Were you injured in a pedestrian accident in Defiance, Ohio? The at-fault driver should be held accountable for the collision. An experienced Defiance pedestrian accident lawyer at the Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis Personal Injury Lawyers can help you seek full compensation for what you’ve experienced. Call us today at (419) 765-3039 for a free consultation.
We’ve spent decades building a reputation for aggressive advocacy on behalf of injured Ohioans; we’ve already recovered significant compensation awards for our clients. We’re ready to put that experience to work on your case.
Why Defiance Residents Trust the Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis
In pedestrian accident cases, insurers look for any reason to shift fault onto the person who was hit rather than the driver who hit them. You need a Defiance personal injury lawyer willing to push back and uncover the truth.
Clients throughout Defiance, OH, choose our firm for this effort because:
- We have over 150 years of combined legal experience handling serious personal injury cases.
- We’ve recovered tens of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for clients injured in collisions and other incidents.
- We’ve earned many five-star reviews from clients who trusted us with their recovery.
- We take the time to explain every stage of the process so you always know where your case stands.
- We provide personalized client service and tailored case strategies that maximize your odds of recovering full compensation
- We handle every pedestrian accident case on a contingency fee basis, meaning there’s no cost to you unless we win
Call today to schedule a free case review with a Defiance pedestrian accident attorney.
Ohio’s Rules on Right of Way and Pedestrian Crossing
Ohio law places yielding obligations on both drivers and pedestrians. Under Ohio Revised Code § 4511.46, drivers must yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. At the same time, Ohio Revised Code § 4511.48 requires pedestrians crossing outside of a crosswalk to yield to vehicles on the roadway.
In all cases, a driver still has an ongoing duty to keep a reasonable lookout and avoid a collision whenever possible, regardless of exactly where a pedestrian is crossing.
How Much Is My Pedestrian Accident Case Worth?
No two pedestrian accident cases have the exact same value. How could they? Your damages will be completely unique and different from those of another injured pedestrian. Your injury claim must reflect the value of your distinct damages.
What your case is worth depends entirely on the specific injuries you suffered and how the accident has affected your life, not on some standard formula or online calculator.
Several factors typically shape the value of a claim, including:
- Whether your injuries are permanent or expected to improve over time
- The extent of the medical care you have needed so far, plus what future treatment you will need
- How much work you have missed due to your accident
- Your ability to return to work, whether full-time, part-time, or not at all
- The toll the injury has taken on your relationships and everyday routine
- How much insurance coverage the at-fault driver actually carries
- Whether the insurer is trying to pin some or all of the blame on you
Pedestrian claims often have higher values than a comparable car accident case, but only if the claim is built and presented correctly, with every category of loss fully documented and accounted for.
What Compensation Can a Pedestrian Accident Victim Recover in Ohio?
As an injured pedestrian, you may be entitled to pursue both economic and non-economic damages after a crash caused by someone else’s negligence.
Depending on the facts of your case, this compensation may cover:
- Emergency room care
- Additional hospital stays
- Ongoing physical therapy
- Assistive equipment
- The projected cost of care you’ll need down the road
- Income lost while you were unable to work
- A reduced capacity to earn a living in the future
- Pain that comes with your injuries
- Emotional consequences of the crash
- Activities and hobbies that the injury has taken away from you
When a pedestrian accident results in death, Ohio law allows surviving family members to bring a wrongful death claim to address their own losses occasioned by the death. These claims provide compensation for funeral expenses, lost financial support, and the loss of the deceased’s companionship and guidance, among other things.
Punitive damages may also be used to punish the defendant for reckless driving, such as operating while under the influence.
What Does It Cost to Hire a Pedestrian Accident Attorney?
Pedestrian accident cases typically feature a contingency fee, where you pay no retainer and no hourly rate, and nothing comes due upfront. Instead, your attorney takes a fee directly from the compensation recovered on your behalf. If the case doesn’t produce a recovery, you owe nothing for the legal work performed.
This structure helps pedestrians avoid additional expenses as they face mounting medical bills and lost income. Contingency fees remove that barrier, letting you pursue full compensation without taking on additional financial risk during recovery.
Attorneys who handle these cases also typically advance the costs of building your claim, including expenses for medical record retrieval, expert consultations, and investigation, and recoup those costs only from the final settlement or verdict.
The Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis offers contingency fee representation and a free consultation for every pedestrian accident case.
Can I Still Recover Compensation if the Insurer Blames Me?
Ohio follows a modified comparative negligence rule under Ohio Revised Code § 2315.33. You can potentially still recover damages as long as you’re found 50% or less at fault for the accident. If a jury determines you’re 51% or more responsible, Ohio law may bar your recovery.
When you share only some responsibility, your compensation will typically be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if your total damages come to $150,000 and you’re found 20% at fault, your recovery would be reduced to $120,000.
Insurance companies frequently try to inflate a pedestrian’s share of blame, even when such allegations are entirely irrelevant. An experienced attorney can challenge shared fault games and protect your right to full compensation.
Common Pedestrian Accident Injuries in Defiance
A collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian rarely ends without serious injury, given the enormous size and weight difference involved.
Our firm regularly represents clients who have suffered:
- Skull fractures
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Broken bones
- Traumatic brain injuries and concussions
- Internal bleeding and organ damage
- Crush injuries
- Severe road rash and lacerations
- Facial trauma
- Amputations
Many victims suffer several of these injuries in a single accident. Some suffer wrongful death. An injury claim provides the best path for recovering compensation for such physical trauma.
What Causes Pedestrian Accidents in Defiance?
Most pedestrian accidents are the fault of a driver who failed to exercise reasonable care around someone traveling on foot. These crashes are largely preventable, and identifying the specific cause can help you determine whether multiple parties share fault for the incident.
Common causes of pedestrian accidents include:
- Distracted driving. A distracted driver may not be watching the road and may not see a pedestrian until it’s too late to stop.
- Failure to yield. Ohio law requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks under certain circumstances, yet many drivers fail to do so.
- Speeding. Higher speeds reduce a driver’s reaction time and increase the severity of any resulting impact with pedestrians.
- Impaired driving. Alcohol and drugs impair judgment and slow reaction time, elevating the odds of a collision with a pedestrian.
- Failure to see pedestrians at night. Many nighttime pedestrian accidents result from a driver failing to adjust for reduced visibility.
- Backing-up accidents. Parking lots and driveways are common sites for pedestrian injuries when drivers fail to check behind them before reversing.
An experienced attorney can help you determine the cause(s) of your accident and hold the insurer/court responsible for the incident.
How Long Do I Have to File a Pedestrian Accident Lawsuit in Ohio?
Most injured pedestrians have two years from the date of their accident to file a personal injury lawsuit under Ohio Revised Code § 2305.10. The same two-year deadline typically applies to wrongful death claims.
If you miss the deadline, you will likely lose your right to pursue compensation through the courts, so it’s important to speak with an attorney well before that deadline approaches.
Contact a Defiance Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Today
Being hit by a vehicle can leave you facing much suffering and a long road to physical and financial recovery. You deserve a legal team that will fight to hold the responsible driver accountable for what you’ve gone through. You deserve advocates who will fight for your future.
The Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis has over a century of combined experience helping clients across Ohio. Let us put that experience and those results behind your case. Contact us today for a free consultation with a Defiance pedestrian accident attorney.
