Being hit by a car while crossing Telegraph, walking near Twelve Mile, or moving through a parking lot near the Southfield Civic Center can leave you injured, shaken, and suddenly facing problems you never expected. Medical bills, missed work, financial strain, and not knowing what to do next or how much compensation you can obtain compound the stress.
Our Southfield pedestrian accident lawyers represent people struck while crossing streets, walking through parking lots, and standing at bus stops in Southfield and across Oakland County.
Kajy Law Firm identifies the insurance coverage available for your medical care and lost wages, protects you from missed deadlines, gathers evidence supporting your claim, and pursues the driver for additional compensation when Michigan law allows.
Take control of your case today with a firm that focuses exclusively on motor vehicle accident and injury cases. Call 248-702-6641 anytime or contact us online for a free consultation.
Table of contents
- Who Pays Your Medical Bills If You Are Hit by a Car While Walking in Michigan?
- Why Should You Call a Southfield Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Soon After a Crash?
- Can You Still Recover If the Driver Says You Stepped Into the Road?
- What Kinds of Pedestrian Accidents Do We Handle in Southfield?
- How Does the Severity of Your Injuries Change What You Can Claim?
- What Kajy Law Brings to a Southfield Pedestrian Case
- Pedestrian Accident Questions Answered by Our Southfield Attorneys
- Injured in a Southfield Pedestrian Accident? Call Kajy Law Firm Now.
Who Pays Your Medical Bills If You Are Hit by a Car While Walking in Michigan?
No-fault coverage covers these expenses, though it is rarely provided under the motorist's policy. Under Michigan state law, medical expenses for a person hit by a car while walking are routed to the auto policy in their own household first.
If no one in your household carries auto insurance, your benefits come from the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan, a state program that assigns your claim to a private insurer. The driver's insurance company does not pay for your medical care under either path.
This statutory order catches most people off guard, and it dictates the immediate legal actions required in your claim.
When someone in your household has auto insurance
That existing auto policy covers necessary medical care, as well as lost wage benefits. State law applies these protections to the policyholder, a resident spouse, and any family member residing in the same household, regardless of whether the injured person owns a motor vehicle.
For instance, a student struck near Southfield High might receive coverage through a parent's auto policy. An elderly relative who was hit while crossing Nine Mile might rely on the policy of an adult child who resides in the same home. Neither individual needs to own an automobile or appear on the policy listing.
When no one in your household has auto insurance
If neither you nor a household family member has an auto insurance policy, your claim goes to the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MACP), which state law directs non-occupants to when no policy applies. The state assigns your file to a private insurer that then pays the benefits.
Two limits come with that route. Benefits are capped at $250,000 for medical care in most cases, and you have one year from the date you were struck to notify the plan.
That cap can matter greatly in a serious pedestrian crash, because hospital care and rehabilitation can quickly become expensive. Treatment costs above the cap may be recoverable from the at-fault driver through a separate claim we bring.
Our Southfield pedestrian accident attorneys start by sorting out which insurer pays your medical bills, because every other deadline in a case depends on that answer.
Why Should You Call a Southfield Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Soon After a Crash?
No one opens a claim for you after a pedestrian crash. When two cars collide, both drivers report it, and both insurers start files that day. When a driver hits someone on foot, that driver's insurer owes you nothing for your treatment, so it has no reason to call you, and the company that does owe you benefits has no idea the crash happened.
Injured pedestrians routinely lose months this way. The one-year deadline on the assigned claims plan is the shortest in Michigan no-fault law, and it runs whether or not you know it exists.
Kajy Law Firm handles pedestrian cases the same way we handle Southfield motor vehicle accident claims, starting the day you call:
- Determining which policy or program owes your benefits, and opening that claim
- Obtaining the crash report and any camera footage from nearby businesses
- Documenting your injuries while the treatment is happening, not afterward
- Filing the third-party case against the driver when your injuries qualify
Evidence disappears faster in these cases than in two-car collisions. There is no second vehicle to inspect and often no damage photographs, so the proof comes from the roadway itself, the businesses with cameras facing the street, and the people who stopped to help. That makes gathering proof after a Michigan collision especially important in a pedestrian crash.
Getting the right insurer on the hook early is what keeps your treatment from stalling while the case develops.
Can You Still Recover If the Driver Says You Stepped Into the Road?
Yes, in most cases, and partial blame reduces your recovery rather than ending it. Michigan reduces damages by your share of the fault, and only bars payment for pain and suffering when you are found more than 50% responsible.
Drivers say it constantly. They tell the officer you came out of nowhere, that you were looking at your phone, that you crossed against the signal. A Southfield crosswalk accident lawyer answers that with the signal timing, the vehicle's speed, and where the impact actually happened.
Your no-fault benefits are a separate matter. Those get paid regardless of fault, so a dispute about blame does not stop your medical coverage while the rest of the case is argued.
What Kinds of Pedestrian Accidents Do We Handle in Southfield?
We take pedestrian cases throughout Michigan, and our team of Southfield pedestrian accident attorneys has seen each of these situations:
- Crosswalk collisions, usually a driver turning across a crosswalk while watching for a gap in traffic
- Intersection crashes on wide multi-lane roads like Telegraph, Twelve Mile, and Greenfield
- Parking lot strikes at shopping centers and office complexes, often by a driver reversing
- Distracted driving crashes where the driver never braked before impact
- Collisions involving delivery vans, work trucks, and rideshare vehicles
- Hit-and-run crashes where the driver leaves before anyone gets a plate number
- School zone and residential street crashes involving children on foot
How the collision occurred decides which insurance policies apply, who can be held responsible, and what evidence we need to gather first. The account you give us in the first conversation shapes everything that follows.
