fault, you still have important rights. Under New York’s comparative negligence system, injured pedestrians are still entitled to compensation even if their own negligence played a role in the accident.
If you were 20 percent at fault, for instance, your potential award would be reduced by that same amount—20 percent, but you would still be entitled to the remaining 80 percent of the full value of your claim.
An experienced New York pedestrian injury attorney can help you fight for the maximum amount of compensation to which you are entitled.
Were You Injured on or Near a Construction Site?
Drivers are not always to blame when pedestrian accidents occur. In NYC, pedestrians are often injured due to dangerous conditions on construction sites, such as falling debris, scaffold collapses and crane accidents. If this is how you were injured, a knowledgeable New York construction accident lawyer at our firm can investigate the cause of the accident and identify all potential liable parties.
Turn To a Trusted Ally for Injured Pedestrians in New York
Whether you or a loved one was struck in NYC, Westchester County, Rockland County or anywhere in the greater metro area, our lawyers are here to serve as your ally and advocate through all stages of the legal process.
Contact us today to arrange a free initial consultation with an experienced pedestrian injury lawyer in NYC. Don’t delay before contacting an attorney—the statute of limitations for most personal injury claims in New York is three years. When you are ready to discuss your case, we will be here for you.
