Pedestrian Accident Claims in Illinois: What to Do After Being Hit by a Car

You were crossing the street, walking through a parking lot, or jogging along the shoulder — and a car hit you. Everything happened fast. Now you are dealing with pain, medical bills, missed work, and an insurance company that seems more interested in finding reasons to pay less than in making things right.

Pedestrian accidents are not like fender-benders. There is no steel frame or airbag between you and the vehicle. The injuries tend to be serious — broken bones, head trauma, internal bleeding, spinal damage — and the recovery is often measured in months or years, not weeks. The legal process that follows needs to account for that reality.

What to Do Right After a Pedestrian Accident

The first hours and days after being struck by a vehicle matter enormously for both your health and your legal claim. If you are physically able, take these steps.

Call 911. A police report is one of the most important pieces of evidence in any pedestrian case. The responding officer will document the scene, take the driver’s information, note witness accounts, and may issue citations. If the driver ran a red light or was texting, you want that documented before memories fade.

Get medical treatment immediately. Even if you feel functional at the scene, go to the emergency room or your doctor as soon as possible. Adrenaline masks pain. Traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding, and spinal injuries can present with delayed symptoms that do not show up for hours or days. A gap between the accident and your first medical visit gives the insurance company ammunition to argue your injuries were not caused by the crash. There is a detailed discussion of why delayed symptoms matter and how to protect your claim in our article on hidden injuries after a car accident in Illinois.

Document everything you can. If you are able, photograph the scene, the vehicle, your injuries, traffic signals, crosswalk markings, and road conditions. Get the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the collision. If the driver made statements at the scene, write them down as accurately as you can.

Do not give a recorded statement to the driver’s insurance company. The adjuster will call you quickly — sometimes within 24 hours. They are not calling to help you. They are building a file to minimize what they pay. Anything you say in a recorded statement can be used against you later. Politely decline and speak with an attorney first.

Preserve your clothing and personal items. The shoes, clothing, and accessories you were wearing are physical evidence. They can show the point of impact, the force involved, and whether you were visible to the driver. Do not wash or discard them.

Why Pedestrian Cases Are Legally Different

The law treats pedestrian-vehicle collisions differently from car-on-car crashes for a straightforward reason: the vulnerability gap. A 4,000-pound vehicle against a person on foot creates an inherently dangerous situation, and Illinois law recognizes that.

Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1002, drivers must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians crossing within any marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. That word “unmarked” matters — you do not need painted lines to have crosswalk rights. Any intersection where two streets meet creates an implied crosswalk under Illinois law.

The MVC treatise on driver liability puts it plainly: motor vehicle operators owe a heightened duty of care toward pedestrians because of the disparity in vulnerability and the foreseeable risk of serious injury. That duty requires drivers to maintain a vigilant lookout, operate at safe speeds, and exercise reasonable care when approaching intersections, crosswalks, road shoulders, and areas where pedestrian presence is reasonably anticipated.

This means a driver’s obligation to watch for pedestrians is not limited to marked crosswalks. Reasonable care may require anticipation of pedestrian activity in residential neighborhoods, commercial districts, near roadside businesses, and locations lacking sidewalks. Where conditions make pedestrian presence likely, failure to anticipate and respond appropriately may constitute a breach of duty — even if the pedestrian was not strictly following every traffic regulation.

Common Causes of Pedestrian Accidents in Peoria

Peoria and Central Illinois see a predictable pattern in pedestrian crashes. War Memorial Drive, University Street, the downtown Warehouse District, and the areas near OSF Saint Francis and UnityPoint Methodist are particularly high-risk corridors.

Distracted driving is the most common factor. A driver looking at a phone, adjusting navigation, or reaching for something in the car may not see a pedestrian stepping into a crosswalk until it is too late. Illinois’s hands-free law (625 ILCS 5/12-610.2) prohibits handheld device use while driving, and a violation strengthens a pedestrian’s negligence claim because it constitutes negligence per se — a statutory violation that can establish breach of duty as a matter of law.

Failure to yield at crosswalks and intersections accounts for a large share of pedestrian injuries. Drivers making right turns on red or left turns through intersections frequently focus on vehicle traffic and fail to check for people on foot. This is especially common at intersections with permitted left-turn signals.

Speed is the single biggest factor in whether a pedestrian crash is survivable. The physics are unforgiving. At 20 mph, a struck pedestrian has roughly a 90% chance of survival. At 40 mph, that drops to around 15%. Central Illinois road design — wide lanes, long sight lines, infrequent stops — encourages speeds that make pedestrian crashes more dangerous.

Impaired driving, poor street lighting, and backing-up accidents in parking lots round out the list. Each of these creates specific evidentiary opportunities and liability arguments that an experienced attorney will know how to use.

