New Orleans Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
A pedestrian struck in Orleans Parish usually ends up in a case that turns on two things: who was at fault, and how much of that fault gets assigned to the person on foot. Louisiana changed the fault rules for newer accidents, and a pedestrian found mostly responsible can now walk away with nothing. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people across New Orleans and South Louisiana, and a New Orleans pedestrian accident lawyer at the firm can start building the fault picture before an insurer builds its own.
The firm handles personal injury cases including car and truck accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death, alongside its long-standing focus on injured workers. That pairing matters here, because pedestrian cases often involve a delivery driver, a commercial truck, or someone hit while on the job.
Pedestrian injuries are rarely minor. A person on foot has no frame around them, so fractures, spinal damage, head trauma, and hip and pelvic injuries are common outcomes. The decisions you make in the first days, about statements, medical records, and evidence, shape the value of the claim for months afterward.
The Fault Rule That Can Decide Your Pedestrian Case
Louisiana Civil Code article 2323 governs how fault is divided. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing. Below that line, the award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Accidents that happened before that date remain under the older pure comparative fault rule, where recovery is reduced but never barred.
That 51 percent line changes how insurers handle pedestrian claims. Expect the adjuster to look for any argument that you crossed outside a crosswalk, stepped out between parked cars, ignored a signal, or were looking at a phone. Even a modest finding of fault against you reduces the award, and a majority finding ends the claim. In a jury trial, jurors are told about the 51 percent consequence directly.
Mississippi works differently. Under pure comparative negligence, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault but never eliminated. If your accident happened across the state line, that distinction changes the strategy considerably.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Pedestrian Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured people throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, with clients across New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, Jackson, the Gulf Coast, and the Delta. The firm’s attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience and have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Clients are never charged up front: consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and fees are collected only if there is a recovery. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language from the first call. Hablamos español.
Back, neck, hip, and spine injuries are the backbone of the firm’s results. A $685,000 settlement for a surgical tech with a lower back injury and $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury reflect the kind of serious orthopedic cases pedestrians often suffer. The firm also secured $385,000 for a project manager with back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, a reminder that the firm knows how to untangle cases where a work connection and a negligent third party overlap.
Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both Partners, have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers. Andrew Rueff has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and has argued personal injury and insurance cases before state appellate courts. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team. The firm was also ranked by Best Law Firms for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Clients consistently describe a team that listened, communicated, and pushed back against insurance companies on their behalf.
Common Ways Pedestrians Get Hurt in New Orleans
- Crosswalk and Intersection Collisions: Turning vehicles that fail to yield to walkers in a marked crosswalk are among the most frequent causes. Busy corridors around the French Quarter, the Central Business District, and Magazine Street see heavy foot traffic mixed with delivery vehicles and rideshare drivers.
- Hit-and-Run Crashes: A driver who flees leaves you without a name or policy. Your own uninsured motorist coverage may become the main source of recovery, so the policy language matters.
- Commercial and Delivery Vehicle Strikes: Box trucks, beverage and food delivery vehicles, and tour operators share narrow streets with pedestrians. The employer behind the driver can be a liable party, and company policies and driver records become evidence.
- Parking Lot and Garage Accidents: Pedestrians are hit while crossing lots at shopping centers, hospitals, and hotels. Poor lighting, bad sightlines, or negligent property design can add a premises liability claim.
- Broken Sidewalk Falls and Hazards: Uneven slabs, tree-root heave, and missing curb cuts are widespread in older neighborhoods. Claims involving public property carry shorter notice requirements and different rules than claims against private owners.
- Events and Nightlife Crowds: Festival crowds, parade routes, and late-night foot traffic create impaired and distracted drivers. Intoxication evidence against the driver can matter, and your own conduct may also be scrutinized.
- Work-Related Pedestrian Injuries: Someone struck while running a job errand, directing traffic, or working near a roadway may have both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate claim against the driver. The two must be coordinated carefully.
- Wrongful Death Cases: When a pedestrian dies, surviving family members may bring a claim under Louisiana’s wrongful death statute, with a distinct timeline described below.
What to Do After You Are Hit as a Pedestrian in New Orleans
Get medical care first, even if you feel mobile. Adrenaline hides fractures, concussions, and spinal injuries, and a gap between the crash and your first treatment gives the insurer room to argue the injury came from something else. Ask for a police report from the responding agency, and make sure it names every driver and witness you can identify.
Gather what disappears fast. Photograph the scene, the vehicle, skid marks, signage, crosswalk markings, and any broken pavement. Look for surveillance cameras on nearby businesses and ask them to preserve footage; many systems overwrite within days. Collect names and numbers of anyone who saw it happen. Keep the shoes and clothing you wore.
Be careful with the other driver’s insurer. Adjusters often call within days and ask for a recorded statement. Anything you say about where you were walking, whether you looked, or whether you were hurt can be used to push your fault percentage toward that 51 percent line. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer, and you should speak with a lawyer before you do.
