If you were injured by a driver while walking in San Diego, you have the right to seek payment for your medical bills, lost income, and the ways this injury has rewritten your life.
But getting fair compensation is rarely a simple task. You are trying to heal while medical expenses mount, and the thought of tackling insurance paperwork and legal deadlines can feel like too much to handle.
This is where we step in.
As pedestrian accident lawyers, our work is dedicated to pedestrian accident cases in San Diego. We manage the entire legal process from start to finish, lifting that burden so your energy can be spent on recovery. If you are looking for clear, direct answers about your situation, our team is here to listen. We can explain your options in a free, no-pressure consultation.
Contact Harris Personal Injury Lawyers today at (619) 864-7101.
Key Takeaways for San Diego Pedestrian Accident Claims
- California law holds negligent drivers accountable for injuries they cause. This means you have a legal right to pursue compensation for all your losses, from medical costs and lost wages to the personal impact on your daily life.
- Strict deadlines apply, so you cannot afford to wait. You generally have two years to file a lawsuit, but if a government employee or vehicle is involved, you have only six months to file an initial claim. Acting quickly preserves your legal rights.
- Even if you were partially at fault, you may still recover compensation. California's "pure comparative negligence" rule allows you to seek damages, though your final award will be reduced by your percentage of fault. This makes having a strong advocate to argue on your behalf important.
Why Choose Harris Personal Injury Lawyers?
The right legal team can mean the difference between a settlement that secures your future and one that leaves you struggling with long-term financial burdens. Our results and our approach are designed to give you an advantage.
Our Track Record
- Meaningful Recoveries: We've secured over $800 million for our clients through verdicts and settlements.
- Proven San Diego Results: In San Diego, we've achieved significant outcomes for pedestrian accident victims, including an $8,000,000 recovery and a separate $6,700,000 settlement.
- Industry Recognition: Our firm and attorneys are consistently recognized for their work. Ryan D. Harris was named to the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, and our firm was listed in U.S. News – Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms." Additionally, Top Verdict recognized our attorneys for securing multiple #1-ranked settlements in California in 2023.
A Client-Focused Approach
- You Pay Nothing Unless We Win: We operate on a contingency fee basis. This means no upfront costs for you. Our firm is paid only if we successfully recover money for you. With a 99% success rate, our interests are aligned with yours.
- Access to Quality Medical Care: If you're struggling with high deductibles or finding the right specialists, we can connect you with experienced medical professionals who may treat your injuries with little to no upfront cost.
- Direct Communication with Your Attorney: You are not just another case file. You will work directly with our attorneys, who believe in keeping you informed and supported at every stage.
Our San Diego Roots
Our San Diego headquarters is in the historic El Cortez building at 702 Ash Street, Suite 10, San Diego, CA 92101, a short distance from Balboa Park. If your injuries make it difficult to travel, we will come to you. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation to hear your story and explain how we can help.
What Is the Potential Value of a San Diego Pedestrian Accident Case?
After an accident, the most pressing concern is often financial. How will you cover your medical bills? How will you support your family if you cannot work? A personal injury claim is designed to provide a financial recovery for every loss the accident caused.
Three Categories of Compensation
- Economic Damages: These are the direct, measurable financial losses you've sustained. We work meticulously to document every expense, including:
- All medical bills, both current and projected for the future.
- Lost wages from time away from work.
- Diminished future earning capacity if your injuries permanently affect your career.
- Costs for physical therapy, rehabilitation, and necessary medical equipment.
- Non-Economic Damages: This is compensation for the human cost of the accident—the personal, non-financial ways your life has been altered. This can include:
- Pain and suffering.
- Emotional distress and mental anguish.
- Loss of enjoyment of life, such as the inability to participate in hobbies or daily activities.
- Scarring and disfigurement.
- Punitive Damages: In rare situations where the at-fault party's behavior was especially reckless or malicious, a court might award punitive damages. The purpose isn't to compensate you for a specific loss but to punish the defendant and discourage similar conduct.
How Could "Comparative Fault" Affect Your Settlement?
California uses a "pure comparative negligence" rule. This is a legal concept that says you can still be awarded compensation even if you are partially to blame for the accident.
Our job is to build a case so strong that no blame is unfairly assigned to you. To do this, we often advance the costs of hiring economic and medical experts to build an accurate and comprehensive valuation of your claim.
Common Injuries in Pedestrian Accidents
A human body is no match for a motor vehicle, and the resulting injuries can reshape your life in an instant. While some injuries are immediately obvious, others have delayed symptoms that may not appear for hours or even days.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs): Even a seemingly minor blow to the head can cause a TBI, with effects ranging from concussions to severe, permanent brain damage. Long-term consequences can include memory loss, mood swings, seizures, and cognitive decline, affecting your ability to work and maintain relationships.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: Damage to the spinal cord can lead to partial or complete paralysis, such as paraplegia or tetraplegia. Beyond loss of movement, these injuries often cause a cascade of secondary health problems, including chronic pain, blood clots, respiratory complications, and bladder or bowel dysfunction.
- Internal Injuries: The force of a collision can cause serious damage to internal organs, leading to conditions like internal bleeding, which can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated quickly. Symptoms such as abdominal pain, dizziness, or large bruises should be addressed by a doctor immediately.
- Broken Bones and Fractures: Pedestrians frequently suffer fractures to the legs, hips, arms, and pelvis. While some broken bones heal completely, complex fractures may require surgery, pins, or plates and can lead to long-term mobility issues, arthritis, or chronic pain.
