What to Do If You’re Hit by a Car While Walking in a Crosswalk

Legally Reviewed by Phillip Younglove, Esq. on August 5, 2026

If you were hit by a car while walking in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, your first priorities are getting medical care, calling the police to create an official report, and avoiding any statement that could be read as accepting blame, all of which help protect both your health and your ability to pursue compensation. Because pedestrians have no seatbelt, airbag, or vehicle frame to absorb the force of a collision, even a low-speed crosswalk accident can cause fractures, head trauma, or worse, and the steps you take in the hours and days that follow can shape the strength of your claim.

Younglove Law Group represents people recovering from a pedestrian accident across Orange County and throughout California, and our personal injury attorneys have guided pedestrian accident victims through the medical bills, insurance calls, and paperwork that follow a crosswalk collision. Our goal is to make sure you know what to expect at each stage of a crosswalk injury claim, from the first phone call to a final resolution.

Why Crosswalk Accidents Often Cause Severe Injuries

A crosswalk accident is rarely a minor fender bender. When a vehicle strikes a pedestrian, the person on foot absorbs the full force of the impact, often in two stages: the initial collision with the vehicle and a second impact when they land on the pavement. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 7,080 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes nationwide in 2024, and more than 71,000 were injured, which works out to a pedestrian death roughly every 74 minutes.

Many of these crashes happen at intersections and crosswalks, where drivers turning, failing to yield, or driving distracted collide with pedestrians who otherwise have the legal right of way. A vehicle making a turn without checking for a pedestrian already in the crosswalk, a driver stopped for one pedestrian while a second vehicle passes illegally in an adjacent lane, and a car backing out of a driveway or parking space are among the most common patterns behind these crashes. Understanding how common and how serious these accidents can be is part of why acting quickly and deliberately after your own accident matters so much.

Immediate Steps to Take After Being Hit in a Crosswalk

The moments following a pedestrian accident are critical for both your health and any potential legal claim. Taking the right steps immediately after the incident can protect your well-being and preserve important evidence for your case.

Seek Medical Attention Right Away

Your health should always be the top priority after any accident. Even if you feel fine initially, adrenaline can mask serious injuries that may not become apparent for hours or days. Call 911 immediately to request emergency medical services, and allow paramedics to evaluate your condition. Some injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries or internal bleeding, may not produce obvious symptoms right away but can be life-threatening if left untreated.

Call the Police and Get an Official Report

California law requires drivers to report accidents involving injury or property damage exceeding $1,000. The responding officer will create an official accident report documenting the circumstances of the crash, and this report can serve as valuable evidence in your personal injury claim. When speaking with the officer, provide an honest account of what happened, but avoid speculating about fault or making statements that could later be interpreted as admitting responsibility.

Document the Scene and Avoid Discussing Fault

If your injuries allow, collecting evidence at the scene can significantly strengthen your case. Photograph the crosswalk, traffic signals, vehicle damage, and your visible injuries from multiple angles, and note the exact location of impact and any skid marks on the roadway. Obtain the driver’s name, phone number, driver’s license number, and insurance information, and gather contact details from any witnesses. While you do this, stick to the facts. Avoid apologizing, guessing about what happened, or telling the driver or witnesses that you feel fine, since casual remarks can later be used to suggest you shared blame or were not seriously hurt.

Protect Your Claim in the Days That Follow

Once the immediate scene has cleared, what you do in the following days and weeks can matter almost as much as your actions in the first few minutes. A few habits tend to make the biggest difference in how insurers evaluate a crosswalk claim.

• Be cautious with the driver’s insurer. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver’s insurance company, and it is wise to speak with an attorney before discussing injuries or fault with them.
• Attend every follow-up appointment. Consistent medical care shows both your treatment team and any insurer how the accident continues to affect you.
• Track your expenses and lost income. Save receipts for medical bills, prescriptions, and transportation, and keep a record of missed work.
• Be careful what you post online. Insurance adjusters sometimes review social media for posts that could be used to question the extent of your injuries.

Following these habits will not undo the accident, but it can meaningfully strengthen the record supporting your claim if you later decide to pursue compensation.

Your Rights as a Pedestrian Under California Law

California law generally gives pedestrians the right of way in crosswalks. Under California Vehicle Code Section 21950, a crosswalk does not need to be painted to exist legally. In many cases, the portion of a roadway connecting sidewalks at an intersection where two streets meet at approximately right angles is considered a legal crosswalk, whether or not it is marked, unless local authorities have posted signage prohibiting pedestrian crossing there. Drivers are required to yield to pedestrians in these crosswalks, and a failure to do so is often strong evidence of negligence.

California also follows a pure comparative fault system, which means that even if you bear some responsibility for the accident, you may still recover damages proportional to the other party’s share of fault. A police report suggesting you were partly at fault is not the final word on liability, which is one reason it is worth having an attorney review the circumstances independently before you accept an insurer’s version of events.

Drivers also owe pedestrians a general duty of care beyond the specific crosswalk statutes. A driver who is speeding, distracted, or otherwise failing to keep a reasonable lookout for pedestrians near an intersection, a school zone, or a parking lot exit may still be negligent even in situations where the crosswalk rules are less clear-cut. Because these fact patterns vary so widely, the specific roadway configuration and signage at your accident location often matter a great deal to how liability is ultimately assessed.

How Fault and Liability Are Determined After a Crosswalk Accident

In most crosswalk accidents, the driver who struck you bears primary responsibility for negligence such as speeding, distraction, failure to yield, or impaired driving. Investigators typically look at traffic signal timing, witness statements, the police report, and any available surveillance or dashcam footage to reconstruct what happened.

