Massachusetts Pedestrian Accident FAQs

Massachusetts lost 76 pedestrians in traffic crashes in 2025, about one in five traffic deaths, according to WalkMassachusetts' annual report on MassDOT crash data. A person hit while walking has insurance rights that do not depend on owning a car, and drivers owe specific duties at crosswalks. These answers cover what is different for pedestrians.

Usually the personal injury protection (PIP) on the vehicle that hit you, whoever caused the crash. Under M.G.L. c. 90, § 34A, PIP extends to any pedestrian struck by the insured vehicle. It pays up to $8,000 in total for reasonable medical expenses, 75 percent of lost wages, and replacement services.

Section 34A defines "pedestrian" to include people operating bicycles, tricycles, and similar vehicles, and people on horseback. Riders of motorcycles, mopeds, and motorized bicycles are treated differently under PIP exclusions.

A few limits apply:

• If you are entitled to workers' compensation for the injury, for example because you were hit while working, PIP does not pay.
• If you have health insurance, PIP pays the first $2,000 of medical bills. After that, your health insurance pays first, and PIP covers what the health plan does not, such as copays and deductibles, up to the $8,000 total. If you have no health insurance, PIP can pay medical bills up to the full limit, and government coverage such as MassHealth can follow different rules.
• Present the PIP claim as soon as practicable, and in every case within two years, with a written description of your injuries (c. 90, § 34M).

Our pedestrian accident lawyers help injured walkers collect PIP and then pursue the driver.

You can still collect PIP from the policy on the vehicle that hit you, even if you own no car. If that vehicle was uninsured, the standard Massachusetts auto policy form pays PIP to the policyholder and household members struck by an uninsured vehicle, so a household member's policy may apply.

If no policy applies, Massachusetts has a backstop. Under M.G.L. c. 90, § 34N, the assigned claims plan provides PIP benefits to a Massachusetts resident injured by a motor vehicle who has no other PIP available. Owners of uninsured vehicles and their household members are not eligible. See our motor vehicle accident FAQs for how PIP and the tort threshold fit together.

Your own or a household member's uninsured motorist (UM) coverage can pay your injury claim. UM coverage is required on every Massachusetts auto policy (M.G.L. c. 175, § 113L), it includes hit-and-run vehicles, and the standard policy form covers the policyholder and household members injured as pedestrians.

Physical contact is not always required. In Surrey v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co., 384 Mass. 171 (1981), the Supreme Judicial Court held that a hit-and-run UM claim cannot be denied just because the unidentified vehicle never touched the claimant, though the claimant still has to prove the accident happened as described. That matters when a speeding driver forced you to dive out of the way.

In 2025, 17 percent of Massachusetts pedestrian deaths involved a hit-and-run, according to WalkMassachusetts. Report the crash to police right away and notify the insurer promptly; the policy sets its own notice deadlines. If the driver is identified later, M.G.L. c. 260, § 4B sets a special filing rule (six months after you learn who it was, never more than three years after the crash), and it depends on written notice to the police and the Registry of Motor Vehicles within 30 days of the crash. Our hit-and-run lawyers can help identify the driver and the coverage.

Yes. At a marked crosswalk without working signals, a driver must yield to a pedestrian who is on the driver's half of the road or approaching from the other half to within 10 feet of it (M.G.L. c. 89, § 11).

The statute adds rules drivers often break:

• A driver may not pass a vehicle stopped at a marked crosswalk to let a pedestrian cross.
• A driver may not enter a marked crosswalk while a pedestrian is crossing, even if the traffic signal says vehicles may go.

The fine is up to $200, and police must investigate when a pedestrian is injured in a marked crosswalk. Apart from crosswalks, any driver approaching a pedestrian on the traveled part of a road must slow down (M.G.L. c. 90, § 14).

You can still recover. Cities, towns, and state agencies adopt pedestrian rules under M.G.L. c. 90, § 18A, and that statute says a violation of any such rule "shall not, in any civil proceeding, constitute negligence or be admissible as evidence of negligence." Many local rules on crossing against signals and outside crosswalks are adopted this way.

That does not put your conduct off limits. The defense can still argue you were careless in other ways, such as stepping out from between parked cars without looking. Under M.G.L. c. 231, § 85, you recover as long as your fault is not greater than the combined fault of the drivers you sue, with damages reduced by your share. Video from nearby businesses, buses, and doorbell cameras often shows what really happened, but much of it is recorded over within days.

The driver owes the same duty of reasonable care in a parking lot as on the street, and PIP still applies to a pedestrian struck by an insured vehicle. Parking lots involve constant backing up, and a driver who backs out without looking for people on foot can be negligent.

A property owner may also be responsible if the lot's design or upkeep made the crash more likely, such as a storefront entrance with nothing to stop a car that jumps the curb. Read about pedestrian injuries in parking lots without bollards.

A child's claim works much like an adult's, with a few differences. If the defense argues the child was careless, the child's conduct is judged against what is reasonable for a child of similar age, intelligence, and experience, not an adult.

Drivers have special duties around children. For example, a driver approaching a stopped school bus with flashing red lights must stop and stay stopped until the lights are turned off (M.G.L. c. 90, § 14). Parents can claim the child's medical expenses, and when a child is seriously injured, parents also have a claim for loss of the child's companionship (M.G.L. c. 231, § 85X).

The filing deadline for a child's own claim generally does not start until the child turns 18 (M.G.L. c. 260, § 7). That does not extend the two-year deadline to present a written claim against a city, town, or state agency under M.G.L. c. 258, § 4 (George v. Town of Saugus, 394 Mass. 40 (1985)). Read about child pedestrian accidents.

No, the driver is responsible for the injuries the crash caused or made worse, even if a condition like osteoporosis or arthritis made them more severe. The claim covers the aggravation, not the condition as it was before.

Older pedestrians are hit hardest. In 2025, 43.4 percent of Massachusetts pedestrian deaths were people 65 or older, who make up about 18.7 percent of the population, according to WalkMassachusetts (as of September 2026). If Medicare paid for treatment, federal law gives Medicare a right to be repaid from the recovery (42 U.S.C. § 1395y(b)(2)), and that has to be resolved before the money is distributed. Read about pedestrian accidents and older adults.

The family's claim is brought by the executor or administrator of the estate under M.G.L. c. 229, § 2, and the crosswalk and hit-and-run rules on this page apply to it the same way. The WalkMassachusetts report found about 70 percent of 2025 pedestrian deaths happened in the dark and about 70 percent on local streets, and noted that deaths more than 30 days after a crash are often missing from official counts.

Our wrongful death FAQs explain who can file, who receives the recovery, and the deadlines.

Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Glassman, founding attorney. Updated September 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts.