A Seattle pedestrian accident lawyer at Pendergast Law can take the insurance fight off your hands while you focus on healing. You were walking. You had no steel around you, no airbag, and no warning. A driver who was not paying attention changed the shape of your year, and now an adjuster is calling before you have finished your first round of appointments.
We have recovered more than $100 million for injured people across Washington, and our Seattle office sits on Pike Street, minutes from the downtown intersections where these collisions happen. Consultations are free, and we do not get paid until you do.
Call us at (206) 620-0707 to talk with someone today.
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Why Injured Pedestrians in Seattle Trust Our Firm
We are a Washington firm run by a Washington lawyer. Founder Joseph "J.P." Pendergast was born in Seattle, served as a King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, and built this practice in the community where he raised his family. That history matters when your claim turns on how a specific intersection actually behaves at 5 p.m. on a rainy Tuesday.
- Courtroom-tested background. Our founder's years as a prosecutor shape how we preserve evidence: immediately, and with an eye on how it will read to a jury.
- A published record. Our case results page reports verdicts of $2,150,000, $1,850,000 and $1,150,000, along with a wrongful death recovery for a man killed while walking.
- Recognition from peers. Super Lawyers, the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and life membership in the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
- Direct access. You work with your attorney, not a rotating queue of case managers.
- Service in English and Spanish, with someone available 24/7 when you call.
We take pedestrian cases on a contingency basis, so there is no retainer and no hourly bill. If you want to know where you stand before deciding anything, call (206) 620-0707 and ask.
What Does Washington Law Require a Driver to Do at a Crosswalk?
A driver must stop and stay stopped for you. Under RCW 46.61.235, an approaching driver shall stop and remain stopped to let a pedestrian cross within a marked or unmarked crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon, or within one lane of, the half of the roadway the vehicle is traveling on or turning onto.
Two further rules in that statute decide a surprising number of cases. A driver approaching from behind may not overtake and pass a vehicle already stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. And penalties double inside a school, playground or crosswalk speed zone.
Separately, RCW 46.61.245 requires every driver to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on any roadway, and to sound the horn when necessary. That duty applies everywhere, not only at intersections.
Unmarked Crosswalks Are Still Crosswalks
Washington creates a legal crosswalk at nearly every intersection, painted or not. Drivers often do not know this, and neither do the adjusters who open a file assuming no paint means no protection.
Our team maps the geometry of your crossing against the statute early, because that single question can move a claim from disputed to clear. We cover the right-of-way rules at unmarked crosswalks in more depth for readers who want the detail.
What If You Were Not Crossing at an Intersection?
You may still have a claim. RCW 46.61.240 requires a pedestrian crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk to yield the right of way to vehicles, which gives the insurer an argument. It does not give the insurer a win.
The driver's duty of due care survives your failure to yield. A driver who was speeding on Rainier Avenue South, looking at a phone, or turning without scanning can be held responsible for a share of the harm even when the crossing was mid-block.
Washington also protects people using a white cane, a service animal or a wheelchair with heightened driver obligations. The Washington State Department of Transportation publishes a plain-language summary of these duties, and it rarely matches what an adjuster tells an injured person on the phone.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATIONCan You Still Recover if the Driver Blames You?
Yes. Washington follows pure comparative fault under RCW 4.22.005, which provides that contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes compensatory damages proportionately but does not bar recovery. There is no 50% cutoff in this state.
In practice, the insurer's objective is a percentage. If you are assigned 25% of the fault, you recover 75% of your proven damages, so every point of that percentage is worth real money.
The blame-shifting we answer most often includes:
- You "darted out," when the driver simply never scanned the crosswalk
- You were wearing dark clothing on a dim winter evening
- You were looking at your phone, offered without evidence that it caused anything
- You had been drinking, raised to color the whole file rather than to explain the collision
Each of those claims is testable against video, signal timing and physical evidence, and we test them before an offer is ever discussed.
How a Seattle Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Builds Your Claim
The work that decides a pedestrian case happens in the first few weeks, while the record still exists. Camera footage from a business or a transit vehicle is often overwritten within days, and a witness who saw everything becomes a stranger nobody can name.
Here is what we take on once you call us:
- Evidence preservation. Letters go out immediately to businesses, transit agencies and the driver's insurer to hold footage, vehicle data and phone records.
