A Compassionate Decatur Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Fights for Your Best Future
When a motorized vehicle collides with a pedestrian, it’s not hard to understand why the injuries are often so horrific. Pedestrians have no protection from the impact of the vehicle or its subsequent impact with the pavement. These types of accidents often prove to be fatal. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports that pedestrian deaths have increased by 77% in the past 15 years.
Meanwhile, the drivers of vehicles involved in pedestrian collisions may not even be aware they’ve hit someone. The drivers and others in the vehicle are unlikely to suffer any injuries whatsoever.
State and local laws in the Decatur area require motorists to yield to pedestrians in many situations. A Decatur pedestrian accident lawyer understands that these laws are often disregarded. Moreover, pedestrians who are injured frequently get taken advantage of by insurance companies that deprive them of the resources they need to rebuild their lives.
At Michael M. Day Law Firm, we recognize the grossly unfair nature of pedestrian accidents, and that’s why we work diligently to secure justice for victims. We know how to stand up to insurance companies and override the tactics they try to use to prevent victims from receiving the compensation they deserve.
Trends Point to the Causes of Pedestrian Accidents
According to the Governors’ Highway Association, enforcement of traffic rules has declined substantially since 2020. This has enabled drivers of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other vehicles to develop risky habits such as speeding, driving while impaired, and ignoring traffic signals. These driving practices are dangerous for everyone on the road, but they are particularly hazardous for unprotected pedestrians.
Many roads in Decatur and the greater Atlanta area are designed to facilitate the fast movement of vehicles rather than provide protection to slower-moving pedestrians and bicyclists. Critical infrastructure, such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and lighting, is often absent. And the vehicles popular with drivers in the Decatur area are increasingly bigger and heavier, making it harder for drivers to stop and easier for them to ignore pedestrians.
These trends indicate that traffic fatalities are likely to continue to increase in the future. It is vital for pedestrians to be alert and know how to enforce their rights if they are injured due to a negligent driver.
Severe Injuries Commonly Resulting from Pedestrian Accidents
Unfortunately, at Michael M. Day Law Firm, we know that the injuries from pedestrian accidents often lead to life-changing consequences. Victims frequently suffer from multiple injuries at once, and the level of damage is severe. Frequently, accident victims are unable to understand and enforce their legal rights, and insurance companies take advantage of this situation. Our team works with family members to protect the rights of the accident victim and to investigate to build the best case to establish liability and obtain full damages.
An experienced Decatur pedestrian accident lawyer can help accident victims receive full compensation to meet their needs after injuries such as:
- Damage to internal organs
- Spinal injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Broken and crushed bones
- Amputations
- Lacerations and road burns
- Torn ligaments
Many injuries lead to permanent disabilities and disfiguring scars. It is important for accident victims to receive compensation to provide for future needs and the long-term consequences of their injuries. All too often, pedestrian accident victims accept settlement offers from insurance companies without consulting a pedestrian accident lawyer in Decatur who can calculate the full cost of future needs and the value of intangible losses such as emotional anguish. They end up settling for an amount that is far less than they need, and they are unable to recover additional compensation later when they realize the true extent of their losses.
Once you accept a settlement, you have no more rights. You only get one chance, so it makes sense to work with an experienced professional who knows how to make sure that one chance pays off.
Pedestrian Accident Victims May Be Eligible for Many Types of Compensation
People injured in pedestrian accidents and their families often do not realize that they may be eligible for many different types of compensation after the accident. The civil legal system is designed to determine who is at fault for causing injuries and other damage, and then to require the responsible party to make things right to the greatest extent possible.
If someone hit your car while it was parked, for instance, a court would require that person to pay for repairs, and that would eventually restore you to the condition you were in before the accident. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy to remedy the situation when the damage is done to a human being rather than a vehicle. It is not always possible to repair the damage, and you cannot simply replace a damaged body with a new one.
