If you were hit by a car in California — in a crosswalk, at an intersection, or anywhere else on foot — you have legal rights that most drivers and insurance adjusters hope you don't fully understand.
This guide explains California's pedestrian right-of-way laws, what changed with the 2023 Freedom to Walk Act, how fault is divided when both sides share blame, and how your medical bills and lost wages actually get paid after a pedestrian accident.
If you've already been injured, every day matters. Call (818) 794-9947 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Quick Answers (TL;DR)
- California law requires every driver to yield to pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks under Cal. Veh. Code §21950.
- The 2023 Freedom to Walk Act effectively ended most jaywalking infractions — jaywalking alone is not a legal defense for a driver who hits you.
- California's pure comparative fault rule lets you recover damages even if you were partly at fault. Your award is simply reduced by your percentage of blame.
- Medical bills are typically paid through the driver's liability insurance, and if the driver had no insurance, through your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage.
- You generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §335.1). If a government entity is involved, you may have as little as six months.
- Pedestrian accident injuries tend to be catastrophic — which means your damages can be significant, and accepting a first settlement offer is almost always a mistake.
California Crosswalk and Right-of-Way Rules
Marked Crosswalks
A marked crosswalk is the white-striped zone you see at most signalized intersections. Under Cal. Veh. Code §21950, a driver must yield the right of way to any pedestrian crossing within a marked crosswalk.
This is not a courtesy — it is a legal duty. A driver who fails to yield and strikes you in a marked crosswalk has, by definition, violated a California statute. That statutory violation is powerful evidence of negligence in any personal injury claim.
Unmarked Crosswalks
You do not need to have been in a marked crosswalk to have the right of way in California — unmarked crosswalk intersections carry the same legal protection under Vehicle Code §21950.
An unmarked crosswalk exists at every intersection where two public roads meet, even if there are no painted lines on the pavement. If you stepped off a curb at a corner to cross the street — without any stripes on the road — you were still in a legal crosswalk. The driver still owed you a duty to yield.
What Drivers Are Actually Required to Do
Cal. Veh. Code §21950 imposes three specific duties on every driver approaching a crosswalk:
- Yield to a pedestrian who is crossing or about to cross.
- Not pass a vehicle that has stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross.
- Exercise due care — slow down, sound their horn if necessary, and take every reasonable precaution to avoid striking a pedestrian.
If a driver violated any of these duties and you were injured, that violation can and should be the foundation of your claim.
The 2023 Freedom to Walk Act — What Jaywalking Means Now
California's 2023 Freedom to Walk Act — codified at Vehicle Code §21955 — means that jaywalking alone is no longer an infraction unless it creates an immediate danger.
Before January 1, 2023, crossing the street mid-block or against a signal was an infraction that police could cite. More importantly for injury cases, it gave insurance adjusters an easy argument that you were "illegally" in the road when you got hit.
The Freedom to Walk Act changed that. Under the revised Cal. Veh. Code §21955, a pedestrian who crosses between intersections or against a traffic signal commits an infraction only if a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate risk of collision. In practice, this means:
- Walking across the middle of a block on an empty street? Not an infraction.
- Crossing against a "Don't Walk" signal with a car bearing down on you at full speed? That could still factor in.
For your injury claim: Even if your crossing wasn't picture-perfect, the Freedom to Walk Act has substantially weakened the old "you were jaywalking" defense. Insurance adjusters still try to use it — our job is to counter it with the full picture of the driver's conduct.
Comparative Fault When the Pedestrian Shares Some Blame
California does not use a "winner takes all" fault system. Instead, it uses pure comparative fault — one of the most pedestrian-friendly liability rules in the country.
California uses a pure comparative fault rule, so even if you were partially at fault for the accident, you can still recover damages reduced by your percentage of fault.
Here's how it works in plain terms:
- A jury (or an insurance adjuster before trial) assigns a percentage of fault to each party.
- Your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault.
- You keep the rest.
Example: Say you are struck by a driver who ran a red light. The driver is found 85% at fault. You stepped into the crosswalk half a second early and are found 15% at fault. If your total damages are $200,000, you recover $170,000 — your full damages minus your 15% share.
Unlike some other states, California's pure comparative fault rule means you can still recover even if you were found 51% or more at fault. Your recovery is simply reduced further. This matters a great deal in pedestrian cases where the insurance carrier tries to shift blame onto the person who is hurt.
Common Ways Insurance Adjusters Try to Assign Blame to Pedestrians
- "You were wearing dark clothing at night."