Mind the clock. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s general tort deadline under Civil Code article 3493.1 is two years from the day the injury is sustained. Earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. In a wrongful death case, article 2315.2 allows the longer of one year from the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained. If a government entity is involved, such as a city-maintained sidewalk or a public vehicle, shorter notice rules can apply, so raise it immediately.
Cases in Orleans Parish are typically heard in the civil district court for the parish, and appeals go to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard parishes. Federal court in New Orleans may come into play if a claim involves parties from different states or a federal defendant. Most pedestrian cases settle before trial, but preparing as though the case will be tried is what drives a fair offer.
How Pedestrian Cases Get Valued and Where Insurers Push Back
Compensation can include medical bills, future treatment, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Serious pedestrian injuries often mean surgery, long rehabilitation, and permanent limits, so the long-range medical picture drives value more than the first emergency room bill. Your treating doctors’ records, imaging, and opinions about permanent restrictions are central evidence.
Insurers push back in predictable ways. They argue you were outside a crosswalk, that a pre-existing condition explains your pain, or that treatment gaps show you recovered. The firm’s experience answering pre-existing condition arguments in back and spine cases carries over directly: degenerative findings on an MRI do not erase a crash that aggravated them. Building the medical record that ties the injury to the collision is the core of the work.
If you were also working when you were hit, your employer’s workers’ compensation carrier may pay medical bills and wage benefits while the injury claim proceeds. The comp carrier can have reimbursement rights from the third-party recovery, so the two claims have to be handled together rather than separately.
Pedestrian Accident Questions Answered
How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident lawsuit in Louisiana?
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the general deadline is two years from the day the injury was sustained. Injuries before that date fall under the earlier one-year period. Shorter notice rules may apply when a public body is involved.
What if I was partly at fault for being hit?
For accidents arising on or after January 1, 2026, a person found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and anything lower reduces the award proportionally. Earlier accidents remain under pure comparative fault. How fault is argued and proven becomes a major part of the case.
Does it matter if I was outside a crosswalk?
It can affect the fault split, but it does not automatically end your claim. Drivers still owe a duty to watch for pedestrians, and visibility, speed, lighting, and distraction all factor in. Evidence of the driver’s conduct can offset arguments about where you crossed.
What happens if the driver left the scene?
Report it to police immediately and preserve any camera footage. Your own uninsured motorist coverage may respond if the driver is never found. Reviewing your policy early avoids surprises.
Can I recover if the driver had no insurance or minimal coverage?
Possibly, through your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, or through other liable parties such as an employer or a negligent property owner. Identifying every possible source of recovery is part of building the case.
Will health insurance pay my bills while the claim is pending?
Often yes, and using it keeps treatment moving. The health plan may later claim reimbursement from a settlement, so keep records of what it paid. Delaying care because of a pending claim usually hurts both your recovery and the case.
What if my loved one died after being struck?
Louisiana law allows eligible family members to bring wrongful death and survival claims. The timeline is the longer of one year from the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained. Speak with a lawyer quickly to preserve evidence and protect those deadlines.
I was hit while making a delivery for work. Is this a comp case or an injury case?
Possibly both. Workers’ compensation can cover medical care and wage benefits regardless of who was at fault, while a separate claim against the driver can address damages comp does not. The firm’s workers’ compensation focus makes it well positioned to coordinate the two.
Should I talk to the other driver’s insurance adjuster?
You can give basic identifying information, but you do not have to give a recorded statement. Statements about where you were walking and how you felt are often used to assign fault to you. Get legal guidance first.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a pedestrian accident with seemingly minor injuries?
Injuries that seem minor early on, like neck, back, and shoulder pain, can turn into surgical cases. A lawyer can protect you from signing a release before the full extent of the injury is known. Because the firm works on a no recovery, no fee basis, the free consultation costs you nothing to learn where you stand.
Do I need a lawyer if the accident happened in Mississippi?
Mississippi pedestrian claims follow different rules, including pure comparative negligence and its own filing deadlines. The firm represents injured people in both states, so a crash on the Gulf Coast or in Jackson can be handled by the same team.
Serving Pedestrian Accident Victims Across New Orleans and South Louisiana
From the French Quarter and the Central Business District through the Garden District, Uptown, and Mid-City, the firm represents pedestrians hurt across Orleans Parish. Clients also come from Algiers, Gentilly, the Marigny, Bywater, Treme, Lakeview, the Lower Ninth Ward, and New Orleans East. Beyond the city, the team works with injured people in Metairie, Kenner, Harahan, and Gretna, as well as neighboring areas in Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parishes.
The firm’s reach extends throughout South Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, and north to Shreveport and across north Louisiana. In Mississippi, the team serves Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and communities across north Mississippi. Wherever the crash happened, the same attorneys who handle serious injury and work injury claims can review your case.
Talk to a New Orleans Pedestrian Accident Attorney Today
If a driver hit you or someone you love, a New Orleans pedestrian accident attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain how Louisiana’s fault rules apply to your date of injury, and start preserving evidence before it disappears. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, the consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers for you. Call today and tell us what happened.
