Pompano Beach Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

A person on foot has nothing between them and two tons of moving steel. A collision at 20 miles per hour that would dent a bumper can break a pelvis. Jacobson Injury Firm represents people struck while walking across Broward County, along with the families of those who did not survive.

Attorney Adam Jacobson handles every case personally rather than passing it to a case manager. Contact us today for a free consultation, and see our broader Pompano Beach personal injury practice for related claims.

You Have PIP Even If You Do Not Own a Car

This is the point almost no pedestrian knows, and it changes what happens in the first two weeks. Florida’s no-fault statute at Florida Statute 627.736 extends personal injury protection to a Florida resident struck by a vehicle even when that person owns no car and has no auto policy. Coverage comes from the insurer of the vehicle that hit you.

If you do own a vehicle, your own PIP pays first, and it follows you onto the sidewalk. Either way the benefit covers 80 percent of reasonable medical expenses and 60 percent of lost wages, and either way the 14-day treatment deadline applies. Seek care outside that window and the coverage is forfeited entirely, regardless of who caused the crash. Pedestrians miss this more often than drivers do, because a person without a car has no reason to know Florida’s no-fault rules apply to them at all.

Your own uninsured motorist coverage also protects you while walking. If the driver flees or carries no bodily injury liability, and Florida does not require private drivers to carry any, the uninsured motorist coverage on your auto policy can respond to a crash that happened while you were on foot.

The Crosswalk Rule Drivers Get Wrong

Florida defines a crosswalk to include the area at an intersection between the connecting sidewalk lines, whether or not it is painted. Every ordinary intersection contains a crosswalk. Under Florida Statute 316.130, a driver must yield to a pedestrian crossing within one, marked or unmarked. Insurers routinely argue that a client crossing at an unpainted intersection was jaywalking. Frequently they were doing nothing of the kind.

The statute cuts in the other direction as well, and the defense will use it. A pedestrian may not suddenly leave a curb into the path of a vehicle so close that yielding is impossible, and crossing outside an intersection generally requires yielding to traffic. Those provisions are where comparative fault arguments come from. Under Florida Statute 768.81, exceeding 50 percent of the blame bars recovery entirely, so the crossing analysis often decides the case. The statute also requires every driver to exercise due care to avoid striking a pedestrian regardless of where that person is, which is the provision that answers most of these arguments.

Why Choose Jacobson Injury Firm for Your Pompano Beach Pedestrian Claim?

Command of the Rules That Decide These Cases

Pedestrian claims are won on the fault percentage more than on the injuries, because the injuries usually speak for themselves. Establishing where the crossing occurred, what the signals showed, and what the driver could see is the work. Claims arising here proceed through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County.

Demonstrated Results for Injured Clients

The firm has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients. Pedestrian cases frequently involve catastrophic harm and limited coverage at the same time, which makes finding every applicable policy as important as proving fault. Our client reviews describe how the firm communicates through that process.

No Attorney Fees Unless You Recover

Pedestrian claims at the firm run on contingency. Nothing is owed at the outset, we advance case costs, and no recovery means no fee.

Key Components of a Pompano Beach Pedestrian Claim

Establishing Negligence

Negligence requires duty, breach, causation, and damages. In pedestrian cases the breach is usually a failure to yield, a turn made without looking, excessive speed for conditions, or distraction. Federal pedestrian safety data shows how often turning movements and darkness combine in these crashes, and physical evidence such as impact point, throw distance, and vehicle damage supports the reconstruction.

Preserving Video Before It Disappears

Pedestrian collisions happen in commercial areas covered by cameras. Storefronts, gas stations, hotels, and bus shelters record continuously and overwrite within days. Camera footage showing the signal phase and the crossing is often the single piece of evidence that ends a fault dispute, and it has to be requested immediately rather than after the medical picture settles.

Crossing the Permanent Injury Threshold

Because no-fault applies, Florida Statute 627.737 permits recovery of pain and suffering only where the injury meets one of four categories: significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. Pedestrian injuries clear this threshold more often than most, but permanency still has to be documented by treating physicians rather than assumed.

Calculating Damages

Damages cover medical costs, future care, lost wages, and diminished earning capacity, along with pain, disfigurement, and loss of life enjoyment. Broken bones and back injuries dominate these claims, and head trauma appears in a large share of them. The CDC documents how often serious crash injuries present days later. Florida also rewrote the evidence rules for medical damages in Florida Statute 768.0427, requiring disclosure of letters of protection and changing what juries see about amounts billed against amounts paid.

Acting Within Two Years

Florida cut the negligence deadline from four years to two in March 2023 under Florida Statute 95.11. Our statute of limitations resource explains how the clock runs. Where a government vehicle or a defective crossing is involved, Florida Statute 768.28 adds written pre-suit notice to the agency and the Department of Financial Services.

“Excellent service and results. Attorney Jacobson was professional, responsive, and truly cared about my case. They explained everything clearly and delivered great results.”

Isaac M.

