Nashville Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

A pedestrian has no steel frame, no airbag, and no seat belt, so a crash at ordinary city speeds can end in a fractured pelvis, a brain injury, or a death. That physical reality drives everything about these claims. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette represents injured people and grieving families across Tennessee, and our Nashville pedestrian accident lawyer team handles cases involving walkers, joggers, and people crossing streets who were struck by cars, trucks, and delivery vehicles.

Nashville’s growth has put more people on foot in places that were designed around cars: downtown and the Gulch at night, the Broadway entertainment district, campus-area crosswalks, and long suburban corridors with few sidewalks or lit crossings. Drivers turning on a green light, drivers leaving parking lots, and drivers who look at a phone for two seconds cause a large share of these collisions. The injured person is often left explaining a crash they barely remember while an insurance adjuster is already building a story about where they were walking.

Where Pedestrian Crashes Come From in Nashville

• Turning Vehicles at Signalized Intersections: Drivers making left or right turns while watching oncoming traffic instead of the crosswalk are a leading cause of pedestrian impacts, especially downtown and around busy intersections where walk signals and turn signals overlap.
• Distracted Driving: Tennessee’s Hands Free law bars drivers from holding a phone, reading or sending text-based messages, or watching video behind the wheel. A violation is a Class C misdemeanor, and evidence of phone use can matter a great deal to fault in a civil claim.
• Impaired Drivers: A per se alcohol limit of 0.08% applies in Tennessee, and impairment evidence can change both a criminal case and the damages available in a civil one. Late-night crashes near bars and event venues often raise this issue.
• Hit-and-Run Collisions: When a driver leaves the scene, the injured person may need uninsured motorist coverage, which our attorneys handle alongside other uninsured motorist cases.
• Parking Lots and Driveways: Backing vehicles and drivers cutting through lots at shopping centers, hotels, and apartment complexes strike pedestrians who are never looking for a car to come from that direction.
• Commercial and Delivery Vehicles: Box trucks, delivery vans, buses, and tractor-trailers have large blind spots. When an employer’s vehicle is involved, the company, its insurer, and sometimes a maintenance or staffing contractor may share responsibility.
• Roads Without Safe Pedestrian Space: Missing sidewalks, faded crosswalks, broken signals, and poor lighting can point to a property owner or a government entity, which brings its own notice and deadline rules.
• Fatal Pedestrian Crashes: When a pedestrian dies, the family may bring a wrongful death claim covering lost income, medical and funeral expenses, and the value of the life lost.

How Fault Is Decided When a Pedestrian Is Hit

Drivers owe a duty of reasonable care to people on foot, and that duty does not disappear because someone crossed mid-block or stepped out from between parked cars. It does, however, give the insurer something to argue. Tennessee uses modified comparative fault. If a jury finds you less than 50 percent responsible, you can recover, but your award is reduced by your percentage. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred. That single line is why adjusters spend so much effort on questions like whether you were in a marked crosswalk, whether you had the signal, what you were wearing, and whether you were looking at your phone.

Fault can also be assigned to people who are not even parties to the lawsuit, and Tennessee has abolished joint and several liability in most negligence cases. In practice, that means identifying every responsible party early matters. A driver who struck you, a company that employed that driver, and a property owner who left a crossing dark may each carry a share, and an empty chair at trial can reduce what you collect.

Evidence is what answers these arguments. Traffic and business surveillance video is routinely overwritten, vehicle event data can be lost once a car is repaired or sold, and witnesses scatter. A Nashville injury attorney who moves quickly can send preservation demands, photograph the scene before conditions change, and obtain the police report, 911 audio, and phone records where distraction is suspected.

Why Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for a Pedestrian Injury Claim

Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette is a Tennessee personal injury firm with more than 170 years of combined attorney experience and over $100 million recovered for clients. Our work is built around serious injury and wrongful death, including car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle cases, and we regularly try those cases to juries rather than settling them for whatever the first offer happens to be. We serve injured people in Nashville and across Tennessee, and a free consultation costs nothing. If your injuries make travel difficult, we can meet you at home or in the hospital.

Pedestrian cases are won on the details of fault, so the trial record of the lawyers behind the case matters. Co-founder Bruce D. Fox has tried more than 125 jury trials in state and federal court, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and is a past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, which gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Partner Brad C. Burnette holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating and sits on the association’s Board of Governors, as does partner John Willis.

Two of our partners spent the early years of their careers defending insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses. They know how adjusters value a pedestrian claim and where defense lawyers look for the comparative fault argument, which is exactly the argument that decides these cases. Our results reflect serious-injury work: $3.4 million for the family of a man killed in a rear-end collision, $2.3 million for a motorcyclist who lost a leg when a driver struck him and fled, and $1.9 million after a mother was killed and her daughter seriously injured by a driver who failed to yield. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Our attorneys are also voted among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by CityView Magazine. We work on contingency, so there are no attorney fees in a personal injury case unless we recover compensation for you. Hablamos español, and trial attorney Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish.

Serving Pedestrian Accident Clients Across Nashville and Middle Tennessee

We represent people hurt on foot throughout Nashville, from downtown, the Gulch, and the Broadway area through the neighborhoods and corridors where walking and heavy traffic collide. Clients come to us from across Davidson County and the surrounding region, and we also represent people from Memphis, Johnson City, and everywhere between. Our reach extends east through the rest of Tennessee, including Knoxville, Maryville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Clinton, and LaFollette, and across Knox, Sevier, Blount, Anderson, Roane, Campbell, Claiborne, Morgan, Jefferson, and Monroe counties. Visitors hurt in Tennessee who live elsewhere can work with us without making repeated trips back, and we keep them updated by phone and email.