- "You stepped off the curb without looking."
- "You were looking at your phone."
- "You crossed against the signal."
These arguments are not automatic disqualifiers. An experienced attorney builds the record — surveillance footage, witness statements, police reports, engineering analysis of the intersection — to push back on inflated fault percentages before they reduce your recovery.
Severe-Injury Reality and How Damages Are Valued
Pedestrian accident injuries are among the most severe in personal injury law — broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord damage are common because the human body has no protection against a moving vehicle.
Even a car traveling at 25 mph strikes a pedestrian with force equivalent to falling from a second-story window. The injuries that result are often life-altering:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) — from striking the hood, windshield, or ground
- Spinal cord injury — including partial or complete paralysis
- Pelvic and hip fractures — common when a vehicle strikes at waist height
- Leg and knee fractures — from the initial point of impact
- Internal organ damage — from blunt force
- Soft tissue and nerve damage — lasting pain and limited mobility
What You Can Claim as Damages
California personal injury law allows you to claim economic and non-economic damages:
Economic damages (provable dollar amounts):
- Past and future medical bills
- Past and future lost wages
- Rehabilitation and physical therapy costs
- Home modification costs (if disability results)
- Out-of-pocket expenses related to the injury
Non-economic damages (real losses, harder to put a number on):
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium (impact on your marriage or domestic partnership)
California does not cap non-economic damages in personal injury cases involving vehicles. (Note: the cap under Cal. Civ. Code §3333.2 applies only to medical malpractice cases.) This is significant — in cases involving permanent injuries, the non-economic damages can exceed the economic damages by a wide margin.
Why you should not accept a first offer: Insurance companies value your claim based on what they believe you know and what they believe you are willing to accept. A first offer is almost never the full value of a serious injury case. Our job is to document the full picture — current and future medical needs, lost earning capacity, functional limitations — and present that to the carrier with the credible threat of trial behind it.
Using Auto UM/UIM Coverage as a Struck Pedestrian
One of the most overlooked tools after a pedestrian accident is your own auto insurance policy.
As a pedestrian struck by a car, you can file a claim against the driver's liability insurance, and if that driver had no insurance, your own auto policy's uninsured motorist coverage may pay your medical bills and lost wages.
Here's how the coverage landscape works:
1. Driver's Liability Insurance (First Stop)
The at-fault driver's bodily injury liability policy is the primary source of recovery. California requires drivers to carry minimum liability limits of $15,000 per person / $30,000 per accident (recently increased under Cal. Ins. Code §11580.1b — minimums rise to $30,000/$60,000 for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025). Many serious pedestrian accident cases exceed these minimums, which is where additional coverage becomes critical.
2. Uninsured Motorist (UM) Coverage
If the driver who hit you had no insurance at all, your own auto insurance UM coverage applies — even though you were not in your car when you were hit. California law under Cal. Ins. Code §11580.2 extends UM coverage to insured persons injured as pedestrians.
3. Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Coverage
If the driver had insurance but their policy limits are not enough to cover your full damages, your own UIM coverage can bridge the gap — again, even as a pedestrian. This layering of coverage is one of the most important and misunderstood aspects of pedestrian accident claims.
4. MedPay Coverage
If you carry MedPay on your auto policy, it pays a set amount of medical bills (typically $1,000–$25,000 depending on your policy) regardless of fault. It pays quickly, without requiring a liability determination first, which can help while the main claim is being resolved.
What About Health Insurance?
Your health insurance will likely pay initial medical bills — but it will also assert a subrogation lien, meaning it expects to be reimbursed from your eventual settlement. Handling subrogation liens correctly is a significant part of maximizing what you actually take home. An attorney negotiates those liens down, which directly increases your net recovery.
Filing a Claim: Deadlines You Cannot Miss
If a driver hits you in a crosswalk in California, you have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit under California Code of Civil Procedure §335.1.
Key deadlines:
Standard pedestrian accident (private driver): 2 years from date of injury (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §335.1)
Government entity involved (e.g., city bus, municipal vehicle, dangerous road design): 6 months to file a government tort claim under Cal. Gov. Code §911.2
Injured minor (under 18): 2 years from the minor's 18th birthday
Hit-and-run driver: Must report to law enforcement; UM claim rules apply — consult immediately
The six-month government tort claim deadline is the one people miss most often. If a city bus hit you, or if a dangerous intersection design caused the accident, a government entity may share liability — and that entity must be put on notice within six months or you permanently lose your ability to sue it.
Call (818) 794-9947) as soon as possible so we can identify every potentially liable party and make sure no deadline is missed.