The only remedy that can be provided is money to offset the various effects of the accident and resulting injuries. Accident victims generally receive compensation in specific amounts for each type of loss they suffer.
Economic Losses from Pedestrian Accidents
The easiest losses to calculate are the economic losses that have already occurred. This includes costs for:
- Emergency medical care and transportation
- Bills from doctors
- Medications
- Medical equipment
- Wages lost due to time missed from work
Economic losses have a direct monetary value. However, it is crucial to remember that when calculating economic losses, you must also account for future losses. These can be a little more challenging to calculate, so it is important to ensure that you work with a knowledgeable Decatur pedestrian accident lawyer who understands how to account for future needs accurately.
For instance, experienced injury attorneys know that some types of injuries are more likely to heal, while others often worsen over time and require extensive medical treatment. Some injuries also have a greater likelihood of reducing your future earning capacity, depending on your employment history. It is essential to consider all relevant facts to calculate a fair value for your economic losses.
Intangible Losses from Pedestrian Accidents
The biggest impacts of injuries in pedestrian accidents often involve factors that don’t have a direct economic value. Pain is a good example. If you are suffering from constant back pain that prevents you from sitting, standing, or lying down comfortably, you might feel like you’d gladly pay every dollar in your bank account to experience a few hours of relief from that constant agony.
Intangible effects of injuries can have a tremendous impact on the quality of your life, and you deserve compensation for those effects when they were caused by someone else’s negligence. Examples of intangible losses include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life and favorite activities
- Inconvenience
- Loss of consortium
For instance, if you loved to take walks every morning and now you can’t walk more than a few steps without pain, you’ve lost the ability to enjoy that favorite activity indefinitely, possibly forever. In the future, your injuries might prevent you from playing with your grandchildren or even caring for yourself. What price can you put on the loss of impudence or inability to enjoy time with your loved ones?
When a Decatur pedestrian accident lawyer understands how to properly value each of these losses and how to convey the value to the insurance company or the court, an accident victim can receive substantially more compensation for intangible losses than for tangible, economic losses.
Punitive Damages
In some cases, if the person who caused the accident was acting with reckless disregard for your safety or deliberately trying to cause harm, your attorney may be able to persuade the court to award additional damages known as punitive damages. These amounts are above and beyond the amounts you receive as compensation. Punitive damages are levied to punish extremely wrongful conduct, such as drunk driving. They send a message to others that the consequences of wrongful behavior can be extremely costly.
You Need to Prove Liability Even When Your Injuries are Catastrophic
One of the most painful facts to face after a pedestrian accident is that the victim is not automatically entitled to compensation for their injuries, even when those injuries lead to permanent disabilities or even wrongful death. It is necessary to gather evidence that can be used to show how someone’s irresponsible actions caused the accident. This is one reason it can be so helpful to start working with a pedestrian accident lawyer in Decatur right after an accident. The legal team can investigate and develop the best possible case for legal and financial recovery while the accident victim and family focus on physical, mental, and emotional recovery.
An insurance company may offer a settlement right away and claim that you don’t need an attorney because you won’t need to prove liability. Just remember that insurance companies are trying to keep their profits up by paying as little as possible. Settlements offered right after an accident are usually far less than the accident claim is actually worth. An experienced attorney can calculate the value of your claim so that you can evaluate the adequacy of settlement offers or determine that you should negotiate for more.
Michael M. Day Works to Secure Maximum Compensation After Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian accidents have life-changing consequences. Unfortunately, injuries can be so severe that they lead to an untimely death. While the team at Michael M. Day Law Firm cannot restore lost health, we can work effectively to ensure that accident victims and their families receive full compensation for all losses. The sense of justice we can provide often helps achieve closure and enables families to move forward with confidence. If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a pedestrian accident, call us today at 404-480-4284 or contact us online to schedule a free case evaluation and consultation. There’s no obligation, and you owe us nothing until we recover for you. Learn more about the ways we can help.