What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident in Nashville

Get medical care first, and do not minimize your symptoms at the scene. Adrenaline hides fractures and head injuries, and a gap between the crash and your first treatment gives an insurer room to argue the injury came from something else. Nashville has major trauma facilities, and following through on every recommended test and appointment creates the record your claim will rest on. Call 911 so officers respond and a police report is written; if you can, ask for the report number and the names of any witnesses.

Photograph the location, the vehicle, your injuries, torn clothing, and anything that explains the crash, such as a missing signal, a blocked crosswalk, or poor lighting. Note nearby businesses with cameras, because video is often erased within days. Do not give a recorded statement to the driver’s insurer, and do not accept a quick payment that asks you to release your claim. Early offers tend to arrive before the full cost of treatment is known.

The deadline matters more than most people realize. Tennessee personal injury lawsuits generally must be filed within one year of the injury, and in a death case the year runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death. The period can extend to two years when criminal charges are brought against the person who caused the injury, the prosecution begins within a year, and you sue that same person. Claims against a city or other governmental entity fall under the Governmental Tort Liability Act, which requires filing within 12 months and caps damages at $300,000 per person and $700,000 per occurrence. If the injured pedestrian was under 18, the clock is tolled until the minor turns 18. Property damage claims carry a separate three-year deadline.

Cases in Davidson County are heard in the state’s trial courts, and a federal claim would be filed in the U.S. Most pedestrian claims resolve through negotiation with the insurer, but we prepare each one as if it will be tried, because that preparation is what moves an offer.

Damages, Caps, and Insurance Limits in Tennessee

Economic damages, meaning medical bills, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and future care, are not capped in Tennessee. Noneconomic damages for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life are generally limited to $750,000, rising to $1 million for a defined catastrophic loss such as paraplegia or quadriplegia, amputation of two limbs, severe burns over large portions of the body, or the wrongful death of a parent of minor children. The court applies the limit after the verdict, and the jury is not told about it. The cap does not apply where the defendant intentionally caused the injury, was intoxicated, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a felony related to the conduct. Punitive damages, where warranted, are generally limited to the greater of two times compensatory damages or $500,000.

The practical problem is often insurance rather than the law. Tennessee requires drivers to carry only minimal liability coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, which is thin against a serious pedestrian injury. That gap is why we look beyond the driver’s policy to employer coverage, commercial policies, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and any other responsible party.

Pedestrian Accident Questions Nashville Clients Ask

How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident lawsuit in Tennessee?

Generally one year from the date of the injury. An extension to two years can apply when criminal charges are brought against the person who injured you under the right conditions, and claims against government entities have their own 12-month rule. Because the deadline is short, talk to a lawyer promptly.

What if I was not in a crosswalk when I was hit?

You may still have a claim. Being outside a crosswalk does not by itself end a case, but a jury may assign you some share of fault. As long as you are found less than 50 percent responsible, you can recover, with your award reduced by your percentage.

Who pays if the driver was uninsured or left the scene?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage may apply, which is why reviewing your policy early matters. We handle uninsured motorist claims as part of our practice, and in hit-and-run cases we also work to help identify the driver.

What compensation can I recover?

Economic losses such as medical expenses, lost income, and future care, plus noneconomic losses such as pain and diminished quality of life. Economic damages are not capped in Tennessee, while noneconomic damages are generally capped, with higher limits for catastrophic injuries.

Can a family bring a claim if a pedestrian was killed?

Yes. The right of action generally passes to the surviving spouse, then to the children or next of kin, or it may be brought by the personal representative. Damages can include funeral and medical costs, lost income, and the value of the life taken.

Does it matter that the driver was texting?

It can matter a great deal. Tennessee’s Hands Free law prohibits holding a phone and reading or sending text-based messages while driving. Phone records and witness accounts can support a distraction argument, and they can also help counter claims that you were mostly to blame.

What if the driver was drunk?

Impairment strengthens the claim and can lift the cap on noneconomic damages. Tennessee’s per se limit is 0.08%, and a driver under the influence to a degree that substantially impaired judgment falls within the cap exceptions. A related criminal case can also extend the filing deadline in some situations.

Will my health insurance cover treatment while my claim is pending?

Often yes, and using it is usually smart so treatment is not delayed. Insurers and other payers may later seek reimbursement from a settlement, so those liens need to be tracked and negotiated as the case moves forward.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a pedestrian crash with modest injuries?

Even injuries that seem minor at first can develop into longer treatment. With one year to file, an early consultation costs nothing and lets you decide with accurate information. We work on contingency, so you owe no attorney fees unless we recover for you.

What if I was struck as a child or my child was the pedestrian?

Tennessee tolls the limitations period for a minor until the child turns 18, after which the one-year clock begins. Parents may still have their own claims for medical expenses, and decisions about settlement involving a child need careful handling.

What if I was hit while walking for work?

Workers’ compensation is generally the only remedy against your employer, but if a negligent driver caused the crash, you may have a third-party claim that can include damages workers’ compensation does not pay. The employer or its insurer may have a right to reimbursement from the recovery, so these cases need coordination from the start.

Talk With a Nashville Pedestrian Accident Attorney Today

If a driver hit you or someone you love, the next few weeks decide how much evidence survives and how much leverage you have. Our Nashville pedestrian accident attorney team can review what happened, explain whether comparative fault is likely to be an issue, identify every insurance policy that may apply, and move on the evidence while it still exists. Call Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you, and we can come to you if you are at home or in the hospital.