- Soft Tissue Damage: This includes severe sprains, strains, and tears to muscles, ligaments, and tendons. These injuries are often dismissed as minor at first, but they can cause debilitating pain and limit your range of motion for months or even years.
Where Do Pedestrian Accidents Happen Most in San Diego?
While a pedestrian collision can happen on any street, some intersections and corridors in San Diego have proven to be consistently more dangerous than others. Safety advocacy group Circulate San Diego recently identified the "Fatal 15," a list of intersections with a high rate of serious or fatal crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists.
Common High-Risk Intersections
We frequently handle cases that occur in these areas:
- University Avenue: This busy street is frequently cited as one of the most hazardous in the city, with multiple dangerous intersections, including those at 44th Street and College Avenue.
- El Cajon Boulevard: Several intersections along this corridor are known hotspots, such as those at 46th Street and Altadena Avenue.
- Mira Mesa Boulevard: High-traffic intersections here, including at Black Mountain Road and Aderman Avenue, are also known for being dangerous.
- Downtown Corridors: The combination of high vehicle traffic, tourism, and residential density makes many downtown streets, like Market Street and Imperial Avenue, prone to accidents.
What Makes These Areas So Dangerous?
- Poor Lighting: Inadequate street lighting at night makes it difficult for drivers to see pedestrians in time to react.
- High Traffic and Density: Streets lined with businesses, bus stops, and apartments naturally lead to more interactions between cars and people.
- Confusing Road Design: Faded crosswalks, unclear signage, or awkward intersection layouts can create uncertainty for both drivers and pedestrians.
- Vehicle Speed: Roads designed to move cars quickly through commercial or residential areas pose a serious threat to anyone on foot.
Understanding Pedestrian and Driver Duties in California
California law establishes a clear set of responsibilities for both drivers and pedestrians. Proving that a driver failed to meet their legal duty is the foundation of a successful accident claim.
The Driver’s Duty of Care
- Yielding at Crosswalks: Drivers must yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian in any marked crosswalk or at an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. This requires them to slow down or stop to allow the pedestrian to cross safely.
- A General Duty to Be Careful: A driver's responsibility doesn't disappear just because a pedestrian is outside of a crosswalk. All drivers have a duty to exercise "due care" for the safety of anyone on the road. This means a driver must still take reasonable steps to avoid a collision.
The Pedestrian’s Responsibilities
- Acting with Reasonable Safety: Pedestrians are also required to be mindful of their own safety. The law states that a pedestrian cannot suddenly leave a curb and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is too close to stop safely.
- Crossing Outside of Crosswalks: If you cross a street anywhere other than a marked or unmarked crosswalk, you must yield the right-of-way to vehicles that are close enough to be an immediate danger.
- Changes to Jaywalking Laws: A recent change to California law, known as the Freedom to Walk Act, means that a police officer can no longer stop you for jaywalking unless a reasonably careful person would see an immediate risk of a collision. This change acknowledges that crossing mid-block can sometimes be a safer choice.
How These Laws Shape Your Case
In a pedestrian accident claim, our investigation centers on one main question: did the driver fail to uphold their duty of care? Did they speed through a crosswalk? Were they looking at their phone instead of the road? The answers form the basis for establishing who is legally responsible for your injuries.
How Do Insurance Companies Handle These Claims?
When you file a claim, you're not dealing with the driver directly but with their insurance provider. It helps to remember that insurance carriers are for-profit businesses. Their model requires them to balance paying legitimate claims with protecting their bottom line.
The claims process itself is methodical and choked with paperwork. An adjuster may offer a fast, low settlement before you even know the full extent of your injuries and future medical needs. As doctor's bills start to pile up, this pressure might make you consider accepting an offer that doesn't truly cover what you've lost.
We step in to level the playing field:
- We Submit a Claim Built on Facts: Our team compiles every medical record, piece of evidence, and expert report into a demand that clearly justifies the full value of your claim.
- We Anticipate Their Tactics: We are familiar with the arguments adjusters make to assign blame to pedestrians or to downplay the severity of an injury. We come prepared with facts and legal precedent to refute those arguments.
- Our Reputation Gives Us Leverage: Insurance companies are aware of our history of taking cases to trial and winning. This reputation gives us powerful leverage during negotiations because they know we will not back down from a fight for fair compensation.
What Can I Do From Home to Help My Case?
While we handle the legal heavy lifting, there are simple but powerful things you can do to support your claim.
- Follow Your Doctor’s Treatment Plan: Go to every medical appointment and follow through on all prescribed treatments. This creates an official, unbroken record of your injuries and the efforts you made to recover.
- Keep All Bills and Receipts: Create a folder for every bill, co-pay receipt, and pharmacy printout related to the accident. Don't forget to include costs like parking fees for your doctor's appointments.
- Keep a Simple Journal: Each day, jot down a few notes about your pain level, any emotional struggles you're having, and the daily activities you can no longer do. This journal can become a powerful tool for demonstrating your pain and suffering.
- Avoid Social Media: Do not post anything about the accident, your injuries, or your recovery online. Insurance investigators will examine your social media profiles, looking for anything they can use to argue your injuries are less serious than you claim.
- Send All Calls to Us: If the other driver’s insurance company contacts you, politely tell them you cannot provide a statement and give them our contact information. Let us handle the communication from there.
Your Next Step Is a Simple Conversation
Worrying about who was at fault or how to handle the legal system should not stop you from learning about your options. Let us manage the insurance negotiations, the investigation, and the deadlines.
You don't have to do this alone. Call Harris Personal Injury Lawyers for a free, confidential conversation about your case. You will not get a sales pitch; you will get answers. Call us today at (619) 864-7101.