While Santa Barbara features some of the scenic streets, especially in the downtown areas of the State Street Promenade or beachside strolls, pedestrians are always at risk of being hit at a crosswalk by a careless driver. At Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys, we get injured pedestrian accident victims immediate medical care and long-term compensation for their injuries.
Many injured victims avoid taking legal action because they think they’ll only be adding more stress to their lives. But at Quirk, we make the process quick and easy. Our firm will manage your medical treatment and negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf to ensure you receive compensation for the full extent of your damages.
Don’t leave your life up to chance after a pedestrian accident; contact Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys today for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
Do I Need a Lawyer for a Pedestrian Accident?
If a pedestrian accident injury has caused you to seek medical treatment or altered your daily life in any way, our law firm can help. We provide the Santa Barbara community with immediate medical resources and legal representation focused on quick results. Pedestrian accidents in Santa Barbara are more common than you might think with many crowded coastal intersection along Cabrillo Boulevard.
Pedestrian accident victims often hesitate to take legal action because they do not want to sue another person. At Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys, we never target individuals liable for your injuries, only the insurance company that represents them. So, you don’t have to worry about the impact a lawsuit may have on another member of the community or their family.
With our legal representation, we ensure you are compensated for the following damages:
- Medical and hospital bills
- Property damages
- Occupational and physical therapy
- Lost earnings and wages
- Lost career growth such as raises and promotions
- Property damage
- Lost future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident
A pedestrian accident can be life-altering. If you’re involved in a traumatic accident, it can be tough to think straight and know what you’re supposed to do next. We’ve provided you with the following steps to not only protect your right to compensation, but to begin building a strong case:
- Seek medical attention immediately: Even if your injuries seem minor (which is unlikely in a car accident), they can manifest into something much worse weeks later. So, it is recommended to check in with a doctor to make sure everything is okay.
- Call the Police: Failing to alert the police does not help your case, especially if the case comes down to your word over the car driver. A police officer will file an accident report and may even assign blame based on their collision assessment. A police report is critical evidence in any claim and will play a key role in ensuring you are fully compensated.
- Gather Evidence: You should document the accident as thoroughly as possible. Take pictures of your injuries, skid marks on the road, and street signs or landmarks. Take a video of yourself recounting the accident while it is still fresh in your mind. And if there are any eyewitnesses, be sure to get their names and numbers as they can testify on your behalf or provide a statement to corroborate your story.
- Collect Information: Exchange insurance information with the driver, and be sure to get their name, phone number, and contact information.
- Contact Quirk Accident & Injury Associates: Our firm is standing by to help car accident victims physically and financially recover quickly. Call, text, or email. Our door is always open, and we’d love to help you through this difficult time.
How to Prepare for Your First Meeting With a Personal Injury Lawyer
Most personal injury lawyers offer free initial consultations. During an initial consultation, you are under no obligation to hire the attorney or pay them a fee for their services. In the same breath, an attorney is under no obligation to represent you in your personal injury case. Before your first meeting with a potential lawyer, you should be prepared. You can present your case to a lawyer in a professional manner by:
- Jotting down the key points in your case to share with them, or give them a written copy
- Bring the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of everyone connected with the case
- Bring all papers related to the case as they might be helpful for the lawyer to review
- Prepare questions for the lawyer such as:
- Have they handled similar cases to yours?
- Did they settle or go to trial?
- How many clients have they represented in court?
- How many trial cases have they won?
The Importance of Medical Evidence in a California Personal Injury Claim
Your medical records will provide crucial evidence as to the extent of your injuries, the treatment required, and the overall impact your injury has had on your life. For this reason, it is important to seek medical treatment immediately after an accident, even if you do not believe you were injured. The positive impact of medical evidence in your personal injury case can be lessened if you delay medical treatment. A delay in medical treatment will give the insurance company reason to believe your injuries were not that serious and your life was minimally impacted by any pain you were experiencing.
Medical evidence plays an important role in personal injury claims by:
- Showing evidence of real injuries: medical evidence such as an MRI, X-ray, or doctor’s diagnosis will demonstrate you were injured as a result of an accident. This will make it hard for the insurance company to dispute or minimize your claim.
