Long Island Pedestrian
Accident Attorney

Understanding Pedestrian Accident Law in New York

Pedestrian accidents are among the most devastating events in personal injury law. Unlike occupants of a vehicle — who are protected by seatbelts, airbags, and a steel frame — pedestrians have nothing between them and a two-ton vehicle traveling at speed. The injuries are almost always severe, the medical costs are enormous, and the impact on the victim's life is often permanent. New York law recognizes this vulnerability and provides strong protections for pedestrians, but recovering full compensation requires an attorney who understands how to navigate the legal and insurance complexities of these cases.

Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) §1151, pedestrians have the right of way in marked crosswalks when the traffic signal is in their favor. Drivers must yield to pedestrians who have lawfully entered a crosswalk, and a failure to yield is a traffic infraction that establishes negligence per se in a civil action. VTL §1152 governs pedestrian crossings at locations other than crosswalks — while pedestrians must yield to vehicles in those situations, drivers still have obligations to exercise due care.

VTL §1146 — sometimes referenced alongside Leandra's Law for its emphasis on driver responsibility — imposes a duty on every driver to exercise due care to avoid striking a pedestrian. This statute applies regardless of whether the pedestrian was in a crosswalk, and it creates a powerful tool for establishing liability. A driver who hits a pedestrian can rarely argue they had no duty to avoid the collision.

New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule under CPLR §1411. This is critically important in pedestrian accident cases because insurance companies almost always try to shift blame to the pedestrian — claiming they jaywalked, were distracted by their phone, or wore dark clothing at night. Even if a jury assigns some fault to the pedestrian, the victim can still recover. A pedestrian found 30% at fault for crossing outside a crosswalk who suffers $1,000,000 in damages would still recover $700,000. Even at 80% fault, the pedestrian recovers 20% of damages. This pure comparative negligence system makes it worth pursuing a claim even when liability is not clear-cut.

The statute of limitations for pedestrian accident claims is generally three years from the date of the accident under CPLR §214. However, if a government entity is involved — a county vehicle, a state-maintained road, or a municipal traffic signal malfunction — you must file a notice of claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e. No-fault PIP coverage applies to pedestrians struck by motor vehicles, providing up to $50,000 in medical and lost wage benefits through the driver's auto insurance. Filing a no-fault application within 30 days of the accident is essential to preserving these benefits.

Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents on Long Island

Long Island's mix of suburban sprawl, high-speed arterials, aging infrastructure, and heavy traffic creates a uniquely dangerous environment for pedestrians. Understanding the common causes of pedestrian accidents helps establish liability and strengthens your claim.

Distracted driving

Texting, scrolling through apps, adjusting GPS navigation, and phone conversations divert a driver's attention from the road during the critical moments when a pedestrian enters their path. A driver looking at their phone for just five seconds at 30 mph covers the length of a football field without seeing the road. VTL §1225-c prohibits the use of handheld electronic devices while driving, and a violation creates a strong presumption of negligence.

Failure to yield at crosswalks and intersections

Drivers who roll through crosswalks, make aggressive turns through pedestrian traffic, or ignore yield-to-pedestrian signs are responsible for a significant portion of pedestrian accidents on Long Island. This is particularly common at busy intersections where drivers are focused on gaps in vehicle traffic rather than watching for people on foot.

Left-turn accidents

Left-turning vehicles are disproportionately involved in pedestrian fatalities nationwide. The driver's attention is focused on oncoming traffic and finding a gap to turn — not on the pedestrian entering the crosswalk from the driver's right. The pedestrian is often in the driver's blind spot, and the impact occurs with the front of the vehicle at near-full turning speed.

Speeding in residential areas and school zones

Speed is the single largest determinant of pedestrian injury severity. A pedestrian struck at 20 mph has a 95% survival rate. At 40 mph, the fatality rate climbs to 85%. Drivers who speed through residential neighborhoods, school zones, and commercial districts dramatically increase the likelihood of striking a pedestrian and the severity of injuries when they do.

Drunk and impaired driving

Alcohol and drug impairment reduces reaction time, impairs judgment, and creates tunnel vision — all of which make it far more likely that a driver will fail to see a pedestrian until it is too late. Impaired driving is a factor in a disproportionate number of fatal pedestrian accidents, particularly during evening and nighttime hours.

Poor visibility

Nighttime, dawn, dusk, and adverse weather conditions significantly increase pedestrian accident risk. Many Long Island roads lack adequate street lighting, and crosswalks are often poorly illuminated. When visibility is reduced, the burden on drivers to operate at safe speeds and remain vigilant increases — but many drivers fail to adjust their behavior to conditions.

Backing vehicles in parking lots and driveways

Pedestrians are struck by backing vehicles in shopping center parking lots, residential driveways, and commercial loading areas with alarming frequency. Children and elderly pedestrians are particularly vulnerable because they may not be visible in the driver's mirrors or rear camera view. Drivers have an absolute duty to ensure the path behind them is clear before reversing.

