In an auto-dependent area like Morristown, people on foot share space with heavy traffic at crossings along U.S. routes like 11E and 25E, in the parking lots of the area's businesses, and on streets built for cars. A person on foot struck by a car has almost no protection, and the injuries are often catastrophic.
Drivers owe a duty of due care to everyone on or near the roadway, and a driver who fails to keep a proper lookout, who speeds, or who fails to yield where the law requires is responsible for the harm.
Fox & Farmer represents injured pedestrians across Hamblen County, proving the driver's failure of that duty and pursuing the full recovery the law allows; no fee unless there is a recovery. Call our office at 865-531-9400 for a free first consultation.
Here, we’ll explain the standard of care a driver owes a pedestrian, how these crashes happen, the severity of the injuries, how fault and compensation are decided, and where a claim is brought in the Hamblen County seat.
Tennessee law imposes a duty of due care on every driver toward pedestrians, and that duty applies broadly, not only at marked crosswalks. Under Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-8-136, a driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian and must give a warning when necessary, a duty that exists everywhere a driver might encounter a person on foot.
The related rules at Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-8-134 govern the right of way at crosswalks, requiring drivers to yield to pedestrians crossing within them, but that broader obligation to drive carefully does not end where the crosswalk does. This matters because the most common defense in a pedestrian case is that the person was outside a crosswalk, as though that fact alone decides the case. It does not.
Even where a pedestrian crosses outside a marked crosswalk, the driver still owes the obligation to keep a proper lookout, to drive at a safe speed for the conditions, and to take reasonable care to avoid hitting a person on foot. A driver who was speeding, distracted, or simply not watching the road cannot escape responsibility merely because the pedestrian was not in a crosswalk. The obligation to drive carefully followed the driver everywhere on the road.
Pedestrian crashes can happen in many different settings, and while a driver's specific responsibilities may vary by location, the duty remains the same: to operate a vehicle with reasonable care and attention under the circumstances.
| Setting | The driver's duty | The pedestrian's exposure |
|---|---|---|
| Marked crosswalk | Yield to pedestrians crossing within it | Lower, but injuries are still serious |
| Outside a crosswalk | Still exercise due care to avoid a collision | Higher, but the driver's duty remains |
| Higher-speed road | Watch for people on or near the roadway | Often fatal at highway speed |
| Parking lot | Look carefully while turning, backing, and maneuvering | Common, especially for children and older adults |
At a marked crosswalk, the driver's duty to yield is clear, and a driver who strikes a pedestrian lawfully crossing within one has almost always failed in a plain and obvious duty. Outside a crosswalk, the driver's obligation still requires watching for and avoiding people on foot. On higher-speed roads, where U.S. routes carry fast-moving traffic, a struck pedestrian is at risk of fatal injury, which is why a driver's lookout matters.
In parking lots, where vehicles turn, back up, and maneuver in close quarters with people walking to and from their cars, crashes are common and fall especially hard on children and older adults, who are harder to see and slower to move. A driver backing out of a space owes a duty to look carefully for people behind the vehicle, and a child who is short enough to fall below the rear window's sight line is exactly the kind of pedestrian that duty exists to protect. These low-speed lot collisions can still cause serious injury, and the driver's failure to look is the same failure of care that governs a crash on the open road.
Many pedestrian crashes in Morristown occur not at traditional neighborhood intersections, but along the city's busy commercial corridors, where vehicles constantly enter and leave businesses.
Roads such as West and East Andrew Johnson Highway (U.S. 11E), U.S. 25E, Morris Boulevard, Buffalo Trail, and South Cumberland Street serve shopping centers, restaurants, medical offices, gas stations, and other destinations that generate both vehicle traffic and people walking between parking areas and businesses. These corridors are designed to move traffic efficiently, but they also require drivers to anticipate pedestrians in places where vehicles are turning frequently.
A driver's duty of due care applies just as much when entering or exiting a commercial driveway as it does at an intersection. A motorist pulling into a shopping center, turning across a sidewalk, or backing out of a parking space must keep a proper lookout for people who are already walking through the area.
Drivers often focus on gaps in traffic before making a turn, but that does not excuse failing to see a pedestrian who is lawfully crossing a driveway or walking between nearby businesses.
These cases depend on details that disappear quickly. Tire marks, debris, vehicle positions, and surveillance video from nearby businesses may all help establish whether the driver was paying attention before the collision.