Injuries and What They Mean for Your Case

Pedestrian injuries are almost always more severe than injuries in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes. The human body is not designed to absorb the kinetic energy of a moving car. Typical pedestrian injuries include traumatic brain injuries from impact with the vehicle hood, windshield, or pavement; spinal cord injuries including paralysis; multiple fractures to the legs, pelvis, ribs, and arms; internal organ damage; and road rash requiring skin grafts.

The severity of these injuries directly affects the value of your claim. Cases involving permanent disability, cognitive impairment, or chronic pain carry significantly higher damages because the economic losses — future medical care, lost earning capacity, ongoing therapy — extend over a lifetime. Our personal injury overview explains how Illinois damages work across different injury types.

Wrongful death cases are also disproportionately common in pedestrian accidents. When a pedestrian crash is fatal, the victim’s family may file a wrongful death action under 740 ILCS 180 to recover funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship.

Comparative Fault: The Insurance Company’s Favorite Weapon

If there is one thing you can count on in a pedestrian case, it is the insurance company blaming you. The adjuster will argue you were jaywalking, crossing against the signal, wearing dark clothing, looking at your phone, or otherwise contributing to the crash. This is their primary strategy for reducing what they pay.

Illinois follows a modified comparative negligence system under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116. You can recover damages as long as your fault does not exceed 50%. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. So if a jury finds you 20% at fault and your damages are $500,000, you recover $400,000.

The 2025 amendment lowered the threshold from 51% to 50%, which means the margin is tighter than it used to be. Insurance adjusters are well aware of this change and will push hard to attribute as much fault as possible to the pedestrian. Our comparative fault resource explains in detail how this system works and what evidence matters most.

The key point is this: even if you were partially at fault, you still have a claim. Jaywalking does not erase a driver’s duty to exercise reasonable care. Crossing outside a crosswalk does not give a driver permission to hit you. The law requires proportional accountability — and an experienced attorney can present the evidence in a way that keeps the focus on the driver’s negligence.

Evidence That Matters in Pedestrian Claims

Pedestrian cases are won or lost on evidence, and much of that evidence is time-sensitive. Traffic camera footage from Peoria intersections may be overwritten within days. Surveillance cameras at nearby businesses operate on similar cycles. Witness memories degrade quickly.

The police report is foundational, but it is not the whole picture. Vehicle damage patterns — the location of dents, broken headlights, and windshield impact points — can reveal the vehicle’s speed and the point of impact. Skid marks, or the absence of them, indicate whether the driver attempted to brake. Event data recorder (EDR) information from the vehicle can provide pre-crash speed, brake application, and throttle position data.

Medical records connect your injuries to the crash and document the severity and trajectory of your recovery. Consistent medical treatment — following your doctor’s recommendations, attending all appointments, not skipping physical therapy — strengthens the causal link between the accident and your injuries.

In serious cases, accident reconstruction experts can combine physical evidence, vehicle data, surveillance footage, and witness accounts to recreate exactly how the crash occurred. This is particularly valuable when the driver disputes what happened or when there are no witnesses.

Dealing With the Insurance Company

Insurance adjusters handling pedestrian claims know the stakes are high. Severe injuries mean large potential payouts, so they invest significant effort in finding ways to reduce your claim.

They will request a recorded statement. They will ask for a blanket medical records authorization that lets them dig through your entire medical history looking for pre-existing conditions. They may send you to an independent medical examination with a doctor who regularly works for the insurance company. And they will offer you an early settlement — usually within weeks of the accident — that seems generous until you realize it does not come close to covering your actual losses.

The early settlement offer is the most dangerous tactic because it exploits the moment when you are most vulnerable. You are in pain, worried about bills, and unsure of the future. Accepting it means you give up all rights to further compensation, even if your injuries turn out to be far worse than initially expected.

Statute of Limitations and Government Claims

Illinois gives you two years from the date of a pedestrian accident to file a personal injury lawsuit (735 ILCS 5/13-202). Wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death.

But there is a critical exception. If a government entity is involved — because the crash happened at a dangerous intersection maintained by the city, or because a poorly designed crosswalk or missing traffic signal contributed to the accident — you must file a notice of claim within one year under 745 ILCS 10/8-101. Miss that deadline and your claim against the government entity is barred, period.

Two years sounds like a long time, but building a strong pedestrian accident case takes months. Evidence needs to be gathered before it disappears. Medical treatment needs to reach a point where the full extent of your injuries is clear. Expert consultations take time. Starting early gives your attorney the best chance to build the strongest possible case.

What Compensation Looks Like

Illinois pedestrians injured by negligent drivers can pursue economic damages — medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and future medical needs — as well as non-economic damages including pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, disability, and loss of normal life.

Illinois has no cap on personal injury damages following the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital (2010). In cases involving drunk driving, reckless driving, or other egregious conduct, punitive damages may also be available.

The value of a pedestrian accident case depends on the severity of injuries, the clarity of liability, the strength of the evidence, and the available insurance coverage. Cases involving permanent injuries, brain trauma, or wrongful death routinely result in significant awards because the losses are real, measurable, and lasting.

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