When a pedestrian is struck by a car, the case turns on a duty the law places squarely on the driver: the duty of due care to avoid striking people on foot. Tennessee law requires every driver to exercise that care toward any pedestrian, and it applies not only at marked crosswalks but everywhere a driver might encounter someone walking, even a person crossing away from a crosswalk.
An insurer will often try to shift the focus to what the pedestrian did, because Tennessee's comparative fault rule rewards it for assigning blame, but the driver's duty of due care does not disappear because a pedestrian was where the driver did not expect. Holding the driver to that duty, and proving what happened, is the heart of a pedestrian accident case.
Fox & Farmer represents people struck while walking across Roane County, holding drivers to their duty of due care, proving the facts, and pursuing the recovery the law allows, with a free first consultation and no fee unless there is a recovery.
Pedestrians are struck throughout the Harriman area: at the downtown crossings along US-27 and Roane Street, near the Emory River, in parking lots and at driveways, and on the roads across Roane County.
As traffic has grown, the risk has increased along with it. According to TITAN crash data, a total of12 reported accidents involving pedestrians occurred in the Roane County area during the period from 2020 to 2024. This crash count reflects the same rise in vehicle volume that makes connector roads and nearby crossings more dangerous for anyone on foot.
The legal foundation of a pedestrian case is the duty Tennessee places on every driver to use care to avoid striking a person on foot. Under Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-8-136, a driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian and must give warning where needed. This duty exists regardless of crosswalk location, and is independent of the pedestrian’s actions.
The law recognizes that a person walking is utterly exposed and that the driver controls a machine capable of killing them, and it places on the driver the burden of watching for and avoiding people on foot.
Even if a pedestrian could have been more careful, the driver's duty to look and avoid remains. Comparative fault means a pedestrian’s actions can reduce their recovery if found partly responsible, but the driver's obligation to use due care is separate and ongoing.
This is why the driver's defense that the pedestrian was not in a crosswalk, or was where they should not have been, so often misses the point.
Consider a person crossing US-27 downtown between intersections at dusk: even if they were not in a marked crosswalk, the driver still owed them the duty to keep a proper lookout and to use care to avoid hitting them, and a driver who was speeding, looking at a phone, or simply not watching has breached that duty whatever the pedestrian was doing.
The familiar line that the driver never saw the person until it was too late usually describes the breach itself, not an excuse for it, because seeing and avoiding pedestrians is exactly what the duty of care requires.
Holding the driver to that standard, rather than letting the conversation become only about the pedestrian, is the core of building the case.
The same duty answers the most common downtown scenario: a driver stopped to turn right on red at a US-27 intersection, watching for a gap in traffic to the left, rolls forward into the crosswalk and strikes a person crossing with the walk signal on the driver's right. The driver looked, but in the wrong direction, and the duty of due care required watching for the pedestrian who had every right to be in that crosswalk; the failure to do so is the breach, regardless of how briefly the driver's attention was elsewhere.
Tennessee applies modified comparative fault, the rule from McIntyre v. Balentine, under which an injured pedestrian recovers only if found less than 50 percent at fault, with the recovery reduced by the share assigned and barred entirely at 50 percent or more.
Because the insurer's strategy is to assign as much fault as it can to the pedestrian, establishing what actually happened, and holding the driver to the due-care duty, is the foundation of the claim.
The crash report, the physical evidence, the witness accounts, and any available footage are what fix the share of fault where it belongs.
Many pedestrian crashes follow patterns the evidence can document. A driver turning right on red rolls into a crosswalk without looking for the person crossing with the signal; a driver turning left at an intersection focuses on oncoming cars and never sees the pedestrian in the crosswalk; a driver backs out of a parking space or driveway without checking behind, striking a person walking through the lot; a driver simply fails to slow for someone clearly in the road ahead.
Parking lots are a frequent setting, because drivers there often watch for other cars but not for people on foot, and a backing driver in particular has a duty to ensure the way is clear before moving, which the presence of a pedestrian behind the vehicle does not excuse.
The pedestrian safety information published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reflects how often people on foot are killed or seriously hurt by drivers, and how vulnerable they are.
The physical evidence frequently tells the story even when the driver disputes it: the point of impact on the vehicle, the distance the pedestrian was thrown, and the signal timing can together establish that the pedestrian was crossing lawfully and that the driver failed to yield or to look.
