Helping pedestrians injured by negligent drivers in Lafayette and throughout Louisiana pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost income, and other losses.
We represent people seriously injured while walking, crossing streets, using crosswalks, navigating parking lots, and traveling alongside Louisiana roadways.
We investigate the accident, identify available insurance coverage, document your losses, and pursue the compensation available under Louisiana law.
Our case evaluations are always completely free. Want to see how our law firm can help? Fill out this form below and someone will contact you shortly.
If possible and safe to do so, move away from immediate traffic hazards and remain at or near the accident scene as required.
Seek medical care as soon as possible. Pedestrian accidents can cause head, spinal, internal, and orthopedic injuries that may not be immediately apparent.
If you are able, photograph the vehicle, intersection or roadway, traffic signals, crosswalk markings, skid marks, debris, visible injuries, and surrounding conditions.
Get the names and contact information of anyone who saw the collision. Independent witnesses may provide important evidence about how the accident occurred.
Surveillance cameras, dashcams, vehicle data, phone records, photographs, and other evidence can become important when determining responsibility.
An insurance company may ask for a recorded statement shortly after the accident. Consider speaking with a Louisiana pedestrian accident lawyer before providing detailed statements or accepting a settlement.
Report the accident and ask law enforcement to respond. The police report can document the driver, witnesses, location, roadway conditions, and other important information.
Seek medical care as soon as possible. Pedestrian accidents can cause head, spinal, internal, and orthopedic injuries that may not be immediately apparent.
If you are able, photograph the vehicle, intersection or roadway, traffic signals, crosswalk markings, skid marks, debris, visible injuries, and surrounding conditions.
Get the names and contact information of anyone who saw the collision. Independent witnesses may provide important evidence about how the accident occurred.
Surveillance cameras, dashcams, vehicle data, phone records, photographs, and other evidence can become important when determining responsibility.
An insurance company may ask for a recorded statement shortly after the accident. Consider speaking with a Louisiana pedestrian accident lawyer before providing detailed statements or accepting a settlement.
Drivers who fail to yield when required may strike pedestrians crossing or entering a roadway.
Texting, using a phone, adjusting navigation, eating, or other distractions can prevent a driver from seeing a pedestrian in time.
Excessive speed can reduce a driver's ability to stop and can increase the severity of injuries when a collision occurs.
Drivers making left or right turns may focus on other vehicles and fail to notice pedestrians entering or already within their path.
Alcohol or drugs can affect reaction time, judgment, awareness, and a driver's ability to respond safely to pedestrians.
Pedestrians can be struck when vehicles back out of driveways, parking spaces, loading areas, or other locations with limited visibility.
Nighttime conditions, weather, inadequate lighting, obstructions, and other visibility problems may contribute to a pedestrian collision.
Pedestrian crashes frequently involve questions about traffic lights, pedestrian signals, crosswalks, right-of-way, and driver behavior at intersections.
Parking lots combine pedestrians and moving vehicles in confined areas, creating risks from backing vehicles, distracted drivers, and limited sight lines.
A driver may be responsible when speeding, distraction, failure to yield, unsafe turning, impairment, or other negligent conduct contributes to an accident.
If a pedestrian is struck by a delivery vehicle, work truck, rideshare vehicle, or other commercial vehicle, additional questions about employment and insurance coverage may arise.
Depending on the circumstances, ownership and permitted use of the vehicle may become relevant to the claim.
Investigators may examine whether the driver was speeding, distracted, impaired, failed to yield, ignored a traffic signal, made an unsafe turn, or otherwise failed to use reasonable care.
The pedestrian's location, traffic signals, visibility, crossing point, and actions immediately before the collision may also become part of the investigation.
Louisiana uses a comparative fault system. More than one person may potentially share responsibility for an accident, and a claimant's share of fault can affect the amount recoverable.
Investigators may examine whether the driver was speeding, distracted, impaired, failed to yield, ignored a traffic signal, made an unsafe turn, or otherwise failed to use reasonable care.
The pedestrian's location, traffic signals, visibility, crossing point, and actions immediately before the collision may also become part of the investigation.
Louisiana uses a comparative fault system. More than one person may potentially share responsibility for an accident, and a claimant's share of fault can affect the amount recoverable.
