Reclamaciones por atropello en Los Ángeles (Artículo del abogado)

A car-on-pedestrian collision looks straightforward: driver hits walker, driver is at fault. In our experience handling pedestrian cases across Los Angeles, the reality is more complex. Insurers routinely assign 30% to 50% comparative fault to the pedestrian — citing jaywalking, phone use, dark clothing, or 'unexpected' crossing behavior — specifically to reduce the payout under California's Pure Comparative Negligence rule. We call this the Fault Inflation Play, and we counter it with intersection camera footage, traffic signal timing data from LADOT, and CHP officer notes. The most important thing we tell every new pedestrian client: the insurer's fault percentage is not a legal determination. It is an opening offer. Everything is negotiable with the right evidence.

The best-kept secret in California pedestrian law is that jaywalking does not eliminate your right to recover. Under the Pure Comparative Negligence standard established in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975), your compensation is reduced — not eliminated — by your percentage of fault. We have recovered full policy limits for jaywalking pedestrians once we established the driver was speeding, distracted, or failed to yield under Vehicle Code § 21950. The critical myth insurance companies promote: 'you were crossing illegally, so you have no case.' We challenge that with speed data from the vehicle's event data recorder (EDR) and dashcam footage showing driver behavior in the seconds before impact.

In our experience, the difference between a $25,000 pedestrian settlement and a $250,000 one comes down to one category of evidence: intersection control data. LADOT maintains signal timing records showing exactly which direction had the green at the moment of impact. If the driver had a green but was turning without yielding, that is a Vehicle Code § 21950 violation regardless of where the pedestrian was crossing. We have used these records to convert cases the insurer called 'disputed liability' into clear liability. The evidence most clients forget to request: any traffic citation the driver received at the scene. A CHP or LAPD citation for failure to yield is an admission of fault that dramatically shifts the settlement calculus.

The 48-hour window after a pedestrian accident is the most evidence-rich and most fragile period in your case. We immediately issue three preservation demands: to LADOT for signal timing data, to private businesses within 500 feet for security footage, and to the driver's insurer for the vehicle's EDR data before the car is repaired. Most clients do not know the driver's vehicle contains an Event Data Recorder that captured speed, braking, and steering inputs in the seconds before impact. Once the vehicle is repaired or sold, that data may be permanently lost. We also walk every serious pedestrian intersection personally — looking for obstructed sightlines, missing crosswalk paint, or malfunctioning signals that could make the City of Los Angeles a co-defendant.