Being hit by a car while walking leaves you with injuries no one else in the collision has, and a Houston pedestrian accident lawyer can make sure that difference actually shows up in your claim. AP Law Group represents people struck while crossing Main Street downtown, walking through Midtown, and cutting across parking lots off Westheimer. There was no bumper, no airbag, and no seat belt between you and a vehicle.
The driver's insurer usually starts with one question: What were you doing in the road? We answer it with the traffic code, the crosswalk, and the physical evidence.
Call AP Law Group at (713) 913-4627 for a free, no-obligation consultation. You only pay if we win.
Who Is at Fault When a Pedestrian Is Hit by a Car in Houston?
In most crosswalk collisions, the driver is at fault because Texas law puts an affirmative duty on the person behind the wheel. Fault is not automatic, though, and it is not decided by the police report alone. It is decided by where you were, what the signals showed, and what each person did in the seconds before impact.
Several parties beyond the driver may share responsibility:
- An employer, if the driver was on the clock in a delivery vehicle, work truck, or company car
- A rideshare or delivery platform, when the driver was active on the app at the time
- A property owner or parking operator, when blocked sightlines, missing striping, or broken lighting created the hazard
- A contractor, when a sidewalk closure funneled foot traffic into a live lane without a safe detour
- A government entity, when a signal malfunctioned or a crossing was left unmarked where one was required
Sorting out who is responsible is not academic. Each additional party often brings additional insurance coverage, and serious pedestrian injuries routinely exceed what a single driver's policy will pay.
Distraction is frequently the real cause, and it is provable. Phone records, in-vehicle infotainment logs, and delivery app timestamps can show what a driver was doing when they entered the crosswalk. Those records are obtainable, but they generally require formal legal steps rather than a polite request.
What Texas Right-of-Way Law Requires of Drivers
Chapter 552 of the Texas Transportation Code governs pedestrians, and Section 552.003 is the provision that matters in most cases. When there is no working traffic signal, a driver must stop and yield to a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk. A driver approaching from behind a vehicle already stopped for a pedestrian may not pass it.
The word "stop" got there in 2021. The Lisa Torry Smith Act amended the statute to require a complete stop rather than a rolling yield, and it added Section 545.428, which makes it a criminal offense to injure a pedestrian or other vulnerable road user in a crosswalk through criminal negligence. A citation or charge under that section is powerful evidence in the civil case.
The duties run both ways. A pedestrian may not suddenly step off a curb into the path of a vehicle that has no room to stop, and under Section 552.005, a pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk must yield to traffic. Those provisions are exactly what an insurer reaches for, which is why pedestrian right-of-way laws in Texas deserve a closer read than the adjuster will give them.
What Damages Can You Recover After Being Hit by a Car?
A pedestrian claim covers the full range of what the collision costs you, not just the bills that arrive first. Pedestrian injuries tend to be more severe than occupant injuries in the same crash, and the value of a claim has to account for that honestly.
- Emergency care, surgery, hospitalization, and imaging
- Rehabilitation, assistive devices, and future medical treatment
- Lost income, and reduced earning capacity when you cannot return to the same job
- Physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and physical impairment
- In-home care and modifications when an injury affects mobility long-term
Our pedestrian accident attorneys in Houston do not assign a number to a case until the medical picture is clear. An early offer almost always arrives before anyone knows how well you will recover.
Some losses are easy to overlook because no invoice ever documents them. A parent who can no longer lift a toddler, a tradesperson who cannot kneel through a full shift, or someone who stopped walking their usual route out of fear has suffered something real. We ask about daily life in detail because that is where impairment actually shows up.
Family members may have their own claims as well, depending on the circumstances and the severity of the injury. That is worth raising early rather than discovering it late.
How Do You Prove a Houston Pedestrian Accident Claim?
You prove it with the record of the scene, and most of that record has a short life. Camera systems overwrite, striping gets repainted, and witnesses who stopped to help are strangers you may never see again.
Here is what we go after first:
- Crash report, 911 audio, and the responding officer's field notes
- Video from nearby businesses, garages, apartment buildings, and traffic cameras, because surveillance footage can prove your claim when accounts conflict
- Signal timing and pedestrian phase data from the intersection
- Photographs of crosswalk markings, curb ramps, sightlines, and lighting conditions
- Vehicle damage patterns, which indicate speed and point of impact
- Medical records tying each injury to the collision rather than to anything prior
- Witness statements taken while memories are still specific
We also take over contact with the insurance company. You should not be giving a recorded statement about fault from a hospital bed.
