Sarasota Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

A pedestrian hit by a car has no metal around them, no airbag and no crumple zone. The injuries are almost always worse than the driver's, and the driver is almost always the one still standing at the scene giving an account of what happened. By the time anyone asks the pedestrian what they saw, days have passed and the version already in the file is the driver's.

I am David Harris. I have represented injured people across Sarasota County since 2003, and pedestrian claims are among the ones where the first fortnight decides the most.

If you do not own a car, PIP may still be available through a resident relative's policy. Section 627.736 of the Florida Statutes sets the terms, including the one that catches people out: initial treatment must happen within fourteen days of the crash or the benefit is gone.

The other insurer's opening move is usually to point out that you crossed mid-block. Florida does require a pedestrian outside a marked crosswalk to yield to vehicles, so there is something real behind the argument. It is not the whole analysis.

A driver still owes a duty to keep a proper lookout and to drive at a speed reasonable for the conditions. On a lit commercial corridor with people visibly moving between plazas, or at dusk on a residential street near a school, that duty has teeth. What matters is the evidence:

The coverage that resolves those claims is uninsured and underinsured motorist protection on your own policy, which applies to you as a pedestrian just as it does behind the wheel. It is included on Florida policies unless rejected in writing, so many people hold it without knowing. It is the first thing I check.

Pedestrian cases turn on physical detail, and physical detail disappears. Plaza and doorbell cameras overwrite within one to two weeks. Roadway marks survive one rainstorm. Witnesses who stopped at the scene are strangers whose details exist only in the crash report.

That report is worth knowing about too. Section 316.066 makes a Florida crash report confidential for sixty days after filing, releasing it in that window only to the people involved and their representatives. The adjuster calling you on day three has not read it either.

Sarasota Memorial is the only trauma programme in the county and is where a serious pedestrian injury is taken. Nothing here is medical advice; get seen, and get seen inside fourteen days.

Call and you reach me, not a screener. I will tell you honestly whether there is a claim worth bringing. If there is, I handle it myself, and the fee comes out of the recovery or there is no fee.