What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident?

Getting hit by a car while walking is a terrifying experience. One moment you’re crossing the street or walking on the sidewalk, and the next, you’re dealing with injuries, medical bills, and confusion about what happens next. The hours and days after a pedestrian accident can feel overwhelming, but knowing what steps to take can protect both your health and your legal rights.

New York City has one of the highest pedestrian accident rates in the country. While pedestrian deaths have declined to historic lows in recent years, with 111 fatalities in 2025 according to the NYC Department of Transportation, over 10,000 pedestrian crashes still occur annually across the five boroughs. Statewide, the New York State Department of Health reports that approximately 15,000 pedestrians are injured by motor vehicles each year, with more than 3,000 requiring hospital admission. These aren’t just numbers. They represent real people whose lives changed in an instant.

If you or someone you love was hit by a vehicle, understanding what to do next makes a real difference in your recovery and any potential claim for compensation.

Call 911 Immediately

Your health comes first, always. Even if you think your injuries are minor, call 911 right away. Tell the dispatcher exactly what happened: that you were a pedestrian hit by a car. Request both police and medical assistance.

Many serious injuries don’t show symptoms immediately. Internal bleeding, brain injuries, and spinal damage can take hours or even days to become apparent. Getting checked out by medical professionals at the scene creates an immediate record of your injuries and ensures you receive the care you need.

Some people worry about ambulance costs and refuse medical transport. Don’t make this mistake. Your health is more important than any bill, and documenting your injuries right after the accident strengthens any future claim you might file.

Get a Police Report

In New York, a police report is one of the most important pieces of evidence after a pedestrian accident. When officers arrive at the scene, give them clear, factual information:

You were walking and got hit by a car
Where you were located (in a crosswalk, on the sidewalk, crossing mid-block, etc.)
What direction you were heading
Any observations about the driver’s behavior

If the driver was speeding, ran a red light, seemed distracted by their phone, or showed other signs of reckless behavior, tell the police. Stick to what you actually saw and experienced. Don’t guess or assume anything you didn’t witness yourself.

Before you leave the scene, ask the responding officer for the report number. You’ll need this to get a copy of the official accident report later, which becomes important evidence for insurance claims and potential lawsuits.

If the police don’t come to the scene, you have another responsibility. New York law requires you to file an MV-104 report with the DMV within 10 days if there was an injury or more than $1,000 in property damage. Missing this deadline can hurt your claim.

Document Everything You Can

If you’re physically able to do so safely, gather as much evidence as possible from the accident scene. The more documentation you have, the stronger your case becomes.

Take photographs of:

The vehicle that hit you, including the license plate
Any visible damage to the car
Your injuries and torn or damaged clothing
The exact location where the accident happened
Traffic signals, crosswalk markings, and street signs
Road conditions, weather, and lighting
Skid marks or debris on the road

Get contact information from anyone who saw what happened. Witness statements can make or break a claim, especially if the driver tries to blame you for the accident. Ask for their names, phone numbers, and email addresses.

If you’re too injured to collect this information yourself, ask a friend, family member, or bystander to help. You can also request this information later from the police officer who responded.

Collect the Driver’s Information

You need the driver’s complete information to file an insurance claim. This includes:

Full name
Address
Phone number
Driver’s license number
Insurance company name and policy number
License plate number
Make, model, and color of the vehicle

If your injuries prevent you from getting this information at the scene, you can obtain it later from the police report. The responding officer will have collected these details as part of their investigation.

Seek Immediate and Ongoing Medical Care

Going to the hospital right after the accident is just the first step. Following up with your doctor and any specialists is just as important for your health and your claim.

Many injuries from pedestrian accidents get worse over time. You might develop:

Concussions or traumatic brain injuries
Whiplash or neck pain
Back and spinal injuries
Broken bones that weren’t initially diagnosed
Torn ligaments or muscle damage
Internal bleeding
Psychological trauma like anxiety or PTSD

Visit your primary care doctor within a few days of the accident, even if the emergency room cleared you. Your doctor can order X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, or other tests to check for injuries that didn’t show up right away.

If your doctor refers you to specialists, physical therapy, or mental health counseling, go to every appointment. Insurance companies look for gaps in medical treatment. If you miss appointments or stop going to therapy, they’ll argue that your injuries weren’t that serious.

Keep records of everything:

Medical bills and receipts
Prescriptions and medication costs
Doctor’s notes and test results
Physical therapy reports
Time missed from work
Out-of-pocket expenses related to your injuries

Understand No-Fault Insurance in New York

New York operates under a no-fault insurance system. This means you can receive coverage for medical expenses and lost wages through insurance, even as a pedestrian.

If you own a car, your auto insurance policy likely covers you. If you don’t own a vehicle, you may be covered by:

The driver’s insurance policy
A household member’s auto insurance
Another available policy

No-fault benefits typically cover medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and a portion of lost wages, regardless of who caused the accident. You don’t have to prove the driver was at fault to receive these benefits.

However, no-fault coverage has limits. If your injuries are serious enough, you can step outside the no-fault system and file a lawsuit against the driver for full compensation.

