Fall River Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Walking should never be dangerous, yet every year, dozens of pedestrians in Fall River and across Massachusetts are struck by motor vehicles, often in well-marked crosswalks, such as those on South Main Street near Government Center or along the busy Route 6 corridor. When a crash happens, the injured pedestrian is suddenly faced with medical bills, lost income, physical pain, and a maze of insurance rules. That is where the local knowledge and trial-tested experience of our team of Fall River pedestrian accident lawyers becomes indispensable.

Our Fall River personal injury law firm has extensive experience in handling pedestrian injuries and can help you obtain the maximum compensation you deserve.

• Pedestrian collisions almost always involve serious, sometimes catastrophic, injuries because the human body has no protection against a two-ton vehicle.
• Massachusetts applies a modified comparative negligence standard. Evenif you are partly at fault, you can usually still recover compensation provided your share of responsibility does not exceed 50 percent.
• Multiple layers of insurance may cover at-fault drivers: their liability policy, an employer’s commercial policy, and excess or umbrella coverage.
• Uninsured/under-insured motorist (UM/UIM) benefits on a family automobile policy often provide a crucial secondary source of recovery.
• Municipal defendants are subject to special notice under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, and defective roadway cases involve the application of engineering standards, sovereign immunity caps, and strict time frames.

Because these issues overlap, retaining counsel with deep experience in personal injury litigation in Fall River and local roadway design is critical to maximizing a pedestrian’s recovery.

• G.L. c. 89, § 11 requires drivers to yield by slowing or stopping when a pedestrian is within the same half of the roadway or comes within ten feet of it in a marked crosswalk.
• When traffic signals are absent or inoperative, the same statutory duty applies.
• Drivers must never overtake another vehicle that has stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
• Pedestrians retain the right-of-waywhen crossing on a walk signal or green light at a controlled intersection.
• Crossing outside a crosswalk is legal if the pedestrian yields to vehicles, but motorists still owe a general duty of reasonable care.

Failing to follow these rules can expose the driver and, in some cases, municipal agencies responsible for signal maintenance to civil liability.

Many clients worry that “jaywalking” or stepping off the curb before the signal changes bars them from compensation. In reality:

• Massachusetts follows a modified comparative negligence rule. If you are 50 percent or less to blame, your damages are reduced by that percentage, but you still collect the remainder.
• Insurance adjusters often exaggerate pedestrian fault; retaining an attorney allows for independent scene reconstruction to shift percentages back toward the driver.
• Even when fault seems shared, E.g., a pedestrian in dark clothing at dusk and a speeding, texting driver, the law may still favor the injured walker.

Our firm works closely with biomechanical experts and traffic-engineering consultants to allocate fault accurately.

• Distracted driving, including texting or using apps behind the wheel, is a primary collision factor in our case files.
• Excessive speed: Southbound Route 79 and the I-195 on-ramps funnel fast traffic onto city streets.
• Left-turn conflicts: Drivers turning from Plymouth Avenue into parking lot exits often fail to see pedestrians.
• Low-visibility conditions, including inadequate street lighting along North Main Street and seasonal darkness, increase the risk.
• School-zone violations: Henry Lord and Doran schools generate heavy foot traffic; ignoring a crossing guard’s stop signal is a statutory violation.
• Impaired driving: alcohol remains a factor in a significant share of statewide pedestrian fatalities.
• Improper backing: parking-lot crashes at Fall River Shopping Center frequently involve vehicles reversing into pedestrians.

Identifying the cause is essential because it dictates which regulations, evidence, and insurance policies apply.

• Seek emergency medical care even if injuries appear minor; internal trauma and concussions may not show symptoms for hours.
• Call 911 so that police can create an official crash report and document roadway conditions.
• Collect driver information(name, address, license, plate, insurance carrier) before the scene disperses.
• Document the environment, using your phone, photograph skid marks, crosswalk markings, traffic signalstatus, and any nearby surveillance cameras.
• Obtain eyewitness contacts, such as joggers, bus passengers, and store clerks, who can corroborate your narrative.
• Do not give recorded statements to the driver’s insurer without legal counsel; adjusters are trained to elicit admissions.
• Contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers promptly for representation, which helps preserve time-sensitive evidence, such as vehicle event-data recorder downloads and municipal traffic-camera footage.

These proactive measures often determine whether a case settles for fair value or requires protracted litigation.

• Economic losses: hospital bills, future surgical costs, assistive devices, physical therapy, and home modifications.
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity when injuries impede return to work or alter career trajectory.
• Non-economic damages: pain, suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium for spouses, and reduced quality of life.
• Scarring and disfigurement: Massachusetts juries may award separate compensation for visible injuries.
• Punitive damages in wrongful-death claims where gross negligence or wanton misconduct is proven (e.g., DUI, speeding over 20 mph above the limit).
• Survivor claims: the estate may pursue conscious pain and suffering endured before death.

