Pedestrians are vulnerable on roads, especially in areas with heavy vehicle traffic. A person walking just outside the West Market Street parking lot could be forced off the roadway by a reckless driver. Or a student trying to cross the westbound lanes of University Parkway may be struck by a passing vehicle. A pedestrian struck by a vehicle has no protection at all, and the injuries are often the most severe of any traffic crash.
Fox and Farmer represents injured pedestrians and the families of those killed across Washington County and the Tri-Cities. Reach out to our lawyer today to know your rights under Tennessee law, and we’ll help protect and strengthen your claim
Tennessee law gives pedestrians significant protections. At marked crosswalks and at intersections, drivers must yield the right of way to pedestrians who are lawfully crossing. Drivers are required to exercise due care to avoid hitting any pedestrian, to sound the horn when necessary, and to use particular caution around children and people who appear confused or impaired.
These duties exist because a person on foot is vulnerable to a vehicle, and the law places the heavier responsibility on the driver who controls the dangerous instrument.
Pedestrians have duties as well, including using crosswalks where they are available and not stepping suddenly into traffic. But the existence of a pedestrian duty does not erase the driver's responsibility.
A driver who strikes a pedestrian cannot escape fault simply by claiming the person was not in a crosswalk. Even where a pedestrian was crossing outside a crosswalk, Tennessee law still requires drivers to exercise due care, and a driver who was speeding, distracted, or otherwise negligent may bear most or all of the fault. The analysis turns on what each party did, and in the majority of pedestrian crashes, the driver's conduct is the central problem.
Tennessee's modified comparative fault rule governs pedestrian crashes, meaning an injured pedestrian can recover only if found less than 50 percent at fault. Compensation is reduced by their share of the blame. The rule comes from the Tennessee Supreme Court's decision in McIntyre v. Balentine.
Insurers may try to shift blame onto the pedestrian, arguing the person darted out, crossed against a signal, or was not in a crosswalk. Every percentage point of fault assigned to the pedestrian lowers what the insurer pays, and crossing the 50 percent line eliminates the claim.
Countering these arguments is central to a pedestrian case. The fact that a pedestrian was crossing mid-block does not automatically make them mostly at fault, especially if the driver was speeding, looking at a phone, or failing to keep a proper lookout.
The driver's duty of due care applies regardless of where the pedestrian was. Establishing what the driver was doing, and whether a reasonable driver would have seen and avoided the pedestrian, is what determines fault.
Pedestrian crashes in the Johnson City area cluster around places where people on foot and vehicles meet. Downtown Johnson City, with its walkable district of shops, restaurants, and events, brings pedestrians and vehicles into close contact. Car crashes in this area can involve turning vehicles, failures to yield at crosswalks, and drivers not watching for people on foot.
The area around East Tennessee State University attracts a large student population on foot, crossing streets between campus, housing, and surrounding businesses. This makes the campus area a recurring setting for pedestrian conflicts.
The busy commercial corridors present a different and more dangerous picture. State of Franklin Road and North Roan Street were built around vehicles, with wide lanes, fast traffic, and long distances between safe crossing points, which forces pedestrians to cross in difficult conditions.
A pedestrian crossing a multi-lane commercial corridor faces fast-moving traffic and drivers focused on other vehicles rather than people on foot. Crashes in this corridor tend to be severe because of the speeds involved. Residential streets and areas near schools and parks pose additional risks, particularly for children.
Each setting produces a different kind of crash, and identifying where and how a Johnson City pedestrian collision happened is the first step in establishing fault.
Pedestrian crashes usually trace back to a driver's failure, and certain causes recur. Failure to yield at a crosswalk is among the most common: a driver turning or proceeding through an intersection does not yield to a pedestrian who has the right of way.
Distracted driving is a common cause, as a driver looking at a phone may never see a person in the road until it is too late. Speeding makes every pedestrian crash more likely and more deadly, because a speeding driver has less time to react and strikes with greater force.
Other causes round out the picture. Drivers backing out of parking spaces and driveways strike pedestrians they did not check for. Drivers turning right on red focus on the traffic coming from their left and fail to see a pedestrian crossing in front of them. Impaired drivers cause pedestrian crashes at a disproportionate rate, particularly at night.
Poor visibility, inadequate lighting, and the absence of sidewalks or safe crossings can contribute as well, sometimes pointing fault toward a government entity responsible for the roadway in addition to the driver. Recognizing the cause is the starting point for proving who was responsible and for identifying every party who may share the fault.
