Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Chicago for People Hit by a Car
We represent people struck on foot across Chicago and the seven counties around it, and we build the claim around the two things that decide it, the fault percentage the driver's insurer will argue for and the coverage layers most people never learn they have. All three of our largest published recoveries are people who were struck while outside a vehicle.
What Illinois Law Required of the Driver Who Hit You
Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1002(a), where traffic control signals are not in place or not operating, a driver must stop and yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk when that pedestrian is on the driver's half of the roadway, or approaching closely enough from the other half to be in danger.
That is not a courtesy. It is a duty written into the Illinois Vehicle Code, and it was in effect the moment you stepped off the curb. When a driver turns left across a marked crosswalk on a walk signal, or takes a right on red into a person already crossing, the violation is usually the clearest fact in the file.
Can I Still Recover If I Was Crossing Mid-Block?
Yes, in most cases. Illinois uses modified comparative fault under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116. Your claim is barred only if your own share of the fault is more than 50%. Below that line, your recovery is reduced by your percentage rather than erased.
This is the part the driver's insurance company will work hardest on, because shifting fault onto you is cheaper than paying the claim. None of the following ends a pedestrian claim in Illinois:
- Crossing mid-block instead of at the corner
- Stepping off the curb against a signal
- Wearing dark clothing at night
- Crossing a driveway apron, an alley mouth or a parking lot lane
- Looking at your phone in the seconds before impact
Each of those becomes an argument about percentage, and the argument gets made whether or not anyone answers it. We answer it with the scene measurements, the sight lines, the vehicle's speed and the driver's own account of what they saw and when.
Who Actually Pays a Chicago Pedestrian Injury Claim
There was no insurance policy on your body when the vehicle hit you, so the money comes from somewhere else, usually from more than one place. The layers stack in this order:
- The driver's bodily injury liability coverage, which is the first and often the smallest source
- Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which follows the person rather than the car, so a pedestrian who owns a vehicle frequently has coverage that applies even though they were walking
- A commercial policy where the vehicle was a delivery van, a rideshare, a work truck, a garbage truck or a bus, which typically carries far higher limits than a personal auto policy
- A resident relative's policy in some households, depending on how the policies are written
That second layer is the answer for a hit-and-run, and it is the one people are most surprised by. If the driver who hit you left the scene or carried nothing, your own policy may still be the source of the recovery.
Call (312) 492-7700
or email
info@lsblaw.net and bring us the police report. Finding the coverage is our job, not yours.
How Chicagoland Pedestrians Actually Get Hit
The crash reports we work rarely involve a driver speeding down an empty street. They involve a driver making a legal maneuver badly, at low speed, in a place where a person on foot was entirely expected. The recurring patterns:
- A left-turning driver at a signalized intersection who watched oncoming traffic instead of the crosswalk
- A right turn on red rolled into a marked crosswalk already occupied
- A driver pulling out of an alley, a parking garage exit or a driveway apron without stopping at the sidewalk line
- A vehicle backing out of a space at a suburban strip center lot
- A driver who failed to stop at a mid-block crosswalk or a school crossing
- A delivery driver double-parked, with a pedestrian stepping around the blind spot the truck created
- A passenger struck while boarding or stepping off a bus or a rideshare
Six-corner intersections, angled streets and the diagonal arterials Chicago is built on make some of these worse, because a driver's turning path crosses the crosswalk at an angle they are not looking down.
Filing Deadlines for a Pedestrian Claim, Including the Short One
Most pedestrian claims in Illinois run on a two-year clock. One important category does not, and the people who miss it are almost always people who assumed every deadline is the same.
- Two years from the date you were struck for a personal injury claim, under 735 ILCS 5/13-202
- Two years for a wrongful death claim, under 740 ILCS 180/2
- One year to file suit if a CTA bus or train was involved, under 70 ILCS 3605/41
- One year for a claim against most other local public entities, under 745 ILCS 10/8-101
If a CTA vehicle struck you,
the transit deadline is half the ordinary one and it starts running the day of the accident.
Why Pedestrian Injuries Run Severe, and What That Does to a Claim
Nothing absorbed the impact. There was no crumple zone, no airbag and no seat belt between you and the vehicle, and then there was a second impact with the pavement, the hood or the windshield. That is why the injury pattern in these cases sits at the serious end:
- Traumatic brain injury, including injuries with no visible wound at the scene
- Pelvic and acetabular fractures
- Tibia, fibula and femur fractures, often requiring hardware
- Spinal injury and disc herniation, sometimes requiring fusion
- Internal organ injury and degloving or crush injuries to the lower legs
Two of our three largest recoveries involved a traumatic brain injury, which is the injury insurers question hardest and document least. Serious injuries also draw
liens, where a health plan or a treating provider asserts a claim against your settlement, and how those are handled at the end determines what you actually keep.
