Salt Lake City Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

Fighting to Get You Compensated

No matter what the circumstances of your accident are, it is important to know that compensation for your losses is not automatic. In fact, you can expect the insurance company handling your case to put up a fight to pay less than you deserve.

If you are injured in a pedestrian accident, the first line of insurance available to you is the driver’s personal injury protection (PIP) insurance policy. All Utah drivers must carry PIP insurance, which is a form of no-fault insurance. No-fault insurance means insurance coverage kicks in regardless of who is at fault.

So, if a driver strikes a pedestrian, the pedestrian will be entitled to make a demand for compensation without proving the driver was at fault. However, the compensation you can claim through PIP is significantly limited. That said, you may be able to file a personal injury claim for more compensation when the circumstances allow.

PIP Insurance Compensation

PIP insurance allows injured pedestrians to seek several types of compensation, depending on the circumstance of the accident, including:

• Medical Bills: $3,000 of treatment costs you incur because of your accident will be covered by PIP insurance if they are reasonable. Commonly covered medical treatment and services include doctor’s visits, medication, X-rays, hospital stays, and more.
• Lost Wages: If a pedestrian accident prevents you from working, you can claim a portion of your lost income from PIP insurance. The compensation payments can only last for 52 weeks, and you may only receive 85% of your lost wage or $250 per week, whichever is the lower amount.
• Special Allowance: Many pedestrian accident victims find it impossible to complete their basic household tasks, such as grocery shopping and cleaning. Injury victims can seek compensation of up to $20 a day for up to 365 days for the costs they incur from hiring people to help them around the house.
• Death Benefits: PIP allows you to pursue up to $3,000 in death benefits if you lose a loved one in a pedestrian accident.
• Burial Costs: If you lose a loved one due to a pedestrian accident, you can claim up to $1,500 in burial and funeral costs.

Although PIP relieves you from the burden of proving that the driver that hit you was at fault, you are not permitted to claim compensation for all your losses. In order to seek full compensation for your losses, you must file a personal injury claim against the driver’s insurance company or another party, which is not allowed unless certain conditions are met.

Personal Injury Claim

If the facts of your case make you eligible to file a personal injury claim, you will be entitled to pursue much more damages than allowed with a PIP claim. To be considered eligible to file a claim, your case must meet one or more of the following criteria:

• A fatality occurred
• You suffered a dismemberment
• You were permanently disabled or impaired
• You suffered a permanent disfigurement
• Your medical expenses surpassed $3,000.

The damages available to you when you file a personal injury claim far surpass those available with a PIP claim and include economic and non-economic damages.

The economic damages you can pursue include full compensation for medical expenses incurred as a result of your accident instead of simply $3,000. This means you can pursue the funds you need to pay for future medical care and rehabilitation as well as funds to pay for medical equipment and devices.

Additionally, you can seek to recover 100% of your lost wages for the duration of the time you are out of work, which may be much longer than the 365 days of coverage available with PIP insurance coverage.

Non-economic damages, none of which are available from a PIP claim, cover the intangible losses you suffer after an accident. They are subjective and do not have built-in price tags like economic damages. Still, you can seek valuable monetary compensation for these damages, which include:

• Physical pain and suffering.
• Emotional distress and mental anguish.
• Loss of quality of life.
• Loss of consortium.

Unlike economic damages, non-economic damages are subject to a cap of $450,000.

In pedestrian accident cases, punitive damages may also be available. Punitive damages exist in car accident cases for the purpose of punishing and deterring willful and malicious conduct. For example, a driver who intentionally runs down a pedestrian would be subject to punitive damages.

More commonly, drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol may be made to pay punitive damages simply because they caused an accident while under the influence.

When punitive damages are awarded in pedestrian cases, the injured pedestrian receives the first $50,000 of the award, and the rest of the award is divided 50-50 between the injury victim and the state.