Agoura Hills Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

You didn’t have a care in the world while walking to your favorite Agoura Hills coffee shop on a gorgeous spring afternoon. That was, until, a driver who watched one too many “Fast and Furious” films peeled out of a parking lot but lost control and skidded onto the sidewalk, ramming into you. Your kneecap was broken and you have other injuries that likely will keep you off your feet for a while. That doesn’t bode well for your job as a personal trainer, which by the way doesn’t offer the best health insurance coverage.

So now you’re trying to figure out how you’ll pay your medical bills (you’re nowhere near the deductible) while you miss work and scrape the bottom of your savings account. What you should do is call a top Agoura Hills pedestrian accident lawyer at Walch Law, since you’re entitled to compensation when another party is liable for your injuries.

Traffic accidents can be really bad, sometimes resulting in serious injuries, but pedestrians don’t have much protection from cars and are very vulnerable. This means motorists have a particularly high duty of care (legal responsibility to behave in a reasonable manner) when they’re in the presence of pedestrians. Peeling out of the parking lot, knowing that people are walking to and from their vehicles, is far from reasonable and would be considered negligent in terms of filing an accident claim.

The legal elements of a negligence claim (the most common type of injury claim) are as follows:

1. Defendant (at-fault party) owed a duty of care to the plaintiff (injured party)
2. Defendant breached that duty (failed to exercise this duty of care)
3. Plaintiff’s injuries were in fact caused by this breach
4. Defendant’s actions were the proximate cause of the injury, meaning the plaintiff would not have suffered their injuries if not for the breach
5. Plaintiff suffered actual damages, such as bodily injury

Although it’s highly unlikely that your claim will go to trial (very few injury claims do), your Agoura Hills pedestrian accident lawyer will want to ensure that you have a strong case in order to provide leverage for settlement negotiations. Injury lawyers know how to gather evidence, which in your case may include surveillance footage, witness testimony, and expert witness testimony based on physical evidence such as skid marks and the point of impact.

Your injury claim will seek what are called damages for the losses you’ve incurred, such as medical expenses and lost wages from missing work. Keep in mind that the at-fault party’s insurance company may try to entice you to accept an early settlement offer before you’ve had a chance to talk things over with an attorney. Since they’re a business, their motivation is to keep payouts low and close cases quickly; but once you accept a settlement, you won’t be able to claim additional damages that you may have realized only later. Since you have up to two years in which to file your claim, you shouldn’t feel pressured to accept the first offer that comes along.

Injuries often have a ripple effect that impacts seemingly unrelated aspects of your life. You know you can’t do your job as a physical trainer while you’re in a wheelchair and taking pain medication, but that could just be the tip of the iceberg. There’s the possibility that your injuries could limit your ability to continue in your career or at least minimize your future earning potential. Also, will you need help around the house or assistance going to your physical therapy appointments?

Meanwhile, your attorney will be able to point out some damages that you may not have considered as part of your claim. Some of these less-obvious damages may include (but aren’t limited to) the following:

• Disfigurement
• Permanent disability
• Pain and suffering
• Diminished future earning potential
• Loss of consortium (intimacy and affection)

Injuries from pedestrian accidents can be quite serious and even fatal. When someone else is at fault for your injuries, you have the right to seek monetary compensation for your losses. Let the legal experts at the Law Offices of Gary K. Walch, a Law Corporation help you get the full value of your injury claim and help you put your life back together. We have over 45 years of experience and a 98%+ success rate so we are the right choice. When you hire us you can feel confident that your lawyers won’t stop until we get you the absolute most money possible for your injuries.