Liability is not always limited to the driver, however. If a poorly designed intersection, an obscured crosswalk, or a malfunctioning traffic signal contributed to the accident, a city, county, or state transportation agency may share responsibility, and claims against government entities generally involve a much shorter filing window than claims against a private driver. If the driver was working at the time of the crash, such as a delivery or rideshare driver, their employer’s commercial insurance policy may also be a source of recovery. Sorting out which parties may be responsible is often one of the more complex parts of a crosswalk case, and it is rarely something a pedestrian can evaluate alone in the days after an accident.

Insurance adjusters investigating a crosswalk claim often look for any detail that could shift a larger share of fault onto the pedestrian, from the timing of a walk signal to whether you were looking at your phone. Building a strong record of the roadway conditions, signal timing, and independent witness accounts as early as possible can make it considerably harder for an insurer to dispute what actually happened.

Common Injuries in Crosswalk Pedestrian Accidents

Pedestrian accidents often result in severe injuries because of the significant difference in size and weight between vehicles and human beings. Traumatic brain injuries are unfortunately common, since victims often strike their heads on the vehicle or pavement during impact, and these injuries can range from mild concussions to severe brain damage that affects cognitive function.

Broken bones and fractures frequently occur when pedestrians are struck by vehicles, with the force of impact capable of fracturing the legs, arms, ribs, pelvis, or skull, and some fractures may require surgical intervention to heal properly. Spinal cord injuries represent some of the most devastating consequences of pedestrian accidents, as damage to the spinal cord can result in partial or complete paralysis that dramatically alters a victim’s quality of life. In the most serious cases, a crosswalk accident results in a fatality, which may allow surviving family members to pursue a wrongful death claim on behalf of the person who died.

Beyond the physical injuries themselves, many crosswalk accident victims also experience road rash, deep lacerations, and lasting psychological effects such as anxiety around traffic or difficulty walking near roadways again. These emotional and less visible injuries are a legitimate part of a personal injury claim, and documenting them with a treating physician or mental health provider can help ensure they are accounted for alongside more obvious physical trauma.

Special Situations in Crosswalk Accidents

Not every crosswalk accident follows the same pattern, and a few recurring scenarios raise additional considerations. When a driver flees the scene after striking a pedestrian, your own uninsured motorist coverage often becomes the primary path to compensation, provided the vehicle made contact with you, and surveillance footage from nearby businesses can be critical to identifying the driver before it is overwritten.

Children struck while crossing the street present their own challenges, since young pedestrians are harder for drivers to see and are not held to the same standard of care as an adult when comparative fault is assessed. Crosswalk accidents in parking lots and at night or in low-visibility conditions also tend to raise disputes over whether the driver could reasonably have seen the pedestrian in time to stop, which is often where careful reconstruction of the scene, lighting, and signage becomes especially important to a claim.

What Compensation May Be Available After a Crosswalk Accident

California law allows injured pedestrians to pursue both economic and non-economic damages, and the specific damages available depend on the facts of each case. Economic damages can cover emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, ongoing rehabilitation, future medical care, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity if your injuries affect your ability to work. Non-economic damages may compensate for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and the lasting impact of your injuries on your daily life.

In cases involving particularly reckless conduct, such as a hit-and-run or an impaired driver, additional damages may also be available. Because every crosswalk case involves a different mix of injuries, insurance coverage, and liable parties, the value of a claim can vary significantly, and an attorney can help you understand which forms of compensation may apply to your specific circumstances.

Most crosswalk claims resolve through a negotiated settlement with the at-fault driver’s insurer, though some cases proceed to litigation when an insurer refuses to offer a reasonable amount given the injuries involved. Either path generally benefits from the same foundation: thorough medical documentation, a clear account of how the accident happened, and evidence establishing who was at fault. Building that foundation early, rather than waiting until an insurer disputes the claim, tends to give injured pedestrians the strongest negotiating position.

Statute of Limitations for California Pedestrian Accident Claims

Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1, most pedestrian accident personal injury claims must generally be filed within two years of the date of the accident. If a government entity, such as a city or state transportation agency, bears responsibility for a road or crosswalk defect, a government tort claim typically must be filed within six months of the accident date, well ahead of the two-year deadline.

Missing either deadline can permanently bar your ability to recover compensation, regardless of how strong your case might otherwise be. Because it can take time to determine whether a government entity played a role in your accident, contacting an attorney as soon as possible after a crosswalk accident helps preserve every option available to you.

How Younglove Law Group Can Help After a Crosswalk Accident

If you have been injured in a crosswalk accident, protecting your legal rights should be a priority as you focus on your recovery. At Younglove Law Group, our car accident attorneys bring over 20 years of combined experience to pedestrian and crosswalk accident claims throughout Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and the surrounding Orange County communities, and our firm has recovered over $60 million for injured clients to date.

Our team can conduct a thorough investigation of your accident, work with medical professionals to document your injuries, and negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf. We handle pedestrian accident cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no legal fees unless we recover compensation for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Crosswalk Accidents

If you or a family member was injured while walking in a crosswalk, our attorneys have over 20 years of combined experience investigating pedestrian accidents, documenting injuries, and pursuing compensation from insurers on behalf of injured Californians, and we handle every case on a contingency fee basis so you owe nothing unless we recover for you.

No two crosswalk accidents unfold the same way, and the steps you take now can affect the options available to you later. For a free consultation, get in touch with Younglove Law Group so our team can review what happened, explain your options, and help you decide on the strongest path forward.