Eight-Figure Results for People Struck Outside a Vehicle
$11 million
For a passenger struck by a CTA bus who suffered a traumatic brain injury. Settled during trial.
$8 million
Verdict for a woman struck by a CTA bus with orthopedic and traumatic brain injuries.
$5 million
For a University of Chicago student struck by a CTA bus while riding a bicycle, with foot, leg and pelvis injuries. Settled during trial.
$3 million
For a woman struck by a garbage truck, with low back injuries.
Every one of those clients was on foot or on a bicycle when a vehicle hit them. The garbage truck case is the pattern to look at if a commercial vehicle struck you, because a company vehicle brings both a larger policy and a defense team that arrives fast. Our full case results are published on the site.
Illinois Pedestrian Accident Lawyer for Chicago and Seven Surrounding Counties
Leonard S. Becker has worked as a pedestrian accident attorney in Chicago since 1993, and we take these cases throughout Chicago and Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry and Kankakee counties. If your injuries keep you from traveling, we come to your home or your hospital room, which matters more to a client with a pelvic fracture than to almost anyone else we represent.
Admitted in the Illinois state courts, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Member of the Illinois Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Federal Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois
Work covered by the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
More than thirty years of Chicago courtroom practice, with every case prepared as though it will be tried
Office at 311 N. Aberdeen, Suite 200D, Chicago, with parking and access from the CTA Blue and Green lines
If a relative did not survive being struck, the claim belongs to the estate and is handled as a
wrongful death case.
What Our Representation Costs You
The case evaluation is free and there is
no fee unless we recover compensation for you. The fee is one-third of the recovery, case expenses are reimbursed out of what is left after it, and medical bills and liens are paid before the balance reaches you.
Questions People Ask After Being Hit While Walking
What happens if a car hits me in a crosswalk in Chicago?
Where signals are not in place or not operating, 625 ILCS 5/11-1002(a) required the driver to stop and yield to you, so the violation is typically established by the crosswalk itself. Your claim then runs against the driver's liability coverage, and against your own uninsured or underinsured coverage if theirs is not enough. You have two years to file suit under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, or one year if the vehicle was a CTA bus.
Can I still get compensation if I was jaywalking in Illinois?
In most cases yes. Illinois applies modified comparative fault under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, which bars recovery only when your own share of the fault exceeds 50%. Crossing mid-block usually reduces a recovery by a percentage rather than ending the claim, and the percentage is negotiable and provable rather than fixed.
Who pays if a hit and run driver hit me while I was walking?
Uninsured motorist coverage follows the person, not the vehicle, so if you or a resident relative own an auto policy, that coverage can respond even though you were on foot. Report the crash to police and get the report number, because most policies require prompt reporting. We look at every policy in the household before concluding there is no coverage.
Do I have to give a statement to the driver's insurance company?
No. You have no obligation to give a recorded statement to the insurer of the driver who hit you, and adjusters call early for a reason. Anything you say while medicated or before the full extent of your injuries is known becomes part of the file permanently.
I felt fine at the scene and hurt the next day. Does that hurt my case?
It is common and it is explainable. Adrenaline masks pain, and closed head injuries and soft-tissue damage frequently present a day or two later. Get evaluated as soon as symptoms appear, because the insurer will point at the gap and the medical record dated closest to the crash is the one that answers them.
Who pays my medical bills while the claim is open?
Your health insurance, any medical payments coverage on your own auto policy, or a provider who treats you and asserts a lien against the eventual recovery. Compensation from the at-fault driver arrives at the end of the case, not during treatment. We negotiate the liens before funds are distributed so more of the settlement reaches you.
Do I have a case if a car hit me in a parking lot?
Often yes. A private lot does not remove a driver's duty to keep a lookout, and a backing driver who strikes a person walking behind their vehicle is usually the one at fault. Lot cases turn on security camera footage, which is on a short retention cycle, so the preservation request needs to go out quickly.
What if the vehicle that hit me was a delivery truck or a city vehicle?
A commercial vehicle usually means a much larger policy, plus a company that begins investigating within hours, so the claim is worth more and moves faster. If a public entity owned the vehicle, the deadline is shorter, generally one year under 745 ILCS 10/8-101, and one year for the CTA under 70 ILCS 3605/41. Those cases should be reviewed within weeks of the crash.
How much is a pedestrian accident claim worth in Chicago?
No honest lawyer answers that with a number on a first call. What actually drives the value is the cost of your medical care past and future, the income and earning capacity you lost, whether the injury is permanent, and how much coverage is available to pay. We will tell you which of those we think are strong in your case and which need proof we do not have yet.
The Insurer Is Already Building Its Version
The driver's adjuster started working on your fault percentage before you left the hospital. You have two years to file, or one if a CTA vehicle was involved, and the scene evidence has a much shorter life than either deadline. Call (312) 492-7700 or email info@lsblaw.net and we will tell you honestly what your claim looks like.