Know When You Can File a Lawsuit

Not every pedestrian accident injury qualifies for a personal injury lawsuit in New York. The law requires you to meet the “serious injury” threshold defined in state statute.

A serious injury includes:

Bone fractures
Significant disfigurement or scarring
Permanent loss of use of a body organ or member
Permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or function
Significant limitation of use of a body function or system
Injuries that prevent you from performing substantially all daily activities for at least 90 of the first 180 days after the accident

If your injuries meet this threshold, you can file a lawsuit to recover:

Medical expenses beyond no-fault limits
All lost income and reduced earning capacity
Pain and suffering
Emotional distress
Future medical care costs
Permanent disability compensation

An experienced pedestrian accident attorney can evaluate your injuries and determine whether you qualify to file a lawsuit.

Who Causes Pedestrian Accidents in New York?

Drivers cause the vast majority of pedestrian accidents by failing to follow traffic laws or driving recklessly. Common scenarios include:

Speeding drivers who can’t stop in time when a pedestrian enters the roadway, even in marked crosswalks. A driver rushing through a residential neighborhood might be going 20 miles over the speed limit and simply can’t brake fast enough when someone steps off the curb.
Distracted drivers who are looking at their phones, adjusting the radio, eating, or doing anything other than watching the road. These drivers often don’t see pedestrians in crosswalks until it’s too late.
Reckless drivers who run red lights or stop signs without checking for people crossing the street. Someone might blow through an intersection at full speed and hit a pedestrian who has the legal right of way.
Drunk or impaired drivers have slowed reaction times and poor judgment. An intoxicated driver might veer onto the sidewalk or fail to see a pedestrian crossing in front of them.
Aggressive drivers making illegal turns at red lights or cutting corners too sharply. These drivers often rush through right turns without looking for people in the crosswalk.

Understanding Who Is Most at Risk

Certain groups of people face higher risks of being injured or killed in pedestrian accidents in New York City. According to the NYC Department of Transportation:

Male pedestrians get hit more often than female pedestrians across all age groups.
Adults over 65 face the highest risk of serious injury or death. Older adults are more vulnerable to severe injuries, may have underlying medical conditions that complicate recovery, and have a higher risk of falls that can cause additional trauma.
Brooklyn residents experience the highest pedestrian fatality rate among all five boroughs.
People walking between 6 p.m. and midnight face increased accident risk. Reduced visibility during evening hours plays a big role in these accidents.

The Most Dangerous Intersections in New York

Data from the NYC Department of Transportation shows that certain intersections see more pedestrian accidents than others. The most dangerous locations include:

In Queens:

Baxter Avenue and Broadway
168th Street and 89th Avenue

In Manhattan:

Park Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
East Houston Street and Broadway

In the Bronx:

Hull Avenue and East Mosholu Parkway North
Valentine Avenue and East 196th Street

In Brooklyn:

Willoughby Street and Lawrence Street
Wyckoff Street and Smith Street

If you regularly walk through any of these intersections, take extra precautions. Stay alert, make eye contact with drivers, and don’t assume vehicles will stop.

How Fault Gets Determined

Figuring out who caused a pedestrian accident involves looking at multiple factors. Investigators and attorneys examine:

Traffic laws and whether both the pedestrian and driver were following them. Running a red light, jaywalking, or failing to yield right of way all impact fault determination.
Right of way rules that dictate who should have yielded in the specific situation. Pedestrians in marked crosswalks with a walk signal generally have the right of way over turning vehicles.
Witness statements from people who saw the accident happen. Independent witnesses provide valuable perspectives that help establish what really occurred.
Surveillance footage from nearby businesses, traffic cameras, or building security systems. Video evidence often clearly shows who had the right of way and what actions led to the collision.
The driver’s speed and reaction time. If a driver was going too fast or took too long to apply the brakes, this suggests negligence.
Weather and visibility conditions at the time of the accident. Rain, fog, or darkness can affect what drivers could reasonably see, though they still have a duty to adjust their driving accordingly.
Evidence of distracted driving like cell phone records, witness observations, or the driver’s own statements about what they were doing when the accident happened.
Intersection design and road hazards that might have contributed to the accident, such as faded crosswalk markings, broken traffic lights, or obstructed sight lines.

New York follows a comparative negligence system. This means fault can be shared between the pedestrian and driver. If you’re found 20 percent at fault for the accident, your compensation gets reduced by 20 percent. This is why having strong evidence and legal representation matters so much.

Protect Yourself from Insurance Company Tactics

Insurance companies exist to make money, and they do this by paying out as little as possible on claims. After a pedestrian accident, you can expect the driver’s insurance company to use various strategies to reduce what they owe you.