Valuation requires the expertise of medical experts, vocational economists, and sometimes life-care planners to project long-term costs.

• Most pedestrian-injury lawsuits must be filed within three years of the collision date.
• Under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, claims against a Massachusetts municipality (e.g., defective sidewalk or malfunctioning light) must be presented in writing to the executive officer within two years. The lawsuit must be filed within three years.
• Wrongful-death actions share the same three-year limit, but the clock may start at the date of death rather than the date of injury.
• Minors generally have until three years after their 18th birthday, although evidence preservation becomes more challenging.

Missing a statutory deadline almost always results in permanent dismissal, making early legal intervention crucial.

• Rapid deployment of investigators to map skid distances, analyze lighting levels, and locate closed-circuit video.
• Collaboration with certified accident reconstructionists who model vehicle speed and braking based on crush damage and event-data recorder downloads.
• On-staff nurses prepare medical record chronologies to translate complex diagnostics into compelling exhibits.
• Negotiation leverage from our documented trial results prompted many insurers to settle rather than face a jury in Bristol Superior Court.
• Community-oriented approach: Weknow which intersections MassDOT plans to redesign and how local crash-history data can reinforce your negligence claim.

Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers treats every client as a neighbor because reputation is earned on a case-by-case basis in a mill city like Fall River.

• Blaming the pedestrian for “darting” into traffic, even when video proves otherwise.
• Cherry-picking surveillance clips that omit the moment a driver looked down at a phone.
• Lowball settlement offers are made before a full medical prognosis is known.
• Delay strategies are designed to push the claim past the statute of limitations.
• Recorded statements containing trick questions such as “How are you feeling today?” (Your polite “fine” can be spun as an admission of recovery.)

We counter with objective evidence, affidavits, and the credible threat of litigation, often forcing carriers to increase offers by multiples.

In 2024, Massachusetts recorded 78 pedestrian fatalities, a figure that continues to climb and disproportionately harms older residents and Environmental Justice neighborhoods like parts of Fall River’s Flint section. Each statistic represents a family forever altered. Our mission is to obtain individual justice for each client while advocating for safer streets through litigation, legislative outreach, and public education campaigns.

• Courts: Pedestrian suits are commonly filed in the Bristol County Superior Court, located on Pleasant Street, a venue known for juries that tend to empathize with injured plaintiffs.
• Dangerous spots: the Davol Street corridor, Middle Street at St. Anne’s Hospital, andRobeson Street rotary consistently appear in crash data.
• Road-design context: Ongoing MassDOT projects to remove the Route 79 expressway ramps create construction detours that affect pedestrian safety.
• Community witnesses: local business owners often have exterior cameras; knowing who to ask (e.g., café managers on South Main) can secure pivotal footage.

This hyper-local insight can shave months off the discovery process and pinpoint where municipal negligence may have played a role.

Q: “Do I need an attorney if the driver’s insurance has already accepted the fault?”

Yes. Acceptance of liability is only the first step; the fight now shifts to damage valuation, and unrepresented claimants routinely receive far less than the full value.

Q: “What if I were crossing outside a marked crosswalk?”

You can still recover damages if the driver had a reasonable opportunity to avoid hitting you. Comparative negligence merely reduces, not eliminates, recovery unless you have surpassed 50 percent of the fault.

Q: “How long will my case take?”

A straightforward claim with clear liability may settle within six to nine months; cases requiring litigation or expert testimony often run 18 months or longer, although we strive to expedite them whenever possible.

Q: “Will my medical bills be paid while the case is pending?”

Massachusetts Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage pays the first $2,000 of reasonable medical expenses (or up to $8,000 if you lack health insurance). Your health insurer covers the rest, subject to reimbursement from the final settlement.

Q: “What does legal representation cost?”

Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers operates on a contingency fee basis. You owe nothing unless we recover compensation for you.

Every pedestrian collision is unique, but they all share one truth: time is the enemy of evidence. If you or a loved one was hit by a vehicle in Fall River or anywhere in Bristol County:

• Call (508) 974-3304 or immediately use our secure online formfor a complimentary consultation.
• We can arrange home, hospital, or virtual visits if mobility is an issue.
• Hablamos español; nous parlons français; falamos português.

Let a law firm with decades of focused pedestrian-injury experience shoulder the legal burden so you can focus on healing.

Fall River Office

99 S Main St #350
Fall River, MA 02721
Phone: (508) 974-3304