Kennesaw, GA, Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Walking should be a simple, safe way to get around Kennesaw. Unfortunately, a single moment of a driver’s negligence can turn a simple walk into a life-altering event. For a pedestrian, there is no such thing as a “fender bender.” When a vehicle strikes a person, the results are almost always catastrophic. In the painful and confusing aftermath, you need a powerful advocate in your corner. Our experienced Kennesaw, GA, pedestrian accident lawyers can fight to protect your rights and secure the resources you need to heal.
Whether you are a student crossing Chastain Road to get to the Kennesaw State University campus, a family enjoying a day in the historic downtown area, or simply running an errand at a shopping center on Cobb Parkway, you have the right to be safe from harm when you are on foot. If a negligent driver injures you, the compassionate team at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter is here to help you hold them accountable. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
The Devastating Reality of Pedestrian Accidents
A pedestrian has no protection—no steel frame, no airbags, and no seatbelts to protect them from a crash. They absorb the full, devastating force of a multi-ton vehicle. This is why pedestrian accident injuries are among the most severe and dangerous of all personal injury cases. The immediate and long-term consequences are immense, impacting a victim’s health, finances, and overall quality of life.
Common injuries we see in these tragic cases include:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs): From concussions to severe injuries that cause permanent cognitive or physical disabilities.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: Damage to the spinal cord can result in partial or complete paralysis, requiring a lifetime of medical care.
- Broken Bones and Crush Injuries: The impact force can easily shatter bones in the legs, arms, and pelvis.
- Internal Organ Damage and Bleeding: The trauma can cause severe damage to internal organs, often requiring emergency surgery.
- Severe Lacerations and “Road Rash”: Deep cuts and severe skin abrasions can lead to permanent scarring, disfigurement, and dangerous infections.
The road to recovery is often long, painful, and incredibly expensive. Our firm understands the full scope of these challenges and is prepared to fight for a recovery that accounts for every aspect of your suffering.
How We Establish Driver Negligence in a Kennesaw Pedestrian Crash
A driver’s claim of “I just didn’t see them” is not a legal defense. In fact, it is often an admission of negligence. In Georgia, drivers have a clear legal duty to exercise “due care” to avoid colliding with pedestrians. This means they must remain alert, vigilant, and prepared to yield the right-of-way.
To win your case, we must prove that the driver breached this duty of care. Common examples of driver negligence that lead to pedestrian accidents include:
- Distracted Driving: This is a leading cause of pedestrian injuries. A driver texting, talking on the phone, or adjusting their GPS is not watching the road for people on foot.
- Failure to Yield at Crosswalks: Under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91), drivers must stop and stay stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Many accidents occur when drivers ignore this fundamental rule.
- Speeding: A driver speeding through a residential neighborhood, a school zone, or near the KSU campus has less time to react and will cause far more severe injuries upon impact.
- Ignoring Traffic Signals: Running a red light or a stop sign is a blatant disregard for the safety of everyone, especially pedestrians who have the signal to cross.
- Making Improper Turns: Drivers who are focused on other vehicles while making a left or right turn often fail to scan the crosswalk for a pedestrian who has the right-of-way.
- Driving Under the Influence (DUI): An intoxicated driver has impaired judgment, vision, and reaction time, making them a significant danger to anyone on foot.
Why You Should Choose the Dedicated Team at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter for Your Pedestrian Accident Case
After being hit by a car, you are facing a battle against a driver, their insurance company, and a pervasive, unfair bias that often seeks to blame the victim. The insurance adjuster’s primary goal is to pay as little as possible. They will start investigating immediately to find any reason to deny your claim. From day one, you need a skilled legal team to level the playing field.
Here’s why choosing Williams Elleby Howard & Easter is a critical step:
- We Immediately Counter Victim-Blaming: We know the defense playbook. They will try to argue you “darted out” into the street, were distracted, or weren’t in a crosswalk. We proactively build a case based on the facts, using accident reconstruction, witness statements, and traffic laws to help prove the driver’s fault and protect you from unfair blame.
- We Launch a Rapid Investigation: Evidence in pedestrian accidents can vanish quickly. We act fast to preserve security or traffic camera footage from nearby businesses, identify and interview eyewitnesses before their memories fade, and document the accident scene.
- We Have the Resources to Prove Your Case: We work with a network of respected professionals, including accident reconstructionists who can calculate vehicle speeds and sightlines, and medical experts who can clearly explain your injuries’ severity and lifelong consequences to a jury.
- We Handle All Communications: You can focus on healing while we handle all the aggressive tactics from the insurance company. We field all their calls, manage all the paperwork, and ensure your rights are protected at every turn.
What If the Insurance Company Tries to Blame Me for the Accident?
This is usually not a matter of “if” but “when.” In nearly every pedestrian accident case, the driver’s insurance company will try to shift as much blame as possible onto the victim. This is a deliberate strategy to reduce or deny your claim. They will argue that you were not paying attention, that you were on your phone, that you were wearing dark clothing at night, or that you “darted out” into the road unexpectedly.
One of the most common defense tactics is to focus on whether you were in a designated crosswalk. While Georgia law provides specific protections for pedestrians in crosswalks, you do not lose all your rights just because you were not in a marked crosswalk. Drivers have a general duty to exercise due care to avoid colliding with pedestrians at all times. They must operate their vehicles at a safe speed and remain vigilant of their surroundings.
