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Chicago Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

We represent people struck by vehicles while on foot in Chicago, building the claim on Illinois right-of-way law and physical evidence rather than the driver's version of events, because the insurer's first move is almost always to argue you stepped out.

If a car hit you while you were walking, call us before you give any statement.

Pedestrian Crashes Are Not Minor, and Insurers Know It

18.4% - Share of all Illinois traffic fatalities that were pedestrians in 2024, up 11.3% from the year before

A person on foot has no crumple zone, no airbag, and no seatbelt. The same impact that dents a bumper breaks pelvises, shatters tibias, and causes bleeding inside the skull. That gap between vehicle damage and human damage is exactly what an adjuster points to when arguing your injuries could not be as serious as you say. We document the injury through treating physicians and, where the case calls for it, life care planners who can put a number on what the next thirty years will cost.

Who Has the Right of Way When a Pedestrian Is Hit at a Crosswalk?

Illinois law puts the burden on the driver. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1002, when traffic signals are not in place or not operating, a driver must stop and yield to a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk, whether the crosswalk is marked with paint or exists unmarked at an intersection. The statute goes further: once one vehicle has stopped at a crosswalk to let someone cross, a driver approaching from behind may not pass it. Those two provisions decide a large share of Chicago pedestrian cases.

The right of way is not unlimited. A pedestrian cannot leave a curb and step into the path of a vehicle that is too close to stop, and someone crossing outside a crosswalk owes the duty to yield instead. What matters is that neither of those facts ends a claim on its own.

How Chicago Pedestrians Get Hit

• A driver turning left or right across a crosswalk fails to check for anyone already crossing.
• A driver runs a red light or rolls a right turn on red into an occupied crosswalk.
• A driver looking at a phone never registers the person in front of the vehicle.
• A driver backing out of an alley, driveway, or parking space strikes someone on the sidewalk behind them.
• A driver passes a vehicle already stopped at a crosswalk and hits the person that vehicle stopped for.
• A rideshare or delivery driver stops mid-block, blocks sightlines, and forces a crossing where drivers do not expect one.

Each of those fact patterns leaves different evidence. Signal timing data, nearby business camera footage, vehicle event data, and the physical position of debris and impact damage often contradict what a driver told the responding officer. That evidence disappears quickly, which is the practical reason to bring in a lawyer early rather than after the insurer has built its file.

What to Do After Being Hit by a Car While Walking

Step 1:

Get evaluated the same day

Head and internal injuries frequently present hours later. A gap between the crash and your first medical record becomes the insurer's central argument that something else caused your symptoms.

Step 2:

Make sure a police report exists

Get the report number before you leave the scene if you are able to. If you were taken by ambulance, someone can request it afterward.

Step 3:

Photograph the location, not just your injuries

Crosswalk paint, signal placement, sightline obstructions, and skid marks matter more than most people expect, and the scene changes within days.

Step 4:

Decline the recorded statement

You are not required to give the driver's insurer a recorded statement, and early statements made on pain medication get used against claimants constantly.

Step 5:

Call before you accept anything

Once you sign a release, the claim is over, even if surgery follows a month later.

Can You Still Recover Damages If You Were Partly at Fault?

Yes, in most cases. Illinois follows modified comparative negligence under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116. If you share some responsibility for the collision, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and you are barred only if a jury finds you more than 50% responsible. Crossing mid-block or against a signal reduces a claim. It rarely eliminates one, and it is not the automatic defense insurers present it as.

This is also why the fault percentage becomes the entire fight in pedestrian cases. Moving a client's share of fault from 40% down to 10% changes the value of a serious claim by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that movement comes from evidence, not argument.

Results in Catastrophic Vehicle-Strike Cases

Pedestrian injuries sit at the severe end of the injury spectrum, alongside the bus, truck, and brain injury cases this firm has handled for years.

Firm attorneys have recovered between $525,000 and $7,925,000 for injured people across the Chicago area. Every case is personally overseen by Managing Partner R. Joseph Kramer, who spent more than a decade litigating against major corporations before founding the firm in 2018.

Pedestrian Accident Questions We Hear Most

Struck While Walking in Chicago? Let's Talk Today

Pedestrian claims are built in the first two weeks, while footage still exists and the scene still looks the way it did. Tell us what happened and we will tell you honestly what we think the claim is worth and what it will take. Free case evaluation, no fee unless we win, and someone answers at any hour.

Our pedestrian work overlaps heavily with the evidence and liability questions in car accident cases and bicycle accident cases, and it sits inside a broader personal injury practice covering every kind of serious harm.