Because pedestrians have no protection, the injuries in these crashes can be catastrophic. A person struck by a vehicle can suffer traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, multiple fractures, internal injuries, and severe orthopedic trauma, usually from multiple points of impact as they are struck, thrown, and hit the ground.
A serious pedestrian crash in the Johnson City area brings the injured to Johnson City Medical Center, the region's only Level I trauma center. Severe injuries from across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia are treated by trauma surgeons available around the clock.
These injuries tend to be life-altering, requiring surgery, long rehabilitation, and permanent adaptations. The detailed medical record generated at a Level I trauma center, tracing the path from the scene through emergency care and into long-term treatment, becomes essential evidence of how serious the harm is and what it will cost over a lifetime.
Because pedestrian injuries are often severe and permanent, valuing the claim accurately requires projecting future medical needs, lost earning capacity, and the cost of long-term care. A complete medical record is central to establishing what a pedestrian case is truly worth.
Tennessee allows an injured pedestrian to recover both economic and non-economic damages. In serious pedestrian cases, these figures are large because the injuries are severe.
Economic damages include emergency and ongoing medical care, future treatment and rehabilitation, the cost of long-term or lifetime care, lost wages, and reduced or lost earning capacity. Proving future losses in a catastrophic case requires a careful projection of the medical and economic needs the injury will create over the person's lifetime.
Non-economic damages compensate for pain, suffering, disfigurement, and the loss of the ability to live as one did before the crash. Tennessee caps non-economic damages at $750,000 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102), or $1 million for catastrophic injuries.
The cap is lifted when the at-fault party was intoxicated or committed a felony. Economic losses are never capped.
A pedestrian struck by a vehicle may also be able to recover under their own auto insurance, including uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, when the driver who caused the crash had little or no coverage. Because pedestrian injuries are commonly serious, identifying every available source of recovery is one of the most important early steps in the case.
A personal injury claim does not automatically pay medical bills as treatment occurs. Depending on the circumstances, medical expenses may be paid through health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, or Medical Payments (MedPay) coverage available under an applicable auto insurance policy.
If the at-fault driver's insurer ultimately accepts liability or the claim settles, those medical expenses may become part of the damages sought in the case, although some insurers or government programs may have reimbursement rights.
Establishing the driver's fault depends on evidence that must be gathered before it disappears. The physical evidence comes first: the point of impact, the vehicle damage, the position where the pedestrian came to rest, and any skid marks reveal the vehicle's speed and the driver's reaction.
The location of the damage on the vehicle and the distance the pedestrian was thrown can establish how fast the driver was going, which is often central to the case. Much of this evidence is gone within days.
The documentary and witness evidence can complete the picture. The police report records the responding officer's assessment, surveillance footage from nearby businesses or traffic cameras may have captured the crash, and the driver's phone records can reveal distraction.
Independent witnesses can confirm whether the pedestrian was in a crosswalk, whether the signal favored them, and what the driver was doing. Because insurers work hard to shift blame onto pedestrians, this evidence is critical to keeping fault where it belongs. Assembling it into a clear account of what happened is what establishes the driver's responsibility and protects the value of the claim.
In Tennessee, a pedestrian accident claim typically takes a few months to over a year to settle, depending on injury severity and how clear the liability is. If the case goes into litigation or involves serious injuries, it can take 1–2 years or longer to fully resolve.
Not every pedestrian crash is solely the driver's fault, and sometimes the condition of the roadway itself contributes to the harm. A poorly designed intersection, a missing or inadequate crosswalk, broken or absent lighting, or the lack of a sidewalk that forces pedestrians into the road can all contribute to a crash.
Where such a condition contributed, the government entity responsible for the roadway may share liability for failing to provide a reasonably safe environment for pedestrians. A claim against a government entity is governed by the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, which imposes its own procedures and limits on the recovery.
Identifying whether a roadway condition contributed to a pedestrian crash requires looking beyond the driver to the setting in which the crash occurred. Because the Act's requirements are strict and its deadlines are unforgiving, a potential claim against a government entity must be recognized and acted on early. Examining the full circumstances of a pedestrian crash, including the roadway itself, can reveal an additional source of recovery that a claim focused only on the driver would miss.
The first priority is always medical care, given how severe pedestrian injuries tend to be, and the medical record created from the moment of the crash becomes both a treatment history and key evidence of the harm. Calling 911 brings emergency help and creates a police report documenting the collision and the responding officer's observations.