Southfield geography plays into these cases more than people expect. Wide arterials like Telegraph and Northwestern Highway carry highway-speed traffic through areas people cross on foot, including riders walking to and from SMART bus stops.
How Does the Severity of Your Injuries Change What You Can Claim?
Your injuries affect what compensation you may pursue. No-fault benefits can cover medical care and wage loss regardless of whether you meet Michigan's serious-injury threshold.
That threshold determines whether you can pursue pain and suffering from the at-fault driver, while a separate claim may also seek medical expenses or wage loss that exceed applicable no-fault limits.
| Your situation | Benefits claim | Claim against the driver |
|---|---|---|
| Injuries that do not meet the serious-injury threshold | Medical care and wage loss paid | Excess economic losses may be recoverable; pain and suffering generally is not |
| Serious impairment of an important body function | Medical care and wage loss paid | Pain and suffering may be available |
| Permanent serious disfigurement | Medical care and wage loss paid | Pain and suffering may be available |
| Death of a pedestrian | Benefits to survivors | Wrongful death claim available |
Serious impairment means an impairment of an important body function that affects your general ability to lead your normal life. Medical records and evidence of how the injury changes your day-to-day activities can help show whether that threshold is met.
Medical records created while you are treating are what prove it. Gaps in treatment give the insurer its best argument, and we work with your doctors to keep the record complete.
Wage loss has its own limit worth knowing. No-fault provides wage-loss benefits for eligible work lost during the first three years after the crash. If your injuries keep you out of work longer than that, additional lost income may be recoverable from the at-fault driver.
What Kajy Law Brings to a Southfield Pedestrian Case
Pedestrian cases can involve a less obvious path to insurance coverage because the policy responsible for no-fault benefits may not be the driver's policy. Motor vehicle accident cases are all we handle.
- More than $100 million recovered for Michigan accident victims
- More than 5,000 cases handled, with 150+ years of combined experience
- We come to your hospital room or your home, which matters when walking is difficult
- No fee unless we win, and free consultations
Lawrence Kajy built this firm around Michigan no-fault coverage disputes, the same subject he wrote about in a law review article at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. He has been selected to the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 and to Super Lawyers.
Our pedestrian work sits alongside the broader Southfield injury representation we provide, and the same attorneys handle both.
Past results do not predict what your case will bring. Call 248-702-6641 or contact us online to talk it through.
Pedestrian Accident Questions Answered by Our Southfield Attorneys
I have health insurance. Why can't I just use that?
Health insurance may pay some or all of your medical bills, depending on how your auto and health coverage are set up. Michigan allows some people to coordinate PIP medical benefits with health coverage or, in certain circumstances, opt out of or exclude PIP medical coverage. We review both policies to determine which coverage applies and how PIP insurance in Michigan may affect your medical benefits.
What if my child was hit walking to or from school?
A parent's car insurance policy generally covers a child living at home. Claims involving children carry their own timing rules, so the sooner we look at the family's coverage, the better positioned the claim is.
Can I file a claim if I was hit in a parking lot instead of on the road?
Parking lot strikes qualify, and our pedestrian accident lawyers in Southfield handle them when they occur at shopping centers, office complexes, and lots around the Civic Center. Private property does not remove your right to no-fault benefits or to a claim against the driver, including when determining who is liable for a pedestrian accident.
What if a delivery van or work truck hit me?
A delivery van or work truck may be covered by a commercial policy, and the driver's employer may also be responsible depending on the circumstances. These cases can involve additional insurance and employment records, so they often require more investigation.
Who pays if a city bus or another government vehicle hit me?
Special notice rules can apply when you are hit by a government vehicle. For example, a third-party injury claim against SMART generally requires written notice within 60 days. Other government entities may have different requirements, so these cases should be reviewed promptly.
Does any of this apply if I was on a bicycle or an electric scooter?
Michigan treats cyclists and scooter riders struck by a motor vehicle the same way it treats people on foot for no-fault purposes. The same coverage questions and the same deadlines apply to your claim.
The driver's insurance company called me. Should I talk to them?
You are not required to give the driver's insurer a recorded statement, and that call is rarely about helping you. Let us handle it, because early answers about how you were feeling get quoted back months later when your doctors find more than anyone saw at first.
I was hit months ago and have not filed anything. Is it too late?
It depends on which claim we are talking about and what has already happened with your treatment. Michigan's statute of limitations allows three years for a lawsuit against the driver, while benefits claims run on much shorter clocks. Call us and we will tell you what is still open.
Injured in a Southfield Pedestrian Accident? Call Kajy Law Firm Now.
The hardest part of these cases is that nothing happens automatically. No adjuster calls you, no claim opens on its own, and the shortest deadline in Michigan no-fault law is already running.
One phone call can tell you which insurance company owes you benefits, what your injuries are likely to support, and how much time you have left.
One of our experienced Southfield pedestrian accident attorneys will tell you honestly if you do not need a lawyer, and just as honestly when waiting is about to cost you the claim.
Kajy Law Firm, PLLC is at 18000 W Nine Mile Rd, Suite 1400, Southfield, MI 48075. Call 248-702-6641 day or night, or contact us online. There is no fee unless we win.