Pedestrian Accident Attorney in Winter Park

There are many laws in Florida that are intended to protect pedestrians from injury, but the unfortunate reality is that no law will ever guarantee safety. Pedestrians are always at risk of injury from bicyclists, cars, truck drivers, and possible road hazards due to construction or degradation of public areas, to name a few of the hazards that a pedestrian is exposed to each day in Winter Park. While we are unable to provide you with protection from the accident itself, the team at Abercrombie, P.A. is available today to help you get the financial compensation that you deserve if you are injured by someone else.

If you have been injured in an accident as a pedestrian, contact us today to schedule an initial consultation so that we can discuss your options in detail. You are likely to be entitled to damages that exceed the initial offer you will be given by the insurance company, and it is important that you know your rights. Working with an insurance company on your own, especially as you are trying to recover from serious injuries, can be an overwhelming process: hire an attorney to guide you through each step.

Read more below to learn about some of the factors that are rightfully considered when we determine the real amount you are owed following a pedestrian accident, and contact us immediately to start the process of getting what you rightfully deserve.

Determining Our Legal Strategy Following an Accident

Were you hit by a car, truck, or another kind of vehicle? Was the vehicle registered and insured? Were you were injured due to incomplete or faulty construction on a sidewalk or pedestrian overpass? Each of these questions changes the types of damages, amount of damages, and the nature of your case significantly.

Hit By Car

If you were struck by a driver, we will then explore additional details – Were they under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Were they using their phone while driving? What, if any, traffic laws did they violate before they hit you with their vehicle? In these cases, it is likely that you will deal with an insurance company first, meaning that we will work to negotiate with their legal team to reach a fair, comprehensive settlement for your accident. If we are unable to reach an agreement, our next option will be litigation.

Injured Due to Construction Work or Improper Maintenance

If you were injured on a public pedestrian walkway due to improper maintenance, incomplete construction, an improperly signed workplace, or any other number of ways that a pedestrian could be injured in this situation, then we will likely be dealing with the state directly, or a surety company representing the state or the state-hired contractor. We may first need to deal with a surety company that has indemnified the construction company, or perhaps with the municipal agency who is responsible for the proper upkeep of all pedestrian access areas.

In the event that you were injured on a private walkway, we will need to take a different approach, again likely dealing with the insurance company, not a surety company.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pedestrian Accidents in Winter Park

How Much Can I Collect After a Pedestrian Accident?

There are a lot of factors that go into determining the final amount we believe you are owed after being injured as a pedestrian, and there is a wide variety of situations that could lead to your injury. Since no two accidents are alike, it is important to take advantage of an initial consultation with a personal injury attorney in Winter Park, so that you are given full insight into how your accidents fit into the greater legal world and how they should be treated in a court of law. We will consider the following, and more:

Medical bills
Lost wages
Pain and suffering
Recovery expenses
Changes in quality of life
Decreased enjoyment
Diminished mobility

There are many other things that will go into our calculations, each of which will contribute to the final amount we determine is fair and comprehensive. Once we have determined the appropriate amount of money for both your economic and non-economic damages, we will be able to use these figures during negotiations with the insurance company

How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help?

As you can see from these quick examples above, there is an infinite number of ways that you can be injured as a pedestrian in Florida. Each of the above factors will create a slightly (or drastically) different case depending on each thing we identify as relevant and important. This means that in addition to referencing previous cases to illustrate your own situation, we will also be custom-tailoring your case to the exact situation you are in.

Who is at fault for my pedestrian accident?

In order to clearly determine who is at fault after any sort of accident, there are many possible courses of action that we can take depending on the context of the situation. For instance, in some cases, the driver may either freely admit that they were at fault, or may be arrested or cited by the police for the behavior that they were engaging in leading to the crash.

In other cases, it is not as simple as this. When the fault is unclear, or the insurance company is unwilling to agree on the proportions of comparative fault that will be assigned, we will need to leverage additional options such as security cameras, eyewitness accounts, sworn testimonies, and more.

Should I settle with the insurance company without negotiations?

One of the most important things to keep in mind as you are preparing to submit a claim and go through a claims investigation is that the insurance company, from the moment they are aware of their client’s liability, will take every step possible to limit your settlement amount. This may be by using the “fine print” in their insurance policy, attempting to assign additional blame to you, or by simply avoiding as many specific damages as possible.

The first offer that the insurance will make is rarely, if ever, remotely near what you are actually entitled to. The insurance company relies on the fact that you are likely stressed about your mounting medical bills and lost wages, and will accept a lump sum immediately in hopes of alleviating this pressure. When you are working with a lawyer, you will have the support that you deserve in order to use this offer as the starting point of negotiations, and not just the best chance you will get.

Contact Us Today

Contact us today to schedule your free consultation, where you will be able to speak directly with an experienced legal professional about your situation. At Abercrombie, P.A., we strongly suggest contacting our firm BEFORE you make contact with the insurance company so that you can initiate your claim with as much information as possible, and to ensure that you are able to protect yourself as the insurance company attempts to limit your claim by any means necessary.

The sooner you contact us, the sooner we will be able to take on the enormous pressure that you are likely feeling at this time. When an attorney is handling this process, you can focus on recovering from your injuries without the negative impacts that stress has on physical recovery.

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Other Locations We Serve

Winter Haven