Running red lights and stop signs

Drivers who blow through red lights and stop signs create some of the most violent pedestrian impact scenarios because the pedestrian has every reason to believe they are safe to cross. These accidents often involve high vehicle speeds and devastating injuries. Red-light camera evidence and intersection surveillance footage are critical in these cases.

Pedestrian Accident Injuries

Because pedestrians have no protective barrier, the injuries sustained in vehicle-pedestrian collisions are typically far more severe than those in vehicle-to-vehicle accidents. The human body simply cannot absorb the force of a moving vehicle without catastrophic consequences.

Traumatic brain injuries

Pedestrians struck by vehicles frequently suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from impact with the vehicle hood, windshield, or pavement. TBIs range from concussions that resolve over weeks to severe brain damage that causes permanent cognitive impairment, personality changes, memory loss, and the inability to live independently. These injuries may not be immediately apparent — symptoms can emerge hours or days after the accident — making immediate medical evaluation essential.

Spinal cord injuries and paralysis

The violent force of a vehicle striking a pedestrian can fracture vertebrae and damage the spinal cord, resulting in partial or complete paralysis. Paraplegia (loss of lower body function) and quadriplegia (loss of function in all four limbs) require lifelong medical care, adaptive equipment, home modifications, and full-time assistance. The lifetime cost of spinal cord injury care can exceed $5 million.

Broken bones and fractures

Pedestrian accidents commonly cause fractures of the pelvis, hips, legs, ankles, arms, and ribs. The pelvis and lower extremities absorb the initial impact from a vehicle's bumper and hood, while arms and wrists fracture as the victim braces for impact or is thrown to the ground. Complex fractures often require surgical repair with plates, screws, and rods, followed by extensive rehabilitation and physical therapy.

Internal organ damage

The blunt force trauma of a vehicle striking a pedestrian's torso can cause internal bleeding, ruptured organs (spleen, liver, kidneys), and damage to the lungs and diaphragm. Internal injuries are life-threatening emergencies that may not produce visible external symptoms. Emergency surgery is often required, and victims may face organ removal, long-term complications, or permanent impairment.

Soft tissue injuries and road rash

When a pedestrian is thrown to the pavement, the resulting road rash can strip away multiple layers of skin, requiring skin grafts and leaving permanent scarring and disfigurement. Deep contusions, torn ligaments, and muscle damage cause chronic pain and limit mobility for months or years. Insurance companies downplay these injuries, but the impact on daily life can be devastating.

Emotional trauma and PTSD

Survivors of pedestrian accidents frequently develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, depression, and a debilitating fear of walking near traffic. These psychological injuries are compensable under New York law and can be as disabling as physical injuries — preventing victims from working, socializing, or leaving their homes without extreme anxiety.

Wrongful death

Tragically, many pedestrian accidents are fatal. When a loved one is killed by a negligent driver, the deceased person's estate can bring a wrongful death action under EPTL §5-4.1, seeking compensation for the family's pecuniary loss — the financial support, services, and guidance the deceased would have provided. The personal representative of the estate may also pursue a survival action for the victim's conscious pain and suffering prior to death.

Dangerous Intersections and Roads on Long Island

Long Island has some of the most dangerous roads for pedestrians in the New York metropolitan area. High traffic volumes, wide multi-lane arterials, inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, and aggressive driver behavior combine to create corridors where pedestrian accidents cluster.

Route 110 (Walt Whitman Road) — the corridor running through Huntington Station, Melville, and Farmingdale — is one of Suffolk County's most dangerous roads for pedestrians. The combination of commercial traffic, high speeds, and limited crosswalk infrastructure makes crossing Route 110 hazardous, particularly near shopping centers and bus stops where pedestrians are forced to cross multiple lanes of fast-moving traffic.

Hempstead Turnpike, stretching across Nassau County from the Queens border through Hempstead, Levittown, and beyond, consistently ranks among Long Island's most dangerous pedestrian corridors. Its wide lanes, high speeds, and heavy commercial traffic create conditions where drivers frequently fail to yield to pedestrians crossing at intersections and marked crosswalks.

Sunrise Highway pedestrian crossings — particularly in the Bay Shore, Islip, and Patchogue areas — present serious dangers for pedestrians navigating between commercial areas on opposite sides of this major east-west arterial. The highway's design prioritizes vehicle throughput over pedestrian safety, with crosswalk distances that leave pedestrians exposed to traffic for extended periods.

Northern Boulevard in Nassau County, Main Street corridors in Huntington, Farmingdale, and Patchogue, and school zones throughout both counties are additional high-risk areas for pedestrian accidents. New York State Department of Transportation crash data consistently identifies these corridors as pedestrian accident hotspots, and our firm's experience handling cases along these roads gives us a strategic advantage in understanding the specific hazards involved.