Where the injured person cannot gather evidence themselves, a companion or family member can help protect the claim. Photographs of the scene, the vehicle, the point of impact, and the position where the pedestrian came to rest capture details that vanish once the scene is cleared.
The names and contact information of witnesses are valuable because witnesses can confirm whether the pedestrian was in a crosswalk and what the driver was doing. Identifying nearby businesses or traffic cameras that may have recorded the crash allows that footage to be preserved before it is overwritten.
Avoiding any recorded statement to the driver's insurer before getting advice protects the claim, given how aggressively insurers work to shift blame onto pedestrians.
The steps taken after a pedestrian crash by the injured person or someone helping them can have a lasting effect on the personal injury claim because the evidence establishing the driver's fault disappears quickly.
Pedestrian claims tend to draw especially aggressive defenses, and understanding why helps an injured person prepare for it. Because pedestrian injuries can be severe and the potential recovery is large, insurers have a strong incentive to limit what they pay.
The most common strategy is to shift blame onto the pedestrian, arguing they crossed carelessly, darted into traffic, ignored a signal, or wore dark clothing at night. Under Tennessee's comparative fault rule, every percentage point of fault assigned to the pedestrian reduces the recovery, and pushing the pedestrian to 50 percent eliminates it entirely, so these arguments are pressed hard.
Meeting them requires evidence and a clear understanding of the law. The driver's duty of due care applies regardless of where the pedestrian was, and a speeding or distracted driver often bears the greater share of fault even when the pedestrian was not in a crosswalk. Establishing the driver's speed, attention, and opportunity to avoid the crash is what counters the effort to blame the victim. The physical evidence, the witness accounts, and any video are what keep fault where it belongs.
Because the defense in a pedestrian case is so focused on the victim's conduct, building the proof that explains what the driver did, and failed to do, is central to protecting the claim.
Possibly. Tennessee drivers must exercise due care regardless of where a pedestrian is, and a speeding or distracted driver may bear most or all of the fault even when the pedestrian was outside a crosswalk.
That is a common defense aimed at shifting blame. The evidence, including the vehicle's speed and the driver's attention, determines whether it holds, and often it does not survive scrutiny.
It may. Your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can apply to a pedestrian crash caused by a driver, even though you were on foot rather than in your vehicle.
The family may bring a wrongful death claim under Tennessee law to recover for the loss. In a fatal pedestrian case, the one-year clock runs from the date of the injury that caused death, not necessarily the date of death. Because those dates can differ, the deadline should be calculated from the crash.
As soon as possible. Critical evidence like surveillance video and the scene itself disappears within days, and the one-year deadline, while a year away, leaves no room to lose time.
Tennessee's one-year statute of limitations applies to pedestrian crash claims, running from the date of the crash under Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-3-104. The deadline extends to two years if criminal charges are brought against the driver, common in DUI or vehicular-assault pedestrian cases.
While a year may sound like ample time, the reality is that the evidence establishing the driver's fault and defeating the insurer's effort to blame the pedestrian begins to disappear almost immediately. Surveillance footage is overwritten, the scene returns to normal, and the vehicle is repaired, all within days or weeks.
A claim against a government entity for a roadway hazard falls under the Governmental Tort Liability Act. The deadline is still one year, but the GTLA adds strict notice and procedural rules, its own caps, and a bench trial. The case is decided by a judge, not a jury.
The combination of strict deadlines and fading evidence makes early action critical after a pedestrian accident. Acting promptly helps preserve the proof and identify every responsible party while the record can still be assembled.
Fox and Farmer has represented seriously injured people and grieving families across East Tennessee since 1986. Our team knows that a pedestrian case is a fight to keep fault where it belongs against an insurer determined to move it.
With an office serving the Tri-Cities, our lawyers’ local-area knowledge can be beneficial in:
We file in the correct court where your injury happened. Most of Johnson City is in Washington County (Circuit Court in Jonesborough), but the Carter County side is filed in Elizabethton and the Sullivan County side in Blountville. We can prepare each pedestrian case as if it will be tried.
A person on foot has no protection in a collision, and the proof of what happened, the driver's speed, the signal, and a nearby camera, can disappear within days. We move quickly to secure the evidence.
There is no fee unless we recover and the first consultation is free. If you or a loved one was struck in the Johnson City area, an early call protects the evidence and the claim. Call us at 423-390-0000 for a case evaluation.