What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident in California
If you are able after the accident — or a family member is helping you gather information — these steps protect your claim:
- Call 911. Get a police report created at the scene. The report documents the driver's information, the location, and often contains an initial fault determination.
- Photograph everything. The crosswalk, skid marks, traffic signals, the vehicle, your injuries, your clothing.
- Get witness information. Names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the accident. Witnesses disappear quickly.
- Seek medical care immediately. Even if you feel okay. Adrenaline masks pain. A gap in medical treatment gives insurance adjusters a reason to argue your injuries weren't serious.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the driver's insurance. You are not required to, and adjusters are trained to use your words against your claim.
- Contact a personal injury attorney before signing anything. Once you sign a release, your case is closed — regardless of what new injuries or costs emerge.
FAQ: Pedestrian Accidents in California
What are pedestrian right-of-way laws in California?
Under Cal. Veh. Code §21950, every driver must yield to a pedestrian crossing in a marked or unmarked crosswalk at any intersection. Drivers must also exercise due care to avoid striking pedestrians anywhere on a roadway. Right-of-way is not a shield — pedestrians still have a duty to act with reasonable care — but drivers bear the primary duty because of the potential for catastrophic harm.
What if I was jaywalking when I got hit?
California's 2023 Freedom to Walk Act significantly weakened the jaywalking defense. Even if you were crossing mid-block or against a signal, you can still recover damages if the driver failed to exercise reasonable care. Your damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault under California's pure comparative fault rule — but you are not automatically barred from recovering anything.
Can I sue if a car hit me in a crosswalk?
Yes. If a driver hit you in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, they almost certainly violated Cal. Veh. Code §21950. That statutory violation is strong evidence of negligence. You can file a personal injury claim against the driver's insurance, and if that is insufficient, a lawsuit in California civil court. The two-year statute of limitations under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §335.1 applies.
Who pays my medical bills after a pedestrian accident?
Medical bills are typically paid first through your own health insurance or MedPay coverage, then reimbursed from a settlement or judgment against the at-fault driver's liability insurance. If the driver had no insurance, your own UM coverage applies under Cal. Ins. Code §11580.2 — even though you were on foot. A final settlement accounts for all past and future medical costs.
What if the driver fled the scene (hit and run)?
Report the accident to police immediately. California law requires you to report a collision involving injury under Cal. Veh. Code §20008. For your insurance claim, a hit-and-run is treated as an uninsured motorist case under your own UM coverage. Physical contact with the vehicle is generally required under most policies, though witness testimony can sometimes substitute. Call us immediately — the investigation steps in the first 48 hours are critical.
How long do I have to file a claim if a city or county vehicle hit me?
You have only six months to file a government tort claim under Cal. Gov. Code §911.2. This applies if a city bus, county vehicle, or government employee's vehicle struck you, or if a government agency's negligent road design contributed to your accident. Missing this deadline can permanently bar your claim against the government entity, even if the two-year lawsuit deadline has not run.
Does it matter that I wasn't in a marked crosswalk?
Not necessarily. Unmarked crosswalks exist at every public intersection as a matter of law under Cal. Veh. Code §21950. If you were crossing at a corner, you were in a legal crosswalk even without painted stripes. Mid-block crossings are evaluated differently, but even then, the driver's duty of care applies to pedestrians anywhere on the roadway.
How much is a pedestrian accident case worth in California?
There is no reliable average. The value of your case depends on the severity of your injuries, your future medical needs, your lost earning capacity, the driver's insurance coverage, and whether a government entity shares liability. Pedestrian cases tend to produce higher damages than car-on-car accidents because the injuries are more severe. We do not invent numbers to impress you — we document the full picture and present the strongest possible case for maximum recovery.
We Fight for Injured Pedestrians in California
Getting hit by a car is one of the most physically and financially devastating things that can happen to a person. The injuries are often severe. The medical bills arrive before the insurance carrier responds. And adjusters are trained to move fast — before you understand what your case is worth.
We've recovered over $150,000,000 for injured workers and accident victims across Southern California. We handle every case as if it were going to trial, because insurance carriers settle for more when they know the other side is prepared to fight.
If you or someone in your family was struck by a vehicle in California, call (818) 794-9947 for a free consultation. We come to you if you can't travel. Available in English and Spanish. No fee unless we win.
Reviewed by Minas Nordanyan, CA Bar #296806. Last legal review: 2026-06-24. This article is general educational information about California personal injury law. It does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not a substitute for legal advice specific to your situation. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.