Where a vehicle is damaged on its front center and the pedestrian was carried some distance, the physical record can indicate the vehicle's speed and that the person was already well into the crossing when struck, contradicting a driver's claim that the pedestrian darted out. Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-8-134(b) specifically limits a pedestrian's right of way in cases where the pedestrian "suddenly leaves a curb or other place of safety and walks or runs into the path of a vehicle," and at a signalized intersection the timing of the walk and traffic phases can show who had the right to proceed at the moment of impact.
Tennessee law gives pedestrians specific protections, and understanding them matters both because they govern the case and because an insurer may understate them. Under Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-8-134, a pedestrian crossing within a marked crosswalk, or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, generally has the right of way, and a driver must yield to them. That right of way is a powerful fact in a case, because a driver who struck a pedestrian who had it has very likely breached a clear legal duty. It is worth knowing that a crosswalk need not be painted to exist: at most intersections an unmarked crosswalk is present where the sidewalk lines would cross, so a pedestrian crossing at a corner may have the right of way even where no lines are painted on the pavement, a point insurers do not always volunteer.
| Assumption an insurer may raise | What Tennessee law actually provides |
|---|---|
| The pedestrian was not in a crosswalk, so no claim | A driver owes due care to avoid any pedestrian, crosswalk or not (sec. 55-8-136) |
| The pedestrian crossed against the rules, so they lose | Pedestrian fault is weighed comparatively, not an automatic bar |
| In a crosswalk, the driver still had no duty | A driver must yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk (sec. 55-8-134) |
The protection does not end at the crosswalk. As section 55-8-136 makes clear, a driver owes the duty of care to avoid striking any pedestrian anywhere, and the law calls for special care toward children and toward anyone who is confused or incapacitated, whom a driver must take extra care to avoid.
This matters in residential areas and near schools and parks around Harriman, where a driver is expected to anticipate that a child may step into the road without warning and to slow and watch accordingly; a driver who strikes a child while traveling too fast to stop for a foreseeable hazard cannot fall back on the claim that the child appeared suddenly, because the law required them to expect exactly that.
Even where a pedestrian did something careless, crossing mid-block or against a signal, that does not automatically end the claim; it is weighed within the comparative fault system against the driver's own failure of care, and a pedestrian found less than half at fault can still recover.
Knowing these provisions keeps a case grounded in what the law actually requires of drivers, rather than in the insurer's suggestion that a pedestrian outside a crosswalk has no claim.
Compensation in a serious pedestrian case must capture the full extent of harm, which because a pedestrian has no protection at all is often catastrophic. Tennessee law allows recovery for economic damages, the measurable financial losses, and non-economic damages, the human losses of pain, disability, and a changed life. A person struck by a vehicle absorbs its force directly, so pedestrian crashes produce some of the gravest injuries seen in any Harriman personal injury claim, often far more severe than those of a Harriman car accident in which the occupants have the protection of the vehicle.
The economic damages include past and future medical care, the income lost during recovery, and the lost earning capacity where an injury prevents a return to work.
The injuries common to pedestrian crashes, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, multiple fractures, and severe internal harm, frequently require long treatment and leave lasting disability, and their future cost is usually the largest part of the claim.
A pedestrian struck by a car often suffers injury in stages: first from the bumper and hood, then from striking the windshield, and finally from hitting the pavement. A single collision can cause several serious injuries at once, each adding to the medical course and the cost of recovery
The non-economic damages account for the pain, the permanent disability or disfigurement, and the loss of the life a person was able to live before.
For a pedestrian left with a permanent injury, the cost is rarely captured by the first hospital bill: rehabilitation, repeat surgeries, assistive equipment, and lost earning capacity can unfold over years, and valuing them properly often takes medical and economic input so the recovery reflects the full future cost rather than only the care already received.
In Harriman, a person struck while walking is often treated first at Roane Medical Center, the Covenant Health hospital on Roane Medical Center Drive, with its 24-hour emergency department. The most serious injuries are stabilized and transferred to the Level I trauma center at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, about forty-five minutes to the east.
Where a pedestrian is killed, the family's Harriman wrongful death case pursues the responsible driver while measuring a far heavier loss.
Get emergency medical care immediately, because pedestrian injuries are often severe and may not be fully apparent at the scene. The medical record documents the injury and ties it to the crash.
