A person on foot has no protection at all when a car hits them. Pedestrian crashes cause head injuries, broken legs and hips, spinal injuries and deaths at speeds that would barely dent a bumper in a car-on-car crash. Then the driver’s insurer starts asking why you were in the road, what you were wearing and whether you looked both ways.
A Louisville pedestrian accident lawyer at Forman & Associates Accident Injury Lawyers answers those questions with Kentucky’s right-of-way rules and hard evidence, and builds every case as if a jury is already watching. Free consultation. No fee unless we win.
You may have a claim when a driver’s carelessness caused the crash: failing to yield in a crosswalk, turning into people crossing with the signal, backing up without looking, pulling across a sidewalk from a driveway, or speeding, texting or driving impaired. Claims can also involve a dangerous sidewalk or crossing.
Kentucky’s pedestrian statute (KRS 189.570) gives drivers specific duties: yield to people crossing where there are no working signals, never pass a car stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian, and yield to anyone on a sidewalk. Above all of that, every driver must use due care to avoid hitting any pedestrian, and take extra precautions around children and people who seem confused or incapacitated.
Under Kentucky’s pure comparative fault rule (KRS 411.182), you can recover even if you share some of the blame, such as crossing mid-block. Your award is reduced by your share, not wiped out. Learn how pure comparative fault works.
Hit while riding a bike? See our Louisville bicycle accident lawyer page. If your child was hit, see our child pedestrian accident page. Hurt in a store or office parking lot? See parking lot accidents.
Hit by a car while walking in Louisville or anywhere in Kentucky? Talk with a pedestrian accident lawyer on our team today. Every case is reviewed at no charge, and we never collect a fee unless we win.
Many pedestrians leave the scene in an ambulance, which means the driver is often the only one who talks to the police. The insurer opens a file right away, and the first version of the story it hears is the driver’s.
From the day we take your case, we send preservation letters, document the scene and identify every policy that could apply. See evidence to preserve after an accident and how to get a Kentucky accident report.
Get checked right away, even if you can walk. Head injuries and internal injuries can be worse than they seem (see traumatic brain injury). Make sure a police report is made, and get the driver’s name, insurance and plate if you can.
If you or someone with you is able, photograph the vehicle, the crosswalk or roadway, the signals and your injuries. Note any business, home or bus cameras nearby, and get witness names and numbers.
Don’t give a recorded statement or sign a release first. A pedestrian accident lawyer can handle the PIP, liability and uninsured motorist claims while you heal.
Most pedestrian crashes start with a driver who wasn’t watching for people on foot. If any of these played a role, you may have a strong claim.
Where signals aren't in place or working, drivers must slow down or stop to yield to a pedestrian crossing the road (KRS 189.570(4)).
When a car stops at a crosswalk to let someone cross, drivers behind it may not pass it. Multi-lane roads make this crash common and deadly.
Drivers turning left or right at intersections watch for gaps in traffic, not people in the crosswalk, and turn into pedestrians crossing with the signal.
Phones and screens pull a driver's eyes off the road. We move fast on phone and vehicle data. See distracted driving accidents.
Drivers must yield to anyone on a sidewalk (KRS 189.570(8)), including when pulling out of a driveway or parking lot exit.
Drivers in an injury crash must stop and help (KRS 189.580). If the driver fled, see our hit-and-run accident page.
Drivers backing out of spaces and cutting across lots hit people walking to and from their cars. See parking lot accidents.
Every driver must operate carefully and with regard for traffic and road conditions (KRS 189.290). Speed and darkness leave a driver no time to stop.
Broken sidewalks, missing curb ramps and poorly lit crossings can cause falls or push people into the street. See sidewalk trip and fall.
Many of Louisville’s worst pedestrian crashes happen on wide, fast arterials with long gaps between signalized crossings and bus stops on both sides of the road: Dixie Highway, Preston Highway, Bardstown Road, Shelbyville Road and Broadway. Downtown and Old Louisville bring a different risk: turning drivers, one-way streets and heavy foot traffic around offices, the University of Louisville and event venues.
Night is when people on foot are hardest to see, and when drivers are most likely to be speeding, tired or impaired. That’s why lighting and sight-line evidence matters so much in these cases.
A Louisville pedestrian accident lawyer knows where local proof lives: LMPD crash reports, 911 records, transit and business video along these corridors. For statewide figures, see our Kentucky crash statistics.
Kentucky’s pedestrian statute (KRS 189.570) requires drivers to yield to a pedestrian crossing the road when signals aren’t in place or operating (subsection 4), forbids passing a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian (subsection 5), and requires drivers to yield to pedestrians on a sidewalk (subsection 8). Where there are signals, pedestrians follow the walk signals, and drivers must obey them too.