What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident

The actions you take in the minutes, hours, and days after being struck by a vehicle directly affect the strength of your legal claim and the compensation you can recover. Follow these steps to protect your rights:

How Insurance Companies Handle Pedestrian Claims

Insurance companies handle pedestrian accident claims with the same objective they bring to every claim: pay as little as possible, as quickly as possible. Understanding their tactics is essential to protecting the full value of your case.

The most common strategy is blaming the pedestrian. The insurer will argue you were jaywalking, crossing against a signal, distracted by your phone, wearing dark clothing at night, or walking outside the crosswalk. They use comparative fault aggressively because every percentage point of fault they can attribute to you reduces their payout proportionally. Even in cases where the driver ran a red light, the insurance company will look for any argument that shifts partial blame to the pedestrian.

Disputing the severity of injuries is another standard tactic. Insurers will argue that your injuries are not as bad as claimed, that your symptoms are exaggerated, or that pre-existing conditions are responsible for your current medical problems. They request extensive medical records going back years to find any prior complaint that could be used to attribute your injuries to something other than the accident. They send you to their own "independent" medical examiners — doctors who regularly testify on behalf of insurance companies and whose opinions predictably minimize injury severity.

Lowball settlement offers arrive early — often before you have finished medical treatment and before the full extent of your injuries is known. A quick $25,000 offer for what turns out to be a traumatic brain injury requiring years of cognitive rehabilitation and costing hundreds of thousands in future medical care would be a catastrophic mistake to accept. Once you sign a release, you cannot go back for more money. Insurance companies know that injured pedestrians facing mounting medical bills and lost income are under financial pressure, and they exploit that vulnerability.

Surveillance and social media monitoring are increasingly common. Insurers hire investigators to follow you, photograph you at the grocery store or picking up your children, and use that footage to argue your injuries are exaggerated. They monitor your Facebook, Instagram, and other social media accounts — a single photo of you smiling at a family gathering can be used out of context to undermine your pain and suffering claim. Having an experienced attorney changes the negotiation dynamic. Insurance companies know the difference between an unrepresented pedestrian they can pressure and an experienced trial lawyer who will take the case to a jury.

New York Pedestrian Safety Laws

New York has enacted a comprehensive framework of pedestrian safety laws that protect walkers and create liability for drivers who violate them. Understanding these statutes is critical to proving fault in a pedestrian accident case.

VTL §1151 — Pedestrians' right of way in crosswalks. When traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle must yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing within a marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. This is the foundational statute for pedestrian right-of-way claims, and a driver's violation of this section constitutes negligence per se — meaning the violation alone establishes the breach of duty element in a negligence case.

VTL §1152 — Crossing at other than crosswalks. A pedestrian crossing a road at any point other than within a marked or unmarked crosswalk must yield the right of way to all vehicles. However, this does not absolve drivers of their separate duty under VTL §1146. Even when a pedestrian is crossing outside a crosswalk, the driver must still exercise due care to avoid the collision.

VTL §1146 — Drivers to exercise due care. Every driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian and must give warning by sounding the horn when necessary. This overarching duty applies everywhere — crosswalks, intersections, mid-block crossings, parking lots, and residential streets. It is the statute most frequently cited in pedestrian accident lawsuits because it applies in virtually every scenario.

Right of Way laws and speed regulations provide additional protections. Speed limits of 15 mph in school zones and 25 mph in residential areas reflect the recognized danger that speeding poses to pedestrians. Drivers who exceed posted speed limits in these zones face enhanced liability in civil actions. Hit-and-run drivers face criminal penalties under VTL §600, including felony charges if the pedestrian suffers serious physical injury or death, and the criminal case can provide powerful evidence for the civil claim.

About Jason Tenenbaum, Esq.

Jason Tenenbaum has represented injured Long Islanders since 2002. With over 24 years of experience handling personal injury cases in Nassau and Suffolk County courts, he brings a depth of knowledge and a level of commitment that comes only from decades of practice in this field.

Unlike many firms that hand off appeals and trial work to separate attorneys, Jason writes his own appeals — over 500 to date — and tries his own cases. The attorney who builds your case is the one who argues it before the judge and jury. This continuity means nothing falls through the cracks, and the legal strategy remains consistent from your first consultation through resolution. If your case goes to court, we also help you prepare — from what to wear to how to address the judge.

Jason's deep familiarity with Long Island's roads, its courts, its judges, and the insurance defense firms that represent the drivers and companies on the other side gives his clients a genuine strategic advantage. He leads a team of experienced attorneys supported by multilingual staff who serve the diverse communities of Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Whether your pedestrian accident case requires aggressive negotiation with an insurance company or presentation before a jury, you get the full weight of his experience behind your claim.