Keep up with the treatment your doctors recommend, because that ongoing record also measures what the injury has cost and will go on costing. Any gap in it is something an insurer will use to argue the harm was minor.
For a person gravely hurt, much of the early work will fall to family, which is understandable; what matters is that the steps to preserve evidence begin while it still exists.
If it is possible, make sure the crash is reported and the scene documented: the location, the crosswalk or signal, the vehicle, and any visible injuries. Gr the names and contact information of the driver and any witnesses.
Independent witnesses are especially valuable, because their accounts counter the insurer's attempt to blame the pedestrian.
Footage can be decisive in these cases, since a downtown crossing or a business parking lot is often watched by traffic, doorbell, or security camera. M of that video is overwritten within days, so identifying and requesting it quickly, before it is lost, can preserve the clearest proof of what happened.
Be cautious with the driver's insurer, which will look for any basis to assign the pedestrian blame: do not give a recorded statement or accept an early settlement before you have advice
Reach out to a pedestrian accident lawyer promptly as well, because the evidence that proves what happened, including any surveillance video, is best secured while it still exists, and Tennessee's one-year filing deadline can arrive sooner than people expect.
Often yes. Under Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-8-136, a driver owes a duty of due care to avoid striking any pedestrian. Being outside a crosswalk may factor into comparative fault, but does not automatically defeat a claim.
Usually it does. A driver's duty is to keep a proper lookout and use care to avoid pedestrians, so "I never saw them" frequently describes exactly the breach of that duty that caused the crash, rather than excusing it.
You can still recover if your share of fault is less than 50%, with your recovery reduced by your percentage of fault. Comparative fault weighs both the pedestrian’s and driver’s actions to determine each party’s responsibility. Often, evidence shows the driver’s failure of care is the greater cause.
Tennessee law calls for special care toward children and toward anyone who is confused or incapacitated, recognizing that a driver must anticipate that a child may behave unpredictably near the road and take extra care to avoid striking them. In addition, if a child is injured, the one-year statute of limitations for filing a claim is tolled during the period of minority under Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-1-106 (2023), so the filing deadline does not begin to run until the child reaches the age of majority.
That is a powerful fact. Under section 55-8-134, a driver must yield to a pedestrian crossing with the right of way in a crosswalk, so a driver who struck you in that situation has very likely breached a clear legal duty, which strengthens the claim.
It depends on the severity of the injury, which for pedestrians is often grave, the past and future medical costs, the lost income and earning capacity, and the non-economic harm. A catastrophic injury with lasting effects is worth far more than the early hospital bills alone, which is why valuing the full present and future cost of the injury matters so much.
These claims are handled on a contingency basis, which means there is no fee unless there is a recovery. The first consultation is free, so understanding your options costs nothing.
Although Harriman is one of Roane County's largest cities, the county seat is Kingston, so a serious pedestrian accident suit is generally brought in the Roane County court in Kingston, about twelve miles to the southeast of Harriman, where the circuit court sits at the Roane County Courthouse at 200 E. Race Street. However, because Harriman straddles both Roane and Morgan Counties, venue depends on the exact location of the crash. If the accident occurred on the Morgan County side of Harriman (such as near Emory Gap or along SR 328), the case is filed in Morgan County Circuit Court in Wartburg at 415 North Kingston Street. Both counties are part of Tennessee’s Ninth Judicial District, but the correct courthouse depends on where the incident actually happened.
From years of experience across Roane County and the wider Knoxville area, our attorneys know how to hold a driver to the duty of due care, how to build the evidence that overcomes the attempt to blame the pedestrian, and the workings of the Roane County courts where a case is filed. Although Harriman is one of Roane County's largest cities, the county seat is Kingston, so a serious pedestrian accident suit is generally brought in the Roane County court in Kingston, about twelve miles to the southeast, in the Ninth Judicial District.
A pedestrian accident case is won by holding the driver to the duty of due care, proving what happened, and documenting the full extent of the harm, and Fox & Farmer builds each case to do exactly that, securing the scene evidence and any footage early, answering the insurer's arguments with facts and statutes, and accounting for the full cost of the injury. The goal is a recovery that reflects the true cost of the injury, decided on the evidence rather than on an assumption that the pedestrian was to blame.
Because the evidence that proves a pedestrian case is best secured early, while it still exists, the sooner you reach out, the more we are able to do. Your 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.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Contacting Fox & Farmer does not create an attorney-client relationship.