Where Pedestrians Get Struck in Pompano Beach

Florida ranks among the most dangerous states in the country for people on foot, and Governors Highway Safety Association data has placed it near the top nationally for years. Locally the hazard concentrates in predictable places. Federal Highway carries six lanes of traffic past shopping plazas with long gaps between signals, so people cross mid-block because the alternative is a quarter-mile walk. Atlantic Boulevard does the same near the beach approaches. Sample Road, Copans Road, and Powerline Road combine high speeds with commercial driveways. Along A1A, beach parking turnover puts people crossing between stopped cars where drivers cannot see them. The FLHSMV crash dashboard tracks the results for Broward County, the Florida Department of Transportation publishes the safety data, and the City of Pompano Beach has been redesigning several of these corridors in response.

Types of Pedestrian Accident Claims We Handle

Crosswalk and Intersection Collisions

A driver turning right on red watches for a gap in traffic to the left and never looks right at the crossing. A left-turning driver focuses on oncoming cars. These are the most common serious pedestrian crashes and usually the clearest on liability.

Mid-Block and Multi-Lane Crossings

Where signals sit far apart, people cross where they need to. The defense leans hard on comparative fault here, but a driver’s duty of due care applies regardless of where the pedestrian was, and roadway design that leaves no reasonable crossing option is part of the story.

Parking Lot and Backing Incidents

Shopping plazas and garages produce low-speed collisions that still break bones, and backup camera evidence and store video often resolve them quickly.

Hit and Run

A driver who flees faces charges under Florida law, and your uninsured motorist coverage responds whether or not the driver is ever identified. Reporting immediately and preserving nearby video are what make these claims work.

Children and Older Adults

Children near schools and parks and older adults crossing at their own pace face elevated risk, and Florida law recognizes that drivers must anticipate their presence in residential and school areas.

We also handle bicycle accidents, car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle crashes, rideshare collisions, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death claims. See all practice areas.

What to Do After Being Struck in Pompano Beach

• Get medical care within 14 days without exception. The deadline applies to pedestrians exactly as it applies to drivers, and forfeiting PIP costs you the coverage that pays first.
• Photograph the scene, the vehicle, the crossing, and the signals if you are able, or ask someone to. Evidence at the scene cannot be recreated once traffic resumes.
• Call law enforcement and obtain the crash report number. Reports are available through the FLHSMV crash portal, and incidents in the city are typically handled by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
• Note nearby businesses with cameras and tell your lawyer immediately, because that footage is usually gone within a week.
• Decline a recorded statement to the driver’s insurer until you have spoken with a lawyer, since the first question will be about where you were crossing. Our guide to insurance companies explains the pattern.
• Follow your treatment plan without gaps, because gaps become causation arguments later in the case timeline, and document soft tissue injuries alongside the obvious fractures.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have PIP coverage if I was walking and do not own a car?

Yes. Florida extends personal injury protection to residents struck by a vehicle even without their own auto policy, and the coverage comes from the insurer of the vehicle that hit you. If you do own a car, your own PIP pays first and follows you on foot. Either way you must seek treatment within 14 days or the benefit is forfeited.

Was I at fault if I crossed outside a painted crosswalk?

Not necessarily. Florida defines a crosswalk to include the area between the sidewalk lines at any intersection, painted or not, and drivers must yield there. Even outside an intersection, every driver has a duty to exercise due care to avoid striking a pedestrian. Insurers raise jaywalking early because it is effective, not because it is usually correct.

How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident claim in Florida?

Two years from the date of the crash for most negligence claims, shortened from four years in March 2023. Claims involving a government vehicle or a defective roadway require written pre-suit notice and follow additional rules.

Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?

Yes, provided your share does not exceed 50 percent. Recovery is reduced by your percentage, and more than 50 percent bars it entirely. Because pedestrian cases turn so heavily on this number, establishing where and how you crossed is usually the central fight.

What if the driver fled the scene?

Your uninsured motorist coverage can respond to a hit and run whether or not the driver is identified. Report the incident to law enforcement immediately and to your own insurer promptly, and tell your lawyer about nearby cameras before the footage is overwritten.

What if the driver had no insurance?

Florida does not require private drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage at all, so this happens regularly. Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage becomes the primary source of recovery, and stacked coverage across household vehicles often provides more than people expect.

Can I sue for pain and suffering?

Only if your injury crosses Florida’s permanent injury threshold: significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. Pedestrian injuries meet this more often than most, but permanency still requires medical documentation.

How much is my pedestrian accident case worth?

Value depends on the severity and permanence of your injuries, medical costs, lost income, whether you cross the threshold, the coverage available, and your share of fault. Pedestrian claims often involve severe injuries against limited policies, so identifying every applicable source of coverage matters as much as proving fault.

Who pays if a city vehicle or a bus struck me?

A claim against a government entity is possible but follows different rules, including written pre-suit notice to the agency and the Department of Financial Services and a mandatory waiting period. Missing that step bars the claim regardless of the facts, so act quickly.

Should I accept the insurance company’s first offer?

Rarely. Early offers arrive before the extent of an injury is documented, and the release closes the claim permanently. In pedestrian cases an early offer also often reflects an inflated fault percentage that has not been challenged yet.

Speak With a Pompano Beach Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Camera footage disappears within days and the fault argument starts forming before you leave the hospital. Reach out today to speak directly with Adam Jacobson about your case. Consultations are free and you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Call (561) 567-7163 or send us a message. The firm also serves Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach, with the full list on our areas we serve page and further reading in our personal injury resources and blog.