Even where a pedestrian was not inside a marked crosswalk, the question remains whether the driver exercised reasonable care under the circumstances. That inquiry is the same whether the collision occurred along Morris Boulevard, on Andrew Johnson Highway, or at the entrance to a neighborhood shopping center.
A pedestrian has no protection at all, no vehicle, no restraint, nothing between their body and a car weighing thousands of pounds. When a vehicle strikes a person on foot, the forces are delivered directly to the body, and the person is thrown to the pavement or against the vehicle, compounding the harm. The result can be severe injuries, even at speeds that would be minor in a collision between two vehicles.
The injuries are correspondingly grave: traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and paralysis, multiple fractures, internal organ damage, and severe injuries to the legs and pelvis where a vehicle first makes contact.
For an older pedestrian, whose bones are more fragile and whose recovery is slower, a crash that a younger person might survive can be fatal or permanently disabling. These injuries may require emergency care, surgery, long rehabilitation, and lifelong treatment, and they can change what a person is able to do for the rest of their life.
According to statewide crash statistics published by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, 93% of reported pedestrian crashes between 2020 and 2024 resulted in injuries. This number shows the vulnerability of pedestrians compared with motor vehicle occupants. That vulnerability is why the value of a pedestrian claim often turns on the future, the years of care and the lasting limitations, rather than the bills already received.
In Morristown, a seriously injured pedestrian is usually taken first to Covenant Health Morristown-Hamblen, a community hospital with a 24-hour emergency department. Those with critical injuries are transferred to the Level I trauma center at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, roughly 45 miles to the southwest.
Tennessee applies modified comparative fault, the rule from McIntyre v. Balentine, under which an injured person recovers only if found less than 50 percent at fault, with the recovery reduced by the share assigned and barred at 50 percent or more. In a pedestrian case, the driver's insurer may try to shift blame onto the pedestrian, arguing they crossed outside a crosswalk, stepped out suddenly, or were not paying attention.
Each percentage point of fault assigned to the pedestrian reduces the amount the insurer pays. Proof of the driver's failure to drive carefully counters that effort and protects the claim.
Evidence that the driver was speeding, distracted, or failed to keep a proper lookout; that the pedestrian was visible and the driver should have seen and avoided them; and that the driver should have seen and avoided them pushes the fault back onto the driver and keeps the pedestrian's share below the line that would reduce or bar recovery.
The insurer's first version of events should never be the last word. An early account, offered by the insurer before any real investigation, tends to favor the driver and to rest on the assumption that a struck pedestrian must somehow have been at fault, and replacing that account with the evidence is exactly what a thorough pedestrian case does.
Compensation in a serious pedestrian case must capture the full extent of the harm: the past and future medical care, the lost income and earning capacity, and the non-economic harm of pain, disability, and a permanently changed life. The lifetime cost of a severe pedestrian injury, like that of any catastrophic Morristown personal injury claim, can exceed the limits of any single policy, making it important to identify all liable parties and the corresponding insurance coverages.
Under Tennessee law, a wrongful death action is based on the same underlying wrongful act or negligence that would have supported the deceased's personal injury claim had they survived. The surviving beneficiaries then seek damages resulting from the death.
A pedestrian case is built by establishing what the driver did and failed to do, and the evidence for that is most available in the days right after the crash. The physical evidence at the scene can establish the driver's speed and whether the driver braked or reacted at all.
Accident reconstruction can turn that physical evidence into a clear account of how the crash happened and who was responsible. The distance a pedestrian was thrown, for instance, can indicate the vehicle's speed at impact, and the presence or absence of skid marks can indicate whether the driver braked before the collision, which speaks directly to whether the driver was watching the road. These are objective facts that an insurer's assertion of pedestrian fault cannot easily overcome.
Witnesses are critical because a witness who saw the driver speeding, looking at a phone, or failing to slow for a person clearly in the road can directly establish a breach of due care. Any available video from traffic cameras, businesses, or vehicles can be decisive.
Evidence can disappear quickly, so it's important to identify witnesses and preserve surveillance footage, physical evidence, and other key records as early as possible. This careful approach mirrors the process of proving fault in a Morristown car accident but is tailored to the unique circumstances and vulnerabilities of pedestrians.
The objective is to replace assumptions that the pedestrian was at fault with clear, documented evidence showing that the driver failed to meet the duty of care owed to people on foot.