- Scene documentation. We photograph sight lines from the driver's eye height, in comparable light and weather, and pull signal timing where a signal is involved.
- Medical picture. We coordinate with your treating providers so the file reflects your prognosis, not just your emergency-room visit.
- Insurance handling. Every adjuster call routes to us, including the recorded-statement request you are not required to give.
- Full damages accounting. Past and future medical costs, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and the pain and disruption that do not appear on a bill.
You will know what is happening at each stage, because keeping you informed is part of the job rather than a courtesy.
What Compensation Is Available in a Seattle Pedestrian Accident Case?
Washington law allows recovery for both economic and non-economic harm. Economic damages cover the measurable losses: hospital and surgical bills, physical therapy, prescriptions, assistive equipment, home modifications, lost wages and diminished future earning capacity.
Non-economic damages cover what the injury cost you as a person. Pain, sleep, independence, the ability to walk to Pike Place Market or pick up your own child.
Pedestrian injuries skew severe because there is nothing between a person and several thousand pounds of vehicle. Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, pelvic and leg fractures and degloving injuries all carry long treatment arcs, and a claim resolved before that arc is understood tends to leave the future uncovered.
When More Than One Party Is Responsible
Sometimes the driver is not the only one accountable. A commercial vehicle operator brings an employer into the claim, a rideshare driver brings a policy with different limits, and a dangerous crossing design can raise questions about the entity that built or maintained it.
These claims also overlap with cases we handle for other vulnerable road users, and our Seattle car accident attorneys work these files as one team.
Washington's Filing Deadline for Pedestrian Injury Claims
Three years is the general rule. RCW 4.16.080 sets a three-year limit on most personal injury actions in Washington, measured from the date of the injury.
Shorter deadlines can apply. A claim involving a city, county, transit agency or the state generally requires a formal claim filing before a lawsuit, and those windows are much tighter.
Because evidence disappears long before any legal deadline arrives, the practical timeline is weeks rather than years. A short call now costs nothing and tells you which clock applies to your situation.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATIONFAQs about Seattle Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
These are the questions injured pedestrians and their families ask us most often after a collision.
Who pays my medical bills while the claim is pending?
Several sources may apply before the at-fault driver's insurer pays anything. Your own auto policy's personal injury protection coverage can apply even though you were on foot, and health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid may cover treatment subject to reimbursement later. We identify the order of payment early so treatment is not interrupted.
What if the driver who hit me left the scene?
A hit-and-run does not necessarily end your claim. Uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy, or on a resident family member's policy, is designed for exactly this situation, and investigation sometimes identifies the vehicle through footage or debris analysis.
Does it matter that the police report says I was at fault?
A police report is evidence, not a verdict. Officers reach conclusions quickly, sometimes without video or independent witnesses, and civil liability is decided on the full record rather than a checkbox on a form.
Can I bring a claim if my child was hit while walking?
Yes, and the analysis differs for children. Washington evaluates a child's conduct against what is reasonable for their age and experience, and the filing deadline is generally tolled until a minor reaches 18. We handle these claims with the family's long-term needs at the center.
What happens if the driver has minimum insurance and my injuries are catastrophic?
We look past the driver's policy. Underinsured motorist coverage, an employer's commercial policy, an umbrella policy, or a third party's responsibility for the condition of the roadway can each add available coverage to a serious case.
How long does a pedestrian accident case take?
It depends on how long your treatment takes and how the insurer behaves. Claims that resolve in negotiation often take several months after treatment stabilizes, while a case that has to be filed and litigated runs longer. We will not push you to settle before your medical future is clear.
Do I have to go to court?
Most pedestrian claims resolve without a trial. We prepare every file as though it will be tried, because an insurer that sees a case ready for a jury negotiates differently.
Talk With Our Seattle Pedestrian Accident Team Today
You did nothing more dangerous than cross a street in your own city, and you should not be the one absorbing the cost of a driver's inattention. We are ready to handle the adjusters, the records and the deadlines while you put your attention where it belongs.
Pendergast Law serves Seattle from 520 Pike Street, Suite 1015, and we are available 24/7. Born here. Raised here. Staying here.
Call (206) 620-0707 now, or reach us through our contact form, for a free consultation with no obligation. SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION