Crosswalk Accident Lawyer: Protecting Your Rights After a Pedestrian Injury in Texas
A crosswalk is supposed to be a sanctuary. In the chaotic landscape of Texas traffic, those painted white lines represent a zone of trust, a mutual agreement between pedestrians and motorists that safety is paramount. When you step off the curb, you’re trusting in a basic promise that drivers will keep their eyes on the road and respect your safety. When that trust is shattered by someone staring at their phone or an intersection that was never properly maintained, your whole world gets turned upside down, leaving you to deal with a mountain of medical bills and the stress of not knowing what your future looks like.
At Parker Law Firm, we understand that a crosswalk accident is more than just a legal case; it is a profound violation of your safety. When the world feels overwhelming, you need a protector. We view our clients as family, not file numbers. Led by Brad Parker, who is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law, a distinction held by less than 2% of Texas attorneys, we provide the elite advocacy necessary to shield you from those who wish to minimize your suffering.
Understanding Crosswalk Accidents and Liability
To the untrained eye, a pedestrian accident might seem straightforward: a car hit a person, so the driver is at fault. However, under Texas law, the reality is often far more complex. To truly protect your future, we must look beyond the surface and identify every party that contributed to the accident. A pedestrian accident lawyer knows that while the driver is the most obvious culprit, they may not be the only one responsible for your injuries.
What qualifies as a crosswalk accident?
In Texas, crosswalks can be marked or unmarked, existing at any intersection where streets meet at right angles. An incident qualifies as a crosswalk accident when a pedestrian’s right-of-way is violated. This often occurs when a driver fails to yield, but it also encompasses situations where the crosswalk itself was dangerous due to external factors. Texas laws, including the Lisa Torry Smith Act passed in 2021, have clarified the “stop and yield” duties of drivers to address rising accident rates. Proving that an event qualifies as a legally actionable accident requires a deep understanding of the Texas Transportation Code.
Identifying liable parties
The web of responsibility often extends beyond the person behind the wheel. If the person driving was maneuvering a commercial vehicle, their employer might share liability. If the brakes failed, a manufacturer or maintenance company could be at fault. We do our research to ensure every responsible party is identified, maximizing the resources available for your recovery.
Premises liability in crosswalk incidents
One of the most overlooked aspects of these accidents is the condition of the property itself. If your accident occurred on private property, such as a shopping center parking lot, the property owner’s responsible for keeping the environment safe. Poor lighting, faded markings, or overgrown landscaping that blocks a driver’s view can turn a crosswalk into a trap. In these cases, a premises liability lawyer can argue that the environment was inherently dangerous, holding property managers to account.
Key Legal Concepts in Crosswalk Claims
Navigating a claim without a guide can feel like walking through a minefield. Insurance companies use adjusters and lawyers to deconstruct your claim and minimize their payout. We anchor your case in established legal doctrines to fight back.
Negligence and the duty of care
The foundation of your claim is negligence. In the eyes of the law, every driver has a ‘duty of care’, which is really just a fancy way of saying we’re all responsible for acting reasonably to prevent hurting someone else by obeying speed limits and yielding the right of way. When a driver chooses to check a text or roll through a stop sign, they breach that duty. We meticulously document this failure using police reports and witness testimony.
Causation and damages
Proving negligence is only half the battle; we must also prove causation. We demonstrate a direct link between the driver’s actions and the specific injuries you suffered. We then look at the full scope of your damages. In the law in Texas, you have every right to step forward and ask to be made whole for the things you’ve lost, including medical expenses, lost wages, and the profound impact of pain and suffering. We build a comprehensive picture of how the accident has altered your life to ensure your settlement reflects the true cost of your recovery.
How to Prove a Crosswalk Negligence Claim
When that sense of safety in a crosswalk is shattered, the law unfairly puts the weight on the victim to prove exactly what happened, even though they are the one who got hurt. We take this weight off your shoulders. We scrutinize the physical environment, checking if signage was compliant with safety standards or if street lighting was adequate. When a crosswalk signal isn’t working right, it’s more than just a technical glitch; it means the people in charge of keeping that intersection safe didn’t do their job, and they can be held accountable for that failure.”
Building a fortress of evidence
A police report is just the starting point. We work to secure surveillance footage, track down eyewitnesses, and document physical evidence like skid marks. We also encourage clients to keep a diary of their recovery to humanize the clinical details of medical records.
The role of experts
To fight for the compensation you deserve, we often call upon a network of respected experts. Accident reconstructionists can create digital simulations of the crash, while civil engineers can testify regarding defective intersection designs. These experts provide the technical authority needed to dismantle the defense’s arguments.
Statute of Limitations and Timelines
The legal clock begins ticking the moment the accident occurs. Texas law is unforgiving to those who wait too long, and missing a deadline can mean the permanent loss of your right to seek justice.
- The Two-Year Window: In most cases, the law gives you a strict two-year window from the day of the accident to file a lawsuit. Once those two years run out, your right to seek justice is gone.
- Government Entities: If a city-owned vehicle is involved, notice requirements are much shorter, sometimes as little as 90 days.
- Claims vs. Lawsuits: Filing an insurance claim does not stop the statute of limitations clock. We drive the process forward to ensure your rights are preserved well before any deadlines pass.
Damages You May Recover
While no amount of money can undo the trauma of being struck by a vehicle, financial compensation provides the resources needed to rebuild.
- Economic Losses: This covers every financial hit, from ambulance fees and surgeries to lost income and future earning capacity.
- Non-Economic Damages: We fight for the real human cost, the physical pain you’ve endured, the mental stress that follows a trauma, and those moments of daily life you can’t enjoy anymore because of someone else’s mistake. Texas generally does not place caps on these damages in standard negligence cases against private individuals.
- Comparative Negligence: Texas follows “proportionate responsibility.” If you are found partially at fault, your damages are reduced by that percentage. If you are more than 50% responsible, you are barred from recovery. We act as your shield against insurance tactics designed to pin the blame on you.
Practical Steps Following an Injury
What you do in those first few minutes and days after an accident can make all the difference in the world when it comes to the strength of your legal case later on.
- Document the Scene: take photos of the car, the paint on the crosswalk, and anything that might have blocked the driver’s view, like overgrown bushes or construction signs.
- Consult an Attorney: Do not give a recorded statement to an insurance company alone. At Parker Law Firm, we offer a free consultation. Brad Parker’s board certification serves as a mark of excellence, signaling to insurers that you are represented by a serious trial lawyer.
- Initiate Your Claim: The moment you bring us on board, we step in and take over all the back-and-forth with the insurance companies, so you can stop worrying and focus on getting better. Our “No Fee Unless We Win” structure means you can pursue justice without upfront financial risk.
Conclusion
A crosswalk accident shatters the contract of safety we all rely on. But you do not have to fight this battle alone. At Parker Law Firm, we step into the chaos to restore order, using our expertise to shield you from unfair tactics and secure the resources you need to heal.
If you or a loved one has been injured, the time to act is now. Let us take the weight of the legal process off your shoulders. Contact us today for a free consultation and let our family fight for yours.
