Pedestrian Accident Attorney for Los Angeles County and Orange County

A pedestrian accident claim in Los Angeles County or Orange County answers three questions: where you were when the car hit you, what the driver was doing, and which insurance policy will pay. Fred Yadegar represents people struck on foot, and the families of those who did not survive, in both counties. His work begins with the evidence, because the driver’s account is often the only one the insurer has heard.

Where you were crossing

The Vehicle Code requires a driver to yield to a pedestrian crossing in a marked crosswalk, or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection (Veh. Code §21950). An unmarked crosswalk is the extension of the sidewalk across the street at any intersection, whether or not anything is painted on the pavement, and a driver turning through one while a pedestrian is in it is at fault under the statute. The same section says pedestrians must use due care for their own safety, which is the sentence every adjuster relies on. Being outside a crosswalk, or crossing against a signal, does not remove the driver’s duty to keep a lookout; it becomes an argument about percentages.

How shared fault is handled

California applies pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab, 1975). Fault is split between the driver and the pedestrian in whatever proportion the evidence supports, and the pedestrian’s recovery is reduced by their share. A person found forty percent responsible for stepping into the street mid-block still recovers sixty percent of their damages. The percentages are argued from the collision report, the point of impact, the damage to the vehicle, camera footage, and witnesses, which is why the first days matter more than anything that happens later.

Finding a policy that can pay

A pedestrian struck at speed can run up medical costs that exceed the driver’s coverage within the first week. As of January 1, 2025 the state minimum liability limit is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident (Ins. Code §16056, SB 1107), and many drivers carry nothing more. Two sources are checked in every case. The first is the driver’s policy, along with any commercial policy that applies if the driver was working. The second is uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on a policy in your own household (Ins. Code §11580.2). You do not need to have been in a car for it to apply: coverage on your own vehicle, or on a policy held by a relative who lives with you, may respond when the driver has no insurance, not enough of it, or cannot be identified. Most people never think to ask, and no insurer will raise it for you.

Deadlines that apply

A lawsuit for injuries must be filed within two years of the collision (Code Civ. Proc. §335.1). When a public entity is involved, a city bus, a county vehicle, or a claim that an intersection or signal was dangerous, a written government claim must be presented within six months (Gov. Code §911.2) before a lawsuit is possible. Exceptions exist for minors and for some late-discovered injuries, so ask before you assume the two-year rule is yours.

What the claim has to account for

Injuries to a pedestrian tend to be severe: fractures of the legs and pelvis, head and spinal injuries, and internal injuries that appear hours later. Economic damages cover treatment, future medical care, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity; non-economic damages cover pain, disfigurement, and the loss of ordinary life, and California places no cap on either in an ordinary injury case. Where the injury is permanent, the claim is built around future care, which is the subject of our serious injuries page. When a pedestrian is killed, California’s wrongful death statute gives certain surviving family members, including a spouse, domestic partner, or children, a claim of their own (Code Civ. Proc. §377.60).

What to do after being hit

• Go to an emergency room even if you believe you can walk it off; head and internal injuries are not always felt at first.
• Make sure a police report is taken, and get the report number.
• Record the plate, make, model, and color of the vehicle and the direction it went, even partially.
• Ask everyone who stopped for a name and phone number.
• Photograph the crossing, the signals and lighting, and your injuries as they look that day.
• Note the exact time of the collision; camera requests depend on it.
• Do not tell the driver’s insurer that you are fine, and do not give a recorded statement.
• Call Fred so that preservation letters reach nearby businesses and the city while the footage still exists.

How Fred approaches a pedestrian case

Fred Yadegar has been a licensed California attorney since 2006 (State Bar #244184), and he represents pedestrians injured throughout Los Angeles County and Orange County. The approach is the same in every case: secure the footage and the witnesses before they are lost, establish where the impact happened and what the driver was doing, identify each policy that can respond, and present the claim on the basis of what the injuries will cost over time. Pedestrian cases are handled on contingency, with no upfront cost. If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid. If a rideshare vehicle was involved, the coverage rules are different and are explained on Uber or Lyft accidents; for the general collision process, see car accidents.