Georgia follows a legal doctrine known as modified comparative negligence (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). Under this rule, you can still recover damages as long as you are found to be less than 50% at fault for the accident. Your total compensation award will then be reduced by your percentage of fault.
However, if you are found to be 50% or more at fault, you are barred from recovering any compensation at all. This is why the insurance company’s victim-blaming strategy is so aggressive. Our job is to build a solid case based on the evidence, demonstrating that the driver’s negligence was the primary cause of the accident and protecting you from these unfair allegations.
What Compensation is Available in a Kennesaw Pedestrian Accident Lawsuit?
The goal of a personal injury lawsuit is to secure maximum compensation for your losses—past, present, and future. Given the catastrophic nature of pedestrian injuries, these damages are often substantial, reflecting the need for lifelong medical care and acknowledging the profound impact on your quality of life. Our attorneys work closely with you, your family, and a team of financial experts to calculate the total value of your claim.
Your recoverable damages may include:
Economic Damages
These are the specific, calculable financial costs associated with your injury. We gather extensive documentation, such as medical bills and financial records, and consult with life care planners and economists to prove these losses.
- Medical Expenses: This includes every cost from the moment of the accident, such as the ambulance ride, emergency room treatment, hospitalizations, surgeries, doctor’s visits, prescription medications, and medical devices.
- Future Medical Care: This is a critical component for severe injury victims. We project the costs of future surgeries, long-term nursing care, in-home health assistance, and lifelong rehabilitative therapies (physical, occupational, and cognitive).
- Lost Income: We recover all the wages, salary, and benefits you lost while you were out of work and recovering.
- Loss of Future Earning Capacity: If your injuries prevent you from returning to your previous job or limit your ability to earn a living in any capacity, we will fight for compensation for this diminished future earning potential.
- Home and Vehicle Modifications: Compensation to make your home and vehicle accessible, such as installing wheelchair ramps, wider doorways, or hand controls.
Non-Economic Damages
These damages are meant to compensate you for the devastating personal losses that do not have a specific price tag but are an essential part of your suffering.
- Pain and Suffering: For the intense physical pain and suffering you have endured and will continue to endure.
- Mental and Emotional Anguish: For the trauma, fear, anxiety, depression, and conditions like PTSD that often follow a violent accident.
- Permanent Disfigurement and Scarring: Compensation for the permanent physical reminders of your trauma.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: This acknowledges the loss of your ability to participate in hobbies, recreational activities, and simple daily routines that brought you joy and fulfillment before the accident.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Kennesaw Pedestrian Accident Attorney?
After a devastating accident, you are likely facing a mountain of medical debt and may be unable to work. The idea of affording a lawyer can seem impossible. At Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, we reduce this financial barrier by handling all pedestrian accident cases on a contingency fee basis. This means:
- You pay nothing upfront. There are no retainers or hourly fees.
- We advance all costs. We cover the significant expenses of building your case, including hiring experts, court filing fees, and investigation costs.
- You only pay us if we recover compensation for you. Our fee is a pre-agreed-upon percentage of the financial recovery we obtain for you.
This arrangement ensures that everyone has access to high-quality legal representation, and we share the same ultimate goal: to secure the maximum possible compensation for you.
How the Team at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter Can Help
When you hire our firm, you get a dedicated team to manage every complex detail of your legal battle, allowing you to focus completely on your physical and emotional recovery. We can:
- Conduct a swift and comprehensive investigation of the crash scene.
- Immediately work to preserve critical evidence, such as traffic camera footage or data from the striking vehicle.
- Identify and interview all eyewitnesses to establish the facts of what happened.
- Engage leading accident reconstructionists to prove the driver’s speed, line of sight, and negligence.
- Handle all communications with the insurance companies and their lawyers, shielding you from their tactics.
- Work with your doctors and other medical experts to fully document the extent and long-term consequences of your injuries.
- Build a powerful, evidence-based case designed to overcome victim-blaming defenses.
- Negotiate relentlessly for a full and fair settlement or, if necessary, take your fight to a jury.
Contact Our Compassionate Kennesaw, GA Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Today
You have already been through an unimaginable trauma. You deserve a legal advocate who will fight for you with strength, skill, and unwavering compassion. The legal system can provide a path to justice and financial stability, but you do not have to walk that path alone. Let the team of personal injury attorneys in Kennesaw at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter be your champions.
Your initial consultation is always free, confidential, and comes with no obligation. Call us today at (404) 389-1035 or fill out our online contact form to tell us your story and learn how we can help you rebuild your life.
Kennesaw Pedestrian Accident Lawyer FAQs
Yes, you may still be able to recover compensation. This is a situation where your own auto insurance policy can be critical. If you have Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, it can be used to cover your damages from a hit-and-run accident where the at-fault driver is never identified. We can help you navigate the process of filing a UM claim with your own insurance company.
Insurance companies will often try to use a pedestrian’s clothing, especially if it was dark and the accident happened at night, as an excuse to blame the victim. While wearing bright or reflective clothing is always a good safety practice, it does not absolve a driver of their duty to exercise due care. Drivers are required to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings; they have a responsibility to see and avoid pedestrians, regardless of clothing color.
Williams Elleby Howard & Easter – Kennesaw Office
3450 Acworth Due West Road, Ste. 610
Kennesaw, GA 30144
P: (404-389-1035)