- Demonstrating Causation: medical evidence can prove fault by detailing the nature of your injury, the severity, and the timeline in which the injury occurred. Medical evidence will make it easier for an insurance adjuster, a judge, or a jury to understand how much medical treatment and the extent of your pain and suffering after an injury.
- Calculating Damages: medical evidence can include bills from hospital stays, doctor’s visits, surgical procedures, and other treatments from medical specialists. Medical damages are a large part of your economic damages and can be calculated based on current and future treatment required by your personal injury.
- Establishing Continued Care: if your personal injury requires continued care, then your long-term care diagnosis will establish that your injury was severe and has done long-lasting damage to your life with the potential for permanent disability.
Is Jaywalking Illegal in Santa Barbara?
Jaywalking in Santa Barbara, and the state of California, is illegal. However, it is not a legally defined offense within California’s written statutes. But as of 2023, police are no longer permitted to stop pedestrians and issue citations for jaywalking unless the person jaywalking is creating a hazard, according to Pacific Coast Business Times.
Jaywalking is mostly a common term used to describe ways pedestrians cross the street that may be against the law. Jaywalking is often considered:
- Crossing the street when there is no crosswalk
- Crossing the street outside of a crosswalk
- Crossing the street where there isn’t an intersection
- Ignoring traffic signs instructing pedestrians not to cross
- Ignoring street lights that say “Don’t Walk”
So, while jaywalking is not a legally defined term, it can be seen as a careless act that could potentially hurt your case if you’re involved in a pedestrian accident.
Do Pedestrians Have the Right-of-Way Outside of Crosswalks in Santa Barbara?
Pedestrian’s right-of-way outside of crosswalks is covered by California Vehicle Code 21954. This statute says all pedestrians on roadways at any point other than within marked crosswalks or unmarked crosswalks must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles.
According to California Vehicle Code 275, crosswalks exist when boundary lines of sidewalks connect at intersections. The statute further defines crosswalks as:
“That portion of a roadway included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of sidewalks at intersections where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles, except the prolongation of such lines from an alley across a street.
Any portion of a roadway distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, there shall not be a crosswalk where local authorities have placed signs indicating no crossing.”
So, if a pedestrian is hit outside of a crosswalk, they can be partially at fault for their injuries, depending on the situation. However, in the state of California, even if you were at fault for your injuries, you are still entitled to compensation through Comparative Negligence.
Comparative Negligence in a Santa Barbara Pedestrian Accident
In California, fault is determined by a “comparative negligence” system. Comparative negligence allows an injured party who shares fault for their injuries to receive compensation, a legal action covered by the Comparative Negligence Law, which states:
“Under the pure comparative negligence rule, the state allows the plaintiff to claim damages for the 1% they are not at fault even when they are 99% at fault.”
In most cases, drivers are the at-fault party in pedestrian accidents; however, there can be exceptions. Contrary to popular belief, pedestrians do not always have the right-of-way. Let’s say you’re in a hurry to get something to eat and you need to cross Carrillo Street in downtown Santa Barbara. So, you attempt to run across the crosswalk when the crossing light is indicating you not to walk. You’re struck by a vehicle, who is speeding. In this case, you can be assigned a percentage of the fault for crossing the street when you were not supposed to.
In this hypothetical scenario, you could be found by a jury to be at 40% fault for your injury. This would leave the driver with 60% of the fault for not being more aware of a person in the street and for driving the speed limit. So, if the final verdict rewards the injured pedestrian with $200,000, they will get $120,000 because their compensation will be reduced by the 40% they were found at fault.
Contact a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Santa Barbara
If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident in Santa Barbara, the Pedestrian Accident Attorneys at Quirk are standing by to help you get the compensation you need. We understand the enormous medical costs associated with vehicle accidents and will aggressively pursue a settlement to match the full extent of your damages, even if you were at fault for your injuries. If a settlement cannot be reached, then our firm will represent you in court and advocate on your behalf.
Contact Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys today for a free, confidential consultation. Our firm operates on a contingency basis, so you will not have to pay a cent unless we win your case.