Even where a pedestrian should have yielded, every driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, sound the horn when necessary, and take proper precautions on seeing a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated person in the road (subsection 6(d)). That duty applies “notwithstanding” any local ordinance.
The same statute gives pedestrians duties: yield to traffic when crossing outside a crosswalk, use a crosswalk between signalized intersections in a city, don’t step suddenly into the path of a car too close to stop, use the sidewalk when there is one, and otherwise use the shoulder or walk facing traffic on the left edge of a two-way road (subsections 6, 9 and 12-14). Insurers use these rules to argue comparative fault. They can reduce what you recover. They don’t erase the driver’s duty to look and to use due care.
If you were hit while walking, Kentucky’s no-fault law looks first to the insurance on the vehicle that struck you, up to $10,000 in PIP. If that insurer doesn’t pay within 30 days of reasonable proof, you can claim under your own household auto policy (KRS 304.39-050). If no policy applies, Kentucky’s assigned claims plan may (KRS 304.39-160). You don’t need to own a car to get PIP as a pedestrian. More: how Kentucky PIP works.
Kentucky auto policies must include uninsured motorist coverage unless a named insured rejected it in writing (KRS 304.20-020). Your household’s uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage often protects you as a pedestrian, which matters when the driver has minimal limits or fled.
For a claim against a driver: generally two years from the injury or the last PIP payment, whichever is later (KRS 304.39-230(6)). A fall on a broken sidewalk with no vehicle involved: generally one year (KRS 413.140(1)(a)), and a defective city street or sidewalk may require written notice within 90 days (KRS 411.110). See the statute of limitations guide.
Every file a pedestrian accident lawyer builds starts here:
Pedestrian crashes cause head injuries, broken legs, hips and pelvises, spinal injuries and internal injuries, often with months of recovery. Early offers rarely reflect that. Recoverable damages in a Kentucky case can include:
Don’t accept the first offer until you know the full medical picture and have talked with a pedestrian accident lawyer about what the claim is worth. We also resolve medical liens.
Insurers settle pedestrian claims differently depending on who represents the injured person. When the other side knows your pedestrian accident lawyer prepares every case for trial, the conversation about what your claim is worth changes.
Larry Forman has tried 50+ jury trials and won 95% of them. Insurers know which lawyers will go to court, and it shows in how they negotiate.
Video, signal timing, lighting and the vehicle: we send preservation demands and start our own investigation the day we take your case.
When you left in an ambulance, the driver told the first story. We rebuild what really happened with witnesses, video and scene measurements.
The driver's liability coverage, PIP, and your household uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Pedestrians are often covered by more than they think.
You pay nothing up front. We advance case costs, and we're paid only if we recover money for you.
Larry Forman's videos have been viewed hundreds of millions of times. He knows how to explain your case clearly to a judge, a jury or an adjuster.
Over $5,000,000 recovered for injured people.
Past results do not guarantee, predict or warrant a similar outcome in any future case. Each case depends on its own facts and the law.
It helps to talk with one first. The adjuster's job is to limit what the company pays, and a recorded statement can be used to argue you stepped out suddenly or weren't in a crosswalk. A consultation is free, and we never collect a fee unless we win.
Usually the striking vehicle's insurer pays PIP first, up to $10,000. If it doesn't pay within 30 days, your own household auto policy may. You don't need to own a car; if no policy applies, Kentucky's assigned claims plan may.
Often, yes. A pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk generally must yield to traffic, but every driver must still use due care to avoid hitting a pedestrian. Under pure comparative fault, crossing mid-block can reduce a recovery; it doesn't automatically end the claim.
Where signals aren't in place or working, yes: the driver must slow down or stop to yield to a pedestrian crossing. Drivers also may not pass a car that has stopped at a crosswalk to let someone cross.
You may. Drivers must yield to people on sidewalks, including when pulling out of a driveway or lot, and drivers in parking lots still owe a duty of care. PIP generally applies because a motor vehicle was involved.
The insurer will raise it, but drivers must drive carefully for the conditions and keep a lookout. Visibility arguments go to comparative fault. Lighting and sight-line evidence often shows the driver could have seen you.
Report it to the police right away. Your household's uninsured motorist coverage may pay, depending on the policy, and PIP may come from your household policy or Kentucky's assigned claims plan.
Generally two years from the injury or last PIP payment for a claim involving a motor vehicle. A fall on a defective sidewalk with no vehicle involved is generally one year, and a city may require written notice within 90 days.
Talk to a Louisville pedestrian accident lawyer before you give a statement or sign a release. A free consultation with Forman & Associates Accident Injury Lawyers costs you nothing.
Forman & Associates Accident Injury Lawyers
1139 S. 4th St., Louisville, KY 40203
Phone: (502) 931-6788 · Fax: 419-574-7156
Email: larry@larryformanlaw.com
This page is general information about Kentucky law and Louisville ordinances as of October 2026, not legal advice.
