Great Neck Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Motorists are expected to remain alert for pedestrians walking along roads and crossing intersections and to yield to people on foot in many situations. Unfortunately, many motorists fail to exercise proper caution when driving and cause pedestrian accidents in Great Neck. An unprotected pedestrian can be severely injured or killed if struck.
Pedestrian accidents are an all-too-common occurrence in Nassau County and throughout Long Island, despite efforts to make the community a safer place for pedestrians to travel.
Filing a claim against a motorist after a pedestrian accident may seem like a straightforward process. But many drivers and insurance companies try to shift blame to pedestrians, even when the driver had a legal responsibility to yield the right of way. If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident caused by a motorist, you need dedicated, experienced legal representation to be sure the insurance company is held accountable for the full extent of your injuries and financial losses related to your pedestrian accident. You may have a right to demand compensation for medical treatment expenses, long-term care costs, lost wages or income potential, pain and suffering, and loss of quality of life.
After a serious accident, contact the Great Neck pedestrian accident attorneys at the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP, today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your accident and to learn more about your rights and options for seeking compensation for your injuries and damages. Call us at (866) 878-6774 or fill out the contact form on our website.
What Is a Pedestrian Accident?
A pedestrian accident includes any accident where a pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle. Motorists have a legal obligation to yield to pedestrians in many circumstances. A motorist who fails to yield when required may be held liable after a pedestrian accident. There are more than 300 pedestrian fatalities across the state of New York each year and thousands of pedestrians sustain injuries as a result of being struck by vehicles in New York.
Great Neck Pedestrian Safety
Pedestrian safety has become a serious issue in the Villages of Great Neck and Great Neck Plaza on the north shore of Long Island. Some local governments on the Great Neck peninsula have undertaken road and walkway improvement projects to calm traffic and make it safer for pedestrians to share roads with vehicles.
A significant portion of the population is over the age of 65. When crossing the road, seniors move more slowly and react less quickly than younger individuals. They are at greater risk of being struck by a motorist who fails to yield to a pedestrian crossing a Great Neck intersection.
In response, Great Neck Plaza has installed multiple features throughout the village to improve pedestrian visibility and crosswalk safety, including four-way stop-controlled intersections near heavily pedestrian-trafficked areas, using contrasting colors to increase the visibility of crosswalks, extending curbs to shorten crossing distances, using fencing to direct pedestrians to marked crosswalks, installing splitter islands in rotaries to allow pedestrians to cross one direction of traffic at a time, and installing overhead illumination to warn motorists of pedestrians in the crosswalk.
Pedestrian Fatally Struck in 2016
In 2016, a 43-year-old man was struck and killed by a vehicle along Middle Neck Road near Station Plaza in Great Neck. The man’s widow later organized safety events to raise awareness of the dangers of crossing Middle Neck Road and other roads throughout Great Neck. She noted that in October 2018, there had been three individuals who had been hit on Middle Neck Road within the past month, including a 71-year-old man who suffered serious head injuries.
Why Is It a Problem?
Pedestrian accidents have been a problem in Great Neck for numerous reasons including the fact that some pedestrians attempt to cross the street outside of marked crosswalks. Even pedestrians who use crosswalks cannot be completely confident that motorists will see them and bring their vehicles to a stop, or that motorists are even aware they are approaching crosswalks and must yield to pedestrians. The lack of adequate parking and traffic congestion in Great Neck also contribute to pedestrian accidents in the community.
Drivers Speed Regularly
Speeding motorists also greatly contribute to pedestrian accidents in Great Neck. They pose a hazard to the numerous pedestrians walking to the Long Island Rail Road train station in Great Neck Plaza and to people shopping in downtown Great Neck. A speeding motorist has less time to stop for a pedestrian who crosses in the vehicle’s path.
What to Do If You’ve Been Hit by a Car in Great Neck
If you or a loved one has been struck by a vehicle in Great Neck, you should take the following steps to secure your rights and options for seeking compensation for your injuries and damages:
- Call 911 or the police to report your accident and to receive emergency medical attention if you’ve been seriously injured.
- Document the accident scene. If possible, take or have someone you know take photos or video to document the accident, including any damage to the vehicle that hit you, any skid marks on the road, the traffic controls at the scene, and lighting, weather, road, and traffic conditions. Try to get short statements or contact information from any eyewitnesses to the accident.
- Get contact and insurance information for the driver that hit you, so that you can file a claim if necessary.
- Seek medical treatment, even if you don’t feel like you were seriously hurt. It can take anywhere from several hours to several weeks for pain and other symptoms of injuries to appear. However, your doctor or another medical provider may be able to diagnose injuries that you suffered through an examination, even if they are not apparent to you.
- Stick with your treatment instructions and recommendations. Be sure to follow the recommendations of your medical providers. If you don’t, the other driver’s insurance company may argue that you weren’t as seriously injured as you claim in the accident.
- Follow up with a Long Island pedestrian accident attorney who can help you understand your legal rights and evaluate your claim options following your accident. An attorney can negotiate with the at-fault driver’s insurance company on your behalf and file a lawsuit if it becomes necessary.
Call a Great Neck Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
If you or a family member has been injured in a pedestrian accident, you may be entitled to compensation from the driver who hit you. You need aggressive, experienced legal representation to give you the best chance at maximizing the compensation you receive from your pedestrian accident claim.
At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP our attorneys bring more than a century of collective experience to bear to help injured pedestrian accident victims pursue full financial compensation for their injuries. Our attorneys have successfully helped clients recover millions of dollars in compensation through negotiated settlements and winning verdicts at trial.
When you hire the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP to represent you in your pedestrian accident case, you’ll get a team of attorneys and legal professionals dedicated to providing you with the focused legal service you deserve. You will work directly with our law partners Richard Jaffe and Stephen Cohen on your case. Unlike other firms, we don’t make you deal with gatekeeper paralegals and secretaries. We return all calls and emails within 24 hours. Clients also receive Attorney Richard Jaffe’s cell phone number for 24/7 accessibility if you have questions. If you can’t make it to our office because you are confined to home or the hospital, we can make arrangements to visit you or speak with you in a video conference call.
Our firm understands the great strain that being in a pedestrian accident can put on you and your family. As a trained EMT, attorney Richard Jaffe has seen firsthand the serious nature of injuries suffered by victims of pedestrian accidents. We work hard to help you resolve the day-to-day issues that arise following your accident, such as finding doctors and other medical providers and dealing with persistent insurance adjusters on your behalf so that you can focus on your recovery.
When you’ve been injured in a pedestrian accident, don’t wait another day to start the process of pursuing the compensation you need to move forward after a serious injury. Call the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP at (866) 878-6774 or fill out the contact form on our website to schedule a free consultation with one of our Great Neck pedestrian accident attorneys to discuss the details of your case and learn more about your legal rights.
