Houma Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Were you injured in a pedestrian accident in Houma, LA?
At Kiefer & Kiefer, we are trusted pedestrian accident lawyers serving clients across Houma and the surrounding area.
If a driver struck you while you were walking, an attorney can pursue the compensation Louisiana law allows for your injuries. A person on foot has nothing between them and several thousand pounds of moving vehicle, which is why these cases so often involve surgery and permanent impairment.
A Houma, LA pedestrian accident lawyer at Kiefer & Kiefer investigates the crossing, the sight lines, and the driver’s conduct, then documents your injuries in full. Our firm has handled these claims in Terrebonne Parish for more than four decades. The consultation is free and our fee is contingent.
Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Houma, LA
Pedestrian crashes account for 14.2 percent of all fatalities and serious injuries on Louisiana roads, according to state transportation data covering 2016 through 2020. Houma compounds that exposure. Sidewalks stop and start along bayou-side roads, crossing distances on the commercial corridors are long, and much of the city was laid out for vehicles rather than for people walking.
A pedestrian accident claim is a civil demand against the driver whose negligence caused your injuries. Proving it requires establishing the duty owed, the failure to meet it, and the connection between that failure and your harm. A Houma pedestrian accident attorney also has to dismantle the fault argument the insurer will raise, because it arrives in nearly every one of these files.
Types of Pedestrian Accident Cases We Handle in Houma
What the driver was doing at the moment of contact determines the proof the claim requires. A turning driver, a backing driver, and a distracted driver each leave behind a different evidentiary trail.
- Crosswalk collisions. A driver who fails to yield to someone already crossing bears responsibility for what follows. Signal timing and the position of the vehicle at impact usually establish that, which is why the exact point of contact matters so much.
- Intersection and turning vehicle crashes. Drivers turning right on red often watch for oncoming traffic and never look for people on foot. These crashes happen at low speed and still cause fractures and head injuries, because there is nothing to absorb the impact except the person.
- Parking lot accidents. Lots have poor sight lines, inconsistent markings, and drivers watching for spaces rather than for pedestrians. We have recovered for clients struck in exactly these conditions, including one pedestrian hit while crossing a lot on foot.
- Backing accidents. A driver reversing out of a driveway or a parking space carries the duty to look. Camera footage from nearby businesses is often the only independent record and is typically overwritten within days.
- Hit-and-run crashes. When the driver leaves, recovery usually runs through uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy or a household member’s. The notice requirements are strict.
- Drunk driving accidents. Impaired drivers strike pedestrians disproportionately at night and near entertainment areas. These claims can support damages beyond ordinary compensation, and we track the criminal proceeding while building the civil case on its own evidence.
- Distracted driving accidents. Phone records and vehicle event data establish what occupied the driver in the seconds before impact. That evidence has to be demanded before it ages out.
- Children struck in residential areas. A child’s conduct is measured differently than an adult’s, and these claims require careful handling of both the medical picture and the family’s position.
- Truck accidents. Commercial vehicles have large blind spots and long stopping distances. Carriers send investigators to the scene quickly, and our attorneys spent years on that side of these cases.
- Amazon truck accidents. Delivery vans move through neighborhoods, stop constantly, and back up frequently. Contractor arrangements can obscure which company carries the policy.
- FedEx truck accidents. FedEx consolidated its delivery operations in 2024, and the van involved may belong to a contracted service provider.
Why Choose Kiefer & Kiefer as my Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Houma, LA?
A Practice Built on Trying Cases
Megan Kiefer has been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2022 and has appeared on Fox, WWL, WDSU, and CBS discussing injury matters. Chris Bruno served decades on the bench before returning to practice and is board certified as a Civil Trial Advocate. A judge’s perspective on how a jury actually receives evidence is difficult to replicate, and it shapes how we prepare a file from the first week forward. If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, our personal injury lawyer in Houma, LA is here to help.
Results in Pedestrian and Walkway Claims
Kiefer & Kiefer has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients. Outcomes in matters involving people on foot include:
- $871,000 jury verdict, upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court, for a fall caused by a defective sidewalk
- $400,000 for a pedestrian struck in a parking lot
- $245,000 for a pedestrian struck while walking dogs
We represent injured people and their families only, never drivers, companies, or insurers. Consultations are free, and our fee is owed only if we obtain a recovery for you. Case results depend on the specific facts of each matter.
Understanding Pedestrian Accident Cases
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Pedestrian Accident Cases
Civil Code Article 2315 obligates a person whose fault causes damage to repair it. A pedestrian absorbs the entire force of a collision, so the damages tend to be substantial:
- Emergency surgery, orthopedic repair, