St. Petersburg Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

St. Petersburg has a rich pedestrian infrastructure that makes it easy for many people to get around the area on foot, including convenient sidewalks, plenty of trails through the area, and nature trails where people can leave their homes behind and get exercise in the great outdoors.

That fantastic infrastructure, however, relies on the care of area drivers to keep pedestrians safe. When drivers fail to exercise adequate care, pedestrian accidents occur, leaving people with catastrophic injuries.

If you suffered injuries in a pedestrian accident due to the negligence of another party, you may deserve compensation for your injuries. Our seasoned personal injury attorneys can help you. Contact a St. Petersburg pedestrian accident lawyer for your free consultation.

Perenich Law Injury Attorneys: Quality Legal Assistance for St. Petersburg Pedestrian Accident Victims

When you suffer severe injuries in a pedestrian accident due to the negligence of another party, you need a seasoned St. Petersburg pedestrian accident attorney to help protect your rights and guide you through the personal injury claim process.

At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we have a strong commitment to providing the victims of severe accidents with the support they need to move forward with their lives, from dealing with the insurance company to recovering the compensation they may deserve.

At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we have successfully helped several pedestrian accident victims recover compensation for their injuries, including $2,150,000 in a wrongful death settlement to the family of a boy who died due to poor pedestrian walkway maintenance and $700,000 for the victim of a pedestrian accident who suffered permanent injuries because of a driver’s negligence.

Past results cannot guarantee the results of your pedestrian accident claim, even if you have similar injuries and faced similar circumstances. However, at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we do bring our considerable experience and determination to aid victims who need a voice as they move forward with their claims.

We collect evidence related to your St. Petersburg pedestrian accident.

In many cases, it may take a great deal of evidence to prove exactly what caused your accident and, as a result, who bears liability for your injuries. At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we help our clients locate and put together the evidence related to the accident, whether that means talking to witnesses, investigating the scene of the accident, or looking for video footage that may help identify who bears liability.

We represent you to the insurance company, making it easier for you to avoid traps that could limit your compensation.

Insurance companies know that you may not have a good idea of how much compensation you deserve or what steps you should take after a pedestrian accident to maximize the compensation you can recover.

Often, they fail to act in your best interests, but will instead use strategies like low settlement offers and trying to prove that you may have contributed to the accident to limit the compensation they have to pay. At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we help our clients avoid those potential traps so that they can maximize the compensation they can recover for their injuries.

We help our clients determine how much compensation they really deserve.

Did you know that the insurance company may not offer you a fair settlement for the damages you have faced after a pedestrian accident, even based on the actual terms of the insurance policy?

At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we review the terms of the insurance policy and the financial and non-financial losses you sustained in the pedestrian accident to give you a better look at the compensation you really deserve. Then, our clients often find themselves better prepared to argue for the compensation they really deserve.

Common Injuries You Can File A Claim For

Accidents with vehicles frequently mean severe injuries for pedestrians. Pedestrians have little to no protection against the vehicle that strikes them, the pavement around them, or even obstacles in the area that may contribute to their injuries. As a result, pedestrians often find themselves contending with severe injuries that can impact their lives for a long time to come.

Back and Neck Injuries

Pedestrians often get thrown to the ground or into another object with a great deal of force. That trauma can mean significant injury to the back and neck. In some cases, such as herniated discs, back and neck injuries may mean ongoing pain for the victim. In other cases, such as spinal cord injuries, victims may end up with severely limited mobility. In some cases, those mobility limitations can last for the rest of the victim’s life.

Head Trauma

Dealing with a traumatic brain injury can impact every area of a pedestrian accident victim’s life. Frequently, head trauma occurs as the victim’s head bounces off the pavement after the accident. However, any excessively rough movement of the head can prove traumatic enough to cause severe injury.

Patients with brain injuries may notice that they lose their ability to concentrate or that they have a hard time with short-term memory. Frequently, brain injuries will also interfere with basic emotional regulation, leaving the victim feeling out of control and uncertain. Patients with severe traumatic brain injury may have to deal with the impact of those injuries for the rest of their lives.

Amputations

In severe pedestrian accidents, especially accidents with out of control vehicles or drunk drivers, pedestrians may require limb amputation. After an amputation, the victim may choose to use prosthetics to improve function and appearance. However, prosthetics can prove extremely expensive, and many amputees struggle to regain full mobility with their prosthetics.

Broken Bones

Many people suffer severely broken bones in pedestrian accidents. Some broken bones occur when the victim attempts to break his fall and breaks bones in the hands or arms. Other times, the victim may end up with a broken hip or broken bones in the legs due to getting thrown to the pavement.

Broken bones can mean a long healing time and, in the meantime, substantial limitations. Sometimes, patients with broken bones may require assistance with self-care tasks while recovering, or may not have the ability to go back to work immediately after the accident.

Road Rash/Friction Burns

As victims of pedestrian accidents get dragged across the pavement, they may suffer severe road rash. Road rash, also known as a friction burn, strips away the skin and, in many cases, the flesh beneath. It can result in significant scarring or may lead to a severe risk of infection for the victim, particularly in cases where road rash covers a significant area of the body.

Not only does road rash cause the same level of pain as a burn, which can prove very severe in many cases, it may also lead to ongoing psychological complications due to the scarring involved, especially if scarring occurs on a visible area of the body.

Recovering Compensation Following a Pedestrian Accident in St. Petersburg: How Much to Expect

Following a pedestrian accident in St. Petersburg, many victims want to know how much they should expect when they file a compensation claim. At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we cannot guarantee the compensation that any accident victim will receive. However, our proactive pedestrian accident lawyers in St. Petersburg can help our clients examine the financial losses they faced after their pedestrian accidents to provide them with a better assessment of the compensation they should expect.

Analyzing Medical Bills

In many personal injury cases, including pedestrian accidents, knowing how much you have spent on medical care for your injuries can provide a vital foundation for a personal injury claim. To calculate your medical costs, add up your medical bills and what you spent on treatment.

Make sure to include:

• Emergency medical transport, usually by ambulance
• Emergency room or urgent care bills
• The cost of remaining in the hospital while treating your injuries
• The cost of procedures to treat your injuries
• Durable medical equipment
• In-home care
• Physical and/or occupational therapy

In addition, talk to your dedicated St. Petersburg pedestrian injury lawyer about any expenses for therapy or other psychological challenges related to the accident, since you may have the right to pursue compensation for those losses.

Evaluating Your Lost Work and Income

Losing time at work after your pedestrian accident may prove just as financially devastating as the medical bills you face from the accident. Frequently, pedestrian accident victims spend a long time out of work, either in the hospital or working to recover from their injuries. The more time you have to miss at work, the more you may notice your ongoing financial stress growing.

Take a look at the hours you missed at work because of your pedestrian accident and your injuries, then work with your lawyer to calculate those lost wages. You may want to include any lost vacation time or time spent on disability after your accident, since all those things can decrease your income.

Calculating Pain and Suffering

Many pedestrian accident injuries cause substantial pain and suffering, including long-term limitations that may linger long after the initial accident. To calculate the compensation you can recover for pain and suffering, talk to your attorney about the actual losses you have faced and how they have influenced your life.

Has your injury caused substantial physical pain? Have you had to deal with immense emotional anguish during your recovery? A St. Petersburg pedestrian injury attorney can add those calculations to your pedestrian accident claim and increase the odds that you will recover the full compensation you deserve.

St. Petersburg Pedestrian Accident FAQs

Who Bears Liability for St. Petersburg Pedestrian Accidents?

Does the driver involved in a pedestrian accident always bear liability for the accident? Not always. Sometimes, pedestrian accidents may result from outside factors, like construction that failed to allow adequate room for pedestrians on the sidewalk.

However, in many cases, the driver involved in the accident failed to acknowledge pedestrians’ right of way, drove while distracted and failed to notice the presence of the pedestrian altogether, or committed a reckless or dangerous act that increased the risk of a pedestrian accident or the severity of the pedestrian’s injuries.

A full investigation of your pedestrian accident may also uncover other parties that share liability for the incident. For example, in cases where poor maintenance on a road caused the accident, a construction company or the city may bear liability. If you suffered injuries because of a damaged vehicle that the driver could not control, in some cases, the vehicle manufacturer may share liability for the accident.

Finally, consider who caused your accident. In cases where a pedestrian accident resulted from the negligent actions of a driver on the clock at the time of the accident, the driver’s employer may share liability for the incident, especially in cases where the employer has dangerous policies that could increase the risk of auto accidents.

Should I Accept a Settlement Offer from the Insurance Company Following a St. Petersburg Pedestrian Accident?

Getting a fast settlement offer after a St. Petersburg pedestrian accident may sound like just what you need: money in hand that you can use to cover your medical bills and other expenses. Unfortunately, that offer may not reflect the full compensation you really deserve.

Talk to an attorney about the settlement offer, your financial losses, and the challenges you faced after your pedestrian accident to get a better idea of the compensation you really deserve before accepting any settlement offer, especially an early offer from the insurance company.

Enlist the Help of a St. Petersburg Pedestrian Accident Attorney

If you suffered injuries in a pedestrian accident, do not attempt to handle your claim on your own. Instead, work with Perenich Law Injury Attorneys to learn more about your rights, including your right to compensation. Contact us today to find out how a St. Petersburg pedestrian accident lawyer can help you.