Get emergency medical care immediately because pedestrian injuries can be severe. Prompt, thorough treatment matters for both recovery and documentation of the harm. Follow through on all recommended treatment, since the medical record is what ties the injuries to the crash, and gaps in care give an insurer grounds to argue that the injuries were not serious.
For a pedestrian who is badly hurt, much of this may be out of their hands in the early days, and that is understandable; loved ones can help by securing evidence. A relative who photographs the scene, locates a witness, or simply notes the responding officer's name and the report number can preserve evidence that would otherwise be lost while the injured person focuses on survival and recovery.
If possible, gather the driver's information, the names and numbers of witnesses, and photographs of the scene, the vehicle, and the injuries before the scene changes. Do not accept an early settlement offer from the driver's insurer, which arrives before the full extent of an injury is known and cannot be reopened once accepted.
Do not give a recorded statement before speaking with an attorney. A lawyer can help preserve important evidence before it disappears and protect your rights from the start. Tennessee's one-year filing deadline can arrive sooner than expected, especially when months of medical treatment and recovery pass quickly.
Within the City of Morristown, pedestrian crashes are generally investigated by the Morristown Police Department. If the collision occurs outside the city limits or on certain state highways, another law enforcement agency, such as the Tennessee Highway Patrol or the Hamblen County Sheriff's Office, may respond depending on the location and circumstances of the crash. The responding agency will prepare the official crash report and document the information available at the scene.
A pedestrian collision should always be reported immediately by calling 911 so that law enforcement and emergency medical personnel can respond. Prompt reporting helps ensure that injured pedestrians receive medical attention and that the scene is documented before important evidence disappears.
When officers arrive, they typically identify the parties involved, speak with witnesses, record the location of the collision, note roadway and weather conditions, and document visible damage and injuries. If possible, provide an accurate account of what happened, but avoid guessing about details you are unsure of. If your injuries prevent you from speaking with officers at the scene, that information can be provided later as the investigation continues.
Even after a crash has been reported, it is important to preserve additional evidence. While the police report is an important part of a pedestrian accident claim, it is only one piece of the overall evidence used to determine liability and pursue compensation.
Not necessarily. A driver owes a duty of due care to avoid hitting pedestrians everywhere, not only at crosswalks, under Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-8-136. Even outside a crosswalk, a driver who was speeding, distracted, or not keeping a proper lookout can be at fault, so being outside a crosswalk does not decide the case.
A driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, must give a warning when necessary, and must yield to pedestrians crossing within a crosswalk. This obligation applies at all times and everywhere a driver might encounter a person on foot, on a residential street, in a parking lot, at a crosswalk, or along a busy commercial road.
Yes, as long as you were less than 50 percent at fault, with your recovery reduced by your share. Because the insurer will try to assign as much fault as possible to the pedestrian, countering that with evidence of the driver's failure of due care is part of the claim.
Your own automobile policy's uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may apply even though you were on foot, particularly where the driver had no insurance or too little. Identifying every source of coverage is part of pursuing the claim.
When a pedestrian crash proves fatal, the family may bring a wrongful death claim, which rests on the same proof of the driver's failure of due care while measuring the family's profound loss. These cases are handled with the added care the loss demands.
Through the physical evidence at the scene, accident reconstruction, witness accounts, and any available video, which together can establish whether the driver was speeding, keeping a proper lookout, and driving safely for the conditions. This evidence is most available early, which is why prompt action matters.
One year from the date of the crash under Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-3-104. Because evidence of the driver's fault fades quickly, it is important not to wait.
These claims are handled on a contingency basis, meaning no fee unless there is a recovery. The first consultation is always free, so understanding your options costs you nothing.
In the Hamblen County Circuit Court in Morristown, the county seat, at the county Justice Center on Allison Street, near the historic 1874 courthouse downtown.
With experience handling pedestrian accident cases throughout Hamblen County and the Knoxville area, our attorneys know how to prove a driver's failure of due care, how to counter the assumption that the pedestrian was to blame, and which courthouse to file a case in. Serious pedestrian injury lawsuits are typically filed in the Hamblen County Circuit Court at the Justice Center on Allison Street in Morristown, the county seat.
At Fox & Farmer, our goal is a recovery that reflects what the crash actually did to the person's life, not the discounted figure an insurer offers when it is allowed to presume the pedestrian was to blame. Your first, no-obligation consultation is free, and you owe no fee unless we recover. Contact our team to tell us what happened.
Last reviewed: June 2026
This page was reviewed by Brian Z. Schott, licensed in Tennessee since 2010.