Where Houston Pedestrian Crashes Happen
Location shapes the claim because it determines which law applies and what evidence exists.
Downtown and Midtown Crossings
Wide one-way streets, turning traffic, and dense foot traffic near the theater district and the Main Street corridor produce a particular kind of collision: a driver turning through a crosswalk on a green light. These cases are usually well documented, since pedestrian accidents in downtown Houston tend to happen where cameras are plentiful.
Parking Lots and Garages
Grocery lots, medical center garages, and shopping centers along Westheimer and the Southwest Freeway feeder roads see backing and low-speed impacts. Private property changes who controls the video and who may be responsible for the layout.
Bus Stops and Transit Access
Riders crossing mid-block to reach a stop, or stepping out from in front of a stopped bus, face sightline problems that are not their fault. Establishing what a driver could actually see is central here.
Unlit Arterials and Feeder Roads
Long stretches of major roads with sparse crossings and poor lighting leave people walking where no marked crosswalk exists for blocks. That does not end a claim, but it does change how it must be built.
School Zones and Neighborhood Streets
Reduced speed limits and posted warnings raise the standard of care a driver owes, and violations are often documented by the time officers arrive.
Tell us where it happened, and we can usually tell you what evidence is likely to still exist.
Why Injured Pedestrians Choose AP Law Group
Founder Arsha Pourghaffar was born and raised in Houston. He studied petroleum engineering at the University of Texas before earning his JD from the University of Houston Law Center, and he served a judicial internship for the Honorable Kenneth M. Hoyt in the Southern District of Texas.
He is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Houston Bar Association, and he volunteers with the Houston Food Bank.
- You work with the founder. Arsha Pourghaffar handles the firm's cases personally rather than passing them down a chain.
- Engineering habits applied to evidence. Speed, stopping distance, lighting, and sightlines get analyzed, not assumed.
- Houston knowledge that matters. We build claims around the specific intersection, ordinance, and camera coverage involved.
- Recoveries on the record. Our published results include a $2.95 million recovery.
- No fee unless we win. The consultation is free and carries no obligation.
Your case is not just a number to us, and we stand by your side through treatment, negotiation, and trial if it comes to that. Reach us at (713) 913-4627 whenever you are ready to talk.
How Long Do You Have to File a Pedestrian Accident Claim in Texas?
Two years from the date of the collision, under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. That is the deadline for filing a lawsuit, and it is not a target to aim for.
Some situations run on shorter clocks. A claim against a city, transit authority, or state agency requires formal written notice well before the two-year mark, and missing that notice can end an otherwise strong case. Claims involving an injured child follow separate timing rules.
FAQs Answered by Our Houston Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
These come up constantly in our first conversations with injured pedestrians and their families.
What if I was crossing outside a crosswalk?
You may still have a claim. Crossing outside a crosswalk means you owe traffic the right of way, but it does not give a driver permission to hit you, and drivers still owe a duty of reasonable care. Whether it reduces your recovery depends on the specifics, including visibility, speed, and whether the driver was distracted.
Can I recover if I was partly at fault?
Yes, provided your share of the responsibility is not greater than 50 percent, under Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Your recovery is then reduced by your percentage. Because that percentage changes what you take home, insurers fight hard to push it upward.
The driver left the scene. Do I have any options?
Often yes. Uninsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy may apply even though you were on foot, and hit-and-run drivers are identified more frequently than people expect once nearby video is collected quickly.
Will my health insurance have to be paid back?
Sometimes. Health plans, Medicare, and Medicaid may assert a right to reimbursement out of a settlement, and the amount is frequently negotiable. Handling those claims properly is part of the work, and it directly affects what reaches you.
How long will my case take?
Clear liability and completed treatment can mean a few months. Serious injuries take longer because a case cannot be valued fairly until your recovery has stabilized. We will tell you where yours realistically sits rather than promising a date.
What should I do if an adjuster asks for a recorded statement?
Talk to a lawyer before agreeing. Recorded statements are taken early for a reason, and questions about where you were looking or how fast you were walking are designed to build a comparative fault argument.
Does it cost anything to have you review my case?
No. The consultation is free, there is no obligation, and we work on a contingency fee, so you only pay if we win.
Speak With a Houston Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
You did not have a vehicle around you, and you should not have to carry the cost of someone else's inattention. The sooner we start, the more evidence there is still to find.
Call AP Law Group at (713) 913-4627, or reach out through our Houston office, for a free consultation with no obligation. We are here to listen, and you only pay if we win.