A Guide to Pedestrian Accident Claims

You were walking when a car came out of nowhere. Now you are on crutches, the ER bills have started, and an insurance adjuster has already left a voicemail. The decisions you make this week can quietly shape what your pedestrian accident claim is worth.

Memories fade. Surveillance footage gets overwritten. If the insurer takes a recorded statement before you understand the rules, you may give away leverage you cannot get back.

You have options. Washington law protects injured walkers more than most readers expect, and pedestrian accident claims in this state follow rules that favor recovery even when fault is contested. Our pedestrian accident team represents clients across Moses Lake, Spokane, and communities throughout eastern Washington.

Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents in Eastern Washington

Most pedestrian crashes in eastern Washington happen in a handful of familiar places.

Parking lots at strip-mall retail. Intersections without marked crosswalks. Rural stretches of I-90, US-2, and US-395 where shoulders narrow and traffic moves at highway speed.

The causes tend to repeat too:

• Distracted driving, especially phone use behind the wheel
• Failure to yield to pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks
• Running red lights or making illegal turns
• Turning right on red without looking left for foot traffic
• Speeding through intersections and parking lots

These crashes usually share one feature. The driver did not see the pedestrian or saw them too late. That is rarely the walker’s fault.

What to Do After Being Hit by a Car as a Pedestrian

Call 911 first. Even when nothing feels broken, get the police on scene and an ambulance dispatched. A police report puts an official version of events in writing.

Then get to the ER. Pedestrian injuries often look minor at the scene and turn out far worse. Head injuries can take days to surface, and internal bleeding does not always announce itself.

Collect the driver’s name, contact information, insurance, and license plate. Photograph the scene if you can move safely, or ask a witness to do it. Write down the names of anyone who saw the crash.

Try to avoid giving a recorded statement to the driver’s insurance company. You can decline politely. Talk to a lawyer before you sign anything.

Who Can Be Held Liable in a Pedestrian Accident Claim

The at-fault driver almost always carries responsibility, but the right question is who pays. Several parties can be on the hook.

The driver’s employer may share liability when the driver was on the clock at the time of the crash, including delivery, rideshare, and commercial fleet drivers. A bar or restaurant that kept serving a visibly drunk driver can sometimes share responsibility under Washington law. A property owner whose obstructed sightlines, broken lighting, or poorly designed parking lot contributed to the crash can sometimes be added as a defendant.

Finding every responsible party early can add available insurance coverage because each one carries its own policy. Our auto accident team works through that analysis before any settlement discussion begins.

How Washington’s Pure Comparative Fault Rule Affects Your Claim

Washington follows a pure comparative fault system under RCW 4.22.005. If you are found partially responsible for the crash, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you can still recover damages unless you are 100% at fault.

Pure comparative fault carries extra weight in pedestrian cases. Insurers often build their defense around shifting blame onto the walker.

In a crosswalk case, the question is usually whether you had the right of way and whether the driver yielded. Even outside a crosswalk, the driver still has a duty to avoid hitting you under Washington law. Parking-lot crashes often turn on lane markings, signage, and witness accounts.

Damages You Can Recover in a Pedestrian Accident Claim

A Washington pedestrian accident claim can cover the full economic and non-economic cost of the crash:

• Current medical bills, from the ER through ongoing care
• Future medical costs for long-term treatment
• Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish

The value of pain and suffering is not fixed in advance. Insurance companies may use internal formulas or valuation methods when reviewing pain and suffering, but Washington law does not assign non-economic damages a fixed multiplier. Family-based claims may also be available under Washington law, but those depend on the relationship and specific facts.

Our past results include a $185,000 recovery for a pedestrian hit in a parking lot, a case the insurer first tried to blame on the walker’s age before paying the full available policy limits. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance.

How Insurance Companies Approach Pedestrian Claims

Pedestrian cases often get fought harder than car-on-car crashes. The driver’s account is often the only on-record version, and there is rarely dashcam footage of a walker.

That gap creates space for the insurer’s defense. Adjusters may push hard on comparative fault. They may ask whether you were on your phone, whether you were inside a marked crosswalk, whether you were wearing reflective clothing at dusk, whether you stepped off the curb without looking.

Washington insurance regulators set deadlines. WAC 284-30-380 requires insurers to acknowledge a claim and act on it within set timeframes. In plain terms, an insurer cannot stall indefinitely, and missed deadlines can be enforced.

A lawyer can take the recorded statement calls, push back on tilted fault assignments, and document the evidence the insurer would rather skip past.

How Long You Have to File a Pedestrian Accident Claim in Washington

Most personal injury claims in Washington carry a three-year statute of limitations under RCW 4.16.080, measured from the date of the accident.

Some situations change that clock. Claims involving minors and incapacitated persons can be tolled. Claims against a city, county, or state agency require earlier notice under separate statutes.

Three years sounds generous until you watch the evidence disappear. Parking-lot security footage often gets overwritten within thirty to ninety days, and witnesses move as memories soften. The sooner the investigation starts, the more it tends to produce.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pedestrian Accident Claims in Washington

Can I Still File a Claim if I Was Jaywalking When I Was Hit?

Yes, in most cases. Washington’s pure comparative fault rule means partial fault reduces what you recover, but it does not bar your claim. Even outside a marked crosswalk, a driver still has a duty to avoid hitting you, and Washington law recognizes unmarked crosswalks at most intersections under RCW 46.61.235 and RCW 46.61.240.

Who Pays My Medical Bills?

Typically, in Washington, an injured person should look to first-party coverage to pay their medical bills. “First party” means your insurance, as opposed to “third party,” meaning the other person’s insurance coverage. Pedestrian cases are different, however, because if the offending driver has personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, that PIP coverage will cover a pedestrian’s medical bills as though it were the pedestrian’s own insurance. It will be very important, however, that the PIP adjuster and the liability adjuster be different people, since their obligations to the injured party will be different.

What Happens if the Driver Who Hit Me Fled the Scene?

Report the hit-and-run to 911 right away, and tell responding officers everything you remember. Your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage may apply to a pedestrian struck by an unidentified driver, even though you were not in a vehicle. UM coverage may help cover the gap if that coverage applies and you purchased it or did not reject it.

What if the Driver Who Hit Me Had No Insurance at All?

When the driver has no insurance at all, your own uninsured motorist coverage is often the primary path to recovery. That coverage may help cover the gap if it applies and you purchased it or did not reject it. Washington’s minimum liability requirements may also leave an injured person with losses that exceed the at-fault driver’s available coverage, and other coverage, including underinsured motorist coverage if available, may become important.

Does It Matter Whether I Was Hit in a Parking Lot Instead of on the Street?

It changes the investigation more than it changes your right to recover. Parking-lot cases often hinge on security camera footage, which gets overwritten quickly, so calling promptly helps. Property owners can sometimes be added as defendants when obstructed sightlines, broken lighting, or poor lot design contributed to the crash.

What Does a Contingency Fee Actually Cost Me?

McPartland Law Offices handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you do not pay legal fees unless we recover compensation for you. The fee is 33.33% on cases that settle before trial and 40% on cases that go to trial. Consultations are free, and there is no upfront cost.

Talk With a Washington Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Before You Respond

The first weeks after a pedestrian crash shape more than most people realize. The insurer is already moving, and the evidence is already aging. The legal deadlines are already running.

McPartland Law Offices has worked with injured walkers across eastern Washington since 2012, with offices in Moses Lake and Spokane. Our firm has recovered more than $100 million for clients and holds 350+ five-star reviews. Consultations are free, and there is no upfront cost.

Call McPartland Law Offices at 509-495-1247 or fill out our contact form to discuss your claim.