The responding officer's report may document the people involved, witnesses, roadway conditions, citations, and initial accident information
Traffic cameras, business surveillance systems, doorbell cameras, dashcams, and cellphone recordings may show how the collision occurred.
Independent witnesses can provide information about the driver's actions, traffic signals, pedestrian movement, and events immediately before the collision.
Damage patterns, vehicle inspection information, onboard data, and other physical evidence may help reconstruct an accident.
Medical records can establish the nature of the injuries, treatment received, and the effect the accident has had on the injured person.
Depending on the circumstances, phone records, employment records, insurance information, expert analysis, and other documentation may become relevant.
Trauma to the chest or abdomen can damage internal organs and may require emergency medical treatment.
Some pedestrian collisions result in fatal injuries. When that happens, surviving family members may have questions about who was responsible and whether Louisiana law permits a wrongful death or related claim. These cases may require an investigation of the collision, available insurance coverage, financial losses, family relationships and the damages permitted under applicable law.
J. Minos Simon, LTD. can review the circumstances of a fatal pedestrian accident and explain the legal options that may be available to qualifying family members.
Our firm has represented generations of injured Louisiana residents.
Our office is located at 1408 W. Pinhook Road in Lafayette, and we represent injured clients throughout Louisiana.
We believe clients should understand what is happening with their case and have a legal team available to answer their questions.
We help people injured in Louisiana car crashes pursue compensation from responsible parties and insurers.
Commercial truck accidents can involve trucking companies, drivers, insurers, and complex evidence.
We represent riders injured in serious motorcycle collisions throughout Louisiana.
Our firm represents offshore workers injured on vessels, rigs, platforms, and other offshore worksites.
We help Louisiana residents pursue compensation when another person's or company's negligence causes serious injury.
We represent qualifying workers and others injured in maritime accidents involving vessels and Louisiana waterways.
For decades, J. Minos Simon, LTD has represented injured people and families across Louisiana. Our firm investigates how a collision happened, identifies available insurance coverage, and fights to make sure injured pedestrians and their families are not left to cover the cost of someone else's negligence. View Profile
Learn how driver conduct, pedestrian conduct, traffic rules, evidence, and comparative fault may affect responsibility after a pedestrian collision. Read More
Understand how Louisiana's comparative fault rules can affect responsibility and recoverable damages when more than one person contributes to an accident. Read More
Learn what may happen from the initial investigation and insurance claim through settlement negotiations or litigation. Read More
Fault depends on the circumstances. Driver conduct, pedestrian conduct, traffic signals, right-of-way, visibility, witness statements, video evidence, and other facts may all be relevant. A driver is not automatically responsible in every pedestrian collision, nor is a pedestrian automatically responsible simply because the accident occurred outside a crosswalk.
Potentially. Crossing outside a marked crosswalk can be relevant to the fault analysis, but it does not automatically determine the outcome of a pedestrian injury claim. Louisiana’s comparative fault rules allow responsibility to be evaluated based on the conduct of everyone involved.
Louisiana follows comparative fault rules. If an injured person shares responsibility for an accident, that allocation of fault can affect the damages recoverable. The specific effect depends on the facts and applicable law.
The driver’s statement is only one piece of evidence. Police reports, witnesses, surveillance footage, vehicle damage, roadway evidence, traffic signals, and other information may help establish what actually happened.
Other sources of insurance coverage may sometimes be relevant depending on the circumstances and applicable policies. An attorney can review the available coverage rather than assuming there is no potential recovery simply because the driver lacks insurance.
A collision involving a commercial vehicle may require investigation of both the driver and other potentially responsible parties, including an employer or business, depending on the driver’s relationship to the company and what the driver was doing when the accident occurred.
Depending on the circumstances, recoverable damages may include medical expenses, lost income, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, rehabilitation expenses, and other legally recoverable losses.
Qualifying surviving family members may have rights under Louisiana wrongful death and survival laws. The available claims and damages depend on the family relationship and circumstances of the accident.
Insurance companies may request statements while investigating a claim. Because statements can become part of the claim record, an injured person may want to speak with an attorney before providing a detailed statement on record.
Initial case evaluations are free. The firm can explain any fee arrangement that would apply if it accepts the case.
