Phoenix Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

Phoenix is one of the deadliest cities in the country to be a pedestrian, and a person struck by a car has almost no protection.

Our Arizona pedestrian accident lawyers represent people hit while walking across Phoenix, and we know how hard the defense fights to blame the person on foot.

Arizona law protects you in ways the insurer will not mention: a driver owes pedestrians the right-of-way in a crosswalk, you can recover even if you were partly at fault, and the state caps nothing on a serious injury.

A pedestrian crash is catastrophic from the moment it happens, and the case is serious from that moment too.

You pay nothing unless we win. Call (888) 713-6653 for a free, confidential review of your Phoenix pedestrian accident claim.

Phoenix lands near the top of every list of the deadliest cities in America to cross the street on foot, and that is not bad luck. It is wide arterials, long gaps between signals, and decades of building for cars instead of people. When a driver hits someone in a Phoenix crosswalk, we see the same playbook. They blame the person who was walking. We do not let that stand. We fight to hold the party responsible to account.

Road Design Built for Speed, Not for People

Much of the Valley was laid out around the car. Six- and seven-lane arterials run straight through residential and commercial districts, signalized crossings can sit half a mile apart, and posted speeds invite drivers to go faster still. A person who crosses where there is no nearby signal is making a rational choice on a road that left them no safe option, and that road design is part of the story a jury needs to understand.

The Corridors Where Phoenix Pedestrians Get Hit

The crashes cluster on the same high-speed surface streets year after year. Van Buren Street, McDowell Road, Indian School Road, Thomas Road, and Baseline Road carry fast traffic past bus stops, motels, and shopping with thin crosswalk coverage. The 7th Street and 7th Avenue corridors and Grand Avenue's diagonal crossings add their own danger. These are arterials where a stranded pedestrian and a speeding driver meet.

Heat, Darkness, and Late-Seen Pedestrians

Phoenix heat pushes walking into the dark early-morning and late-evening hours for much of the year. Drivers see pedestrians late or not at all, headlights and street lighting do only so much, and a crash at 45 miles per hour on an arterial is frequently fatal or catastrophic. The time of day a person was struck often explains the crash, and it does not shift the duty off the driver.

The Blame-the-Pedestrian Playbook

The insurer's first move is to put the crash on the person who was walking: they darted out, they wore dark clothing, they were not in a crosswalk. We expect it and answer it with the driver's speed, attention, and the seconds they had to stop. For the full treatment of Arizona pedestrian law and how these cases are built, see our Arizona pedestrian accident lawyers.

Drivers Must Yield in a Crosswalk

Under A.R.S. § 28-792, a driver must yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk, marked or unmarked at an intersection.^[1] A driver who strikes a pedestrian lawfully in a crosswalk has usually breached this duty, and that breach is the spine of the claim.

A Share of Fault Does Not End Your Claim

Arizona's pure comparative negligence rule under A.R.S. § 12-2505 means a pedestrian assigned a share of fault still recovers the rest, even one hit while crossing mid-block.^[2] The defense will push to raise that percentage; the work is answering it with the driver's speed and attention. See Arizona comparative negligence.

No Cap on a Catastrophic Pedestrian Injury

Arizona caps nothing. A person thrown by a vehicle absorbs forces a body is not built for, and the resulting brain injury, spinal injury, or multiple fractures are valued on the actual harm, not a statutory ceiling. See Arizona damage caps and our Arizona catastrophic injury lawyers.

Hit-and-Run and Your Own Coverage

If the driver fled, the case is not over. The injured pedestrian's own auto policy can provide compensation through uninsured motorist coverage, even though you were on foot, and preserving any video and witness information quickly is what makes that recovery possible.

Because a pedestrian has no protection, these cases tend to involve the most serious injuries, and the recovery has to account for all of them: the bills already paid, the income lost, and the cost of the years of care still ahead.

What a Pedestrian Claim Can Recover

• Medical care, past and future. Emergency and trauma care, surgery, rehabilitation, and the long-term treatment a catastrophic injury requires. See our brain injury lawyers.
• Lost income and earning capacity. Wages lost during recovery and the future earnings an injury takes away.
• Pain, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. Non-economic harm, which Arizona does not cap.
• Wrongful death losses. When a pedestrian is killed, the family's claim covers their losses going forward. See Arizona wrongful death claims.

Most Arizona pedestrian claims must be filed within two years under A.R.S. § 12-542, and a claim involving a city vehicle or a dangerous roadway can carry a 180-day notice deadline that runs much sooner.^[3] Calling early also protects the evidence, because intersection and business footage is overwritten within days. See the Arizona statute of limitations.