Your Trusted Personal Injury Lawyers in Waterford, CT
While there are some very walkable parts of New London, such as downtown or in the waterfront area, other parts of the city can be challenging for pedestrians to navigate. One of the biggest risks that pedestrians face are accidents involving motor vehicles. These accidents often result in serious injuries to the pedestrian that carry significant financial and emotional impacts. If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, a New London pedestrian accident lawyer from Polito & Harrington can help you understand your legal options for seeking compensation through the personal injury claims process and may provide services to handle the claim on your behalf.
Several types of negligent driving behaviors can result in a pedestrian accident, including distracted or impaired driving, speeding, and failure to yield the right-of-way at crosswalks. When an accident occurs and a pedestrian is injured, they may be able to seek compensation by filing a claim against the liability coverage of the at-fault driver’s insurance policy. Vehicles operating on the roadways must have at least $25,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person and $50,000 per accident.
Claimants can seek two types of compensation after an accident, known as damages. Economic damages involve compensation for the costs incurred by the claimant due to the accident. This may include medical bills, lost wages, permanent loss of earning capacity, and other types of financial impacts from the injury. Non-economic damages involve compensation for the psychological impacts of the injury, such as pain and suffering or loss of the enjoyment of life. In some cases involving extreme recklessness leading to a pedestrian accident, punitive damages may also be awarded. This involves compensation not for the costs of the injury itself but as a form of financial punishment against the defendant. An attorney in New London will account for all damages in a pedestrian accident claim.
In most cases, pedestrian accident claims must be filed within two years of the date on which the accident occurred. Some cases will have a different deadline, however. Cases involving government liability may require the claim to be filed earlier than two years after the accident, while other cases may feature an expanded deadline to account for delayed discovery of injuries or other situations. It is important to speak with a pedestrian accident lawyer in New London about the statute of limitations for your case and to understand that this deadline involves the time the claimant has to file the lawsuit, not how long they have to contact the at-fault driver’s insurance company or how long they have to resolve the claim.
Pestrian accident claims can be challenging, requiring managing a deadline, gathering complex medical information about injuries, and negotiating with an insurance company whose goal is to keep payout on the claim as low as possible. An experienced pedestrian accident lawyer may provide numerous services to assist claimants in getting the compensation they need through the process, including valuing the claim, negotiating with the insurance company, filing a lawsuit, and preparing the case for trial if necessary.
If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, let our legal team tell you more about filing a personal injury claim and the services we can provide to handle your case. Contact us for a free case evaluation.
We are committed to provide personalized attention to each and every client’s case – no matter how large or small– because that is each client’s only case. We are proud of our firm’s reputation of combining integrity and compassion with an unflinching dedication to getting the right result. We will do what we say.
