Where did the injury happen?
Fault rules, deadlines, insurance, damages, dog-bite laws, and filing steps can change by state. Choose the state to open the right legal-source guide and carry that location into the confidential intake.
Short answer
Get medical care, preserve photos and video, identify the driver and vehicle, look for nearby cameras, and do not let an insurer blame you before the evidence is reviewed.
What to save now
- Get medical care and keep copies of discharge papers, imaging reports, prescriptions, and follow-up instructions.
- Save photos, videos, location details, license plates, driver information, insurance cards, app screenshots, and witness names.
- Do not guess about fault, injuries, or recorded statements before you understand your rights and the available insurance coverage.
- Write down pain, missed work, transportation problems, and every conversation with an insurer, employer, rideshare company, or trucking company.
- Photograph the crosswalk, bike lane, sidewalk, traffic signal, sign placement, lighting, debris, skid marks, helmet, bicycle, shoes, and torn clothing.
Choose the guide that matches how the crash happened
Use the pedestrian guide for crosswalks, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, and people struck while walking. Use the bicycle guide for bike lanes, dooring, unsafe turns, road hazards, damaged gear, and cycling app data.
NHTSA maintains separate pedestrian and bicycle safety resources, reflecting the different roadway risks and evidence questions each crash can raise.
Video evidence may disappear quickly
Stores, apartment buildings, buses, traffic cameras, doorbell cameras, and nearby businesses may have useful footage. Some systems overwrite video quickly.
If you can, write down the names and addresses of nearby businesses and cameras before the scene changes.
Medical documentation is a shared priority
Both kinds of crashes can cause head injuries, fractures, ligament injuries, shoulder injuries, back injuries, and knee injuries. Bicycle crashes can also create road rash and damage to a helmet or gear that should be preserved.
CDC traumatic brain injury guidance is especially relevant when headaches, dizziness, nausea, confusion, memory issues, sleep problems, or mood changes appear after impact.
How an injury claim and lawsuit usually move forward
Most matters begin with a confidential intake, conflict check, deadline review, investigation, medical-document collection, and insurance analysis. A lawyer may send preservation notices, request reports and records, interview witnesses, inspect physical evidence, identify every potentially responsible party, and evaluate whether experts are needed. A claim or demand may be presented before a lawsuit when the facts, medical condition, damages, and available coverage are sufficiently documented.
Filing a complaint begins the formal court process. The defendant is served and can answer, assert defenses, or challenge part of the case. Discovery may include written questions, document requests, depositions, subpoenas, inspections, medical examinations, and expert disclosures. Courts can decide legal issues in motions, while disputed facts may be reserved for a judge or jury. Negotiation and mediation can occur at several points, and many cases resolve without trial.
A settlement should be evaluated by the amount the client will actually receive after attorney fees, case costs, medical bills, liens, benefit reimbursement, and any funding payoff—not just the headline number. If the case goes to trial, the result depends on admissible evidence, governing law, credibility, judicial rulings, and the factfinder. Appeals generally address claimed legal error rather than starting the factual case over.
What compensation can include—and what has to be proved
Depending on the state and claim, recoverable damages may include reasonable medical expenses, lost income, reduced earning capacity, property loss, future care, pain, physical limitations, scarring, and other legally recognized harm. Wrongful-death, survival, workers' compensation, medical-negligence, government, and product cases can use different categories or limits. Punitive damages are not automatic and generally require a separate legal basis.
Proof matters as much as the category. Bills show charges but do not answer every question about necessity, payment, liens, future needs, or causation. Wage records, tax returns, schedules, employer statements, vocational evidence, photographs, journals, treating records, and qualified expert opinions can help document the economic and human impact. Prior conditions should be disclosed accurately so a lawyer can distinguish baseline health, aggravation, and unrelated problems.
Pre-settlement funding is optional and can reduce the net recovery
Some injured people consider an advance tied to expected case proceeds because they cannot work or are facing urgent bills. These products may be marketed as non-recourse funding rather than ordinary loans, and state treatment and contract terms vary. The label does not tell you the total cost. Ask for the complete agreement and a payoff table showing every fee and the dollars owed after several possible case durations.
Compare simple and compounded charges, time blocks, broker or origination fees, caps, assignment terms, dispute provisions, the result if the case recovers nothing, and whether the funder can influence settlement. Also compare hardship programs, insurance or disability benefits, provider payment plans, credit-union options, family assistance, and a smaller advance. Your lawyer can review how the agreement affects the case, but the financial choice should be made only after you understand the possible payoff and remaining net recovery.
Deadlines and legal rights are state-specific
Statutes of limitation are only part of deadline analysis. Accrual, discovery rules, presuit notice, government claims, medical negligence, minors, death, workers' compensation, product statutes, contractual terms, service, and tolling can change what must happen and when. Settlement discussions and insurance claims do not necessarily stop a filing deadline.
Use national pages for the framework and verified state pages for primary statute and court links. Then ask a lawyer licensed in the relevant state to calculate the actual deadline from the event date, claim type, parties, and current law. Do not wait for treatment to end or for an insurer to finish its review before asking.
Explore the focused guides
Choose the page that most closely matches the vehicle, injured person, or insurance issue. Each guide has its own evidence checklist and sources.
Common questions
What if the driver says they did not see me?
That does not end the case. Visibility, lighting, crosswalks, signals, speed, distraction, and witness accounts may still show the driver was responsible.
What if I was not in a crosswalk?
You may still have options depending on state law, driver conduct, speed, visibility, and the exact crash location.
Should I keep damaged clothing or the bicycle?
Yes. Damaged clothing, shoes, helmet, bags, and the bicycle can help show impact force and injury mechanism.
Sources and references
This guide uses primary public sources for safety, medical, regulatory, and insurance context. State law and individual facts can change the legal answer.
- NHTSA pedestrian safetyNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA bicycle safetyNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- CDC traumatic brain injury basicsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Civil cases in the federal courtsAdministrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Personal loans consumer resourcesConsumer Financial Protection Bureau