Quick settlement offers often come within days of the accident. The adjuster might call while you’re still in the hospital and offer a check to “help with your immediate expenses.” These early offers are almost always far below what your claim is actually worth. Once you accept and sign a release, you can’t come back later for more money, even if your injuries turn out to be worse than you thought.
Blaming the pedestrian is another common tactic. The insurance company will look for any reason to shift responsibility onto you. They might argue you were jaywalking, not paying attention, wearing dark clothing, or somehow contributed to the accident. Even partial blame reduces what they have to pay.
Disputing medical treatment happens frequently. Insurers might claim certain treatments weren’t necessary, that you’re exaggerating your pain, or that your injuries existed before the accident. They’ll scrutinize every medical bill and try to deny coverage for anything they can.
Challenging liability altogether means the insurance company claims their driver did nothing wrong. They might say you darted into traffic, that their driver had a green light, or that you caused the accident entirely.
Lowballing damages involves offering settlements that don’t account for future medical care, permanent disabilities, lost earning capacity, or pain and suffering. They focus only on your current medical bills and maybe a few weeks of lost wages.
Recording statements is a trap. The insurance adjuster will call and ask you to describe what happened. They’re friendly and sympathetic, making it seem like they just want to help process your claim. In reality, they’re looking for anything you say that contradicts other evidence or minimizes your injuries. They’ll use these recorded statements against you later.
Seeking surveillance footage and hiring investigators to find evidence that helps their case is standard practice. While this might seem fair, remember their investigators work for the insurance company, not for you.
Delaying claims processing creates financial pressure. The longer your claim sits, the more desperate you might become for money to pay bills. The insurance company knows this and will drag things out, hoping you’ll accept a low offer just to get something.
Downplaying injuries means the adjuster will suggest your injuries aren’t as bad as you claim. They might point out that you walked away from the scene or that you’re back at work, using these facts to argue you weren’t seriously hurt.
Leveraging comparative negligence comes into play when there’s any argument that you share fault. New York law allows them to reduce your compensation proportionally to your percentage of fault.

Avoid These Common Mistakes

People who get hit by cars often make errors that damage their claims without realizing it. Don’t let these mistakes hurt your case:

Delaying medical treatment makes insurance companies question how badly you were really hurt. If your injuries were serious, they argue, you would have sought care immediately.
Not following your doctor’s treatment plan gives insurers ammunition to deny your claim. If your doctor says to attend physical therapy twice a week and you only go once, they’ll say you’re not actually trying to get better.
Posting on social media about the accident or your injuries can destroy your case. Photos of you at a party, comments about feeling better, or check-ins at the gym all give the insurance company ways to argue you’re not as injured as you claim.
Admitting fault at the scene, even saying “I’m sorry” or “I should have been more careful,” can be used against you later.
Failing to document the scene means losing evidence that could have proven your case. Take photos and get witness information as soon as possible.
Not contacting a lawyer soon enough allows the insurance company to take advantage of you. Many people don’t realize they need legal help until they’ve already made statements or accepted offers that hurt their claims.

Why You Need a Pedestrian Accident Attorney

Dealing with insurance companies, medical bills, and legal paperwork while you’re trying to recover from injuries is too much for most people to handle alone. A pedestrian accident lawyer helps in several important ways:

Investigating your accident thoroughly, including obtaining police reports, medical records, surveillance footage, and witness statements that strengthen your case.
Securing video evidence from businesses, traffic cameras, and other sources before it gets deleted or recorded over.
Working with medical experts who can evaluate your injuries, provide professional opinions about your prognosis, and testify about your need for future care.
Calculating the full value of your claim, including current and future medical expenses, all lost income, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other damages you might not think to include.
Negotiating with insurance companies on your behalf so you don’t have to deal with their pressure tactics and lowball offers.
Protecting you from making statements or signing documents that could harm your claim.
Filing your lawsuit before the deadline expires. In New York, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, if a government vehicle hit you, you might have as little as 90 days to file a notice of claim. Missing these deadlines means losing your right to compensation entirely.
Taking your case to trial if the insurance company won’t offer fair compensation through settlement negotiations.

Important Deadlines You Need to Know

Time limits matter in pedestrian accident cases. Missing a deadline can cost you everything:

The MV-104 report must be filed with the New York DMV within 10 days if police didn’t investigate and there was injury or property damage over $1,000.
Notice of claim for accidents involving government vehicles requires filing within 90 days in most cases. This includes accidents with city buses, sanitation trucks, police vehicles, or any other government-owned vehicle.
No-fault insurance claims typically must be filed within 30 days of the accident to receive benefits.
Personal injury lawsuits must be filed within three years from the accident date under New York’s statute of limitations.

Don’t wait to get legal help. The sooner an attorney starts working on your case, the better your chances of success.

Get Help After Your Pedestrian Accident

Being hit by a car changes everything in an instant. You’re dealing with pain, medical appointments, bills you can’t pay, and time away from work. The driver’s insurance company is calling with offers that sound good but probably aren’t. You’re worried about your future and whether you’ll ever fully recover.

You don’t have to go through this alone. Poltielov Law Firm, PC has helped pedestrians across New York get the compensation they deserve after serious accidents. We know the tactics insurance companies use, and we know how to fight back. Our team handles all the legal work while you focus on healing.

We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay anything unless we recover money for you. Your consultation is free, and you have nothing to lose by calling.

Contact Polotielov Law Firm, PC today at 718-880-2911 to discuss your pedestrian accident case. We’ll review what happened, answer your questions, and explain your legal options. You deserve someone in your corner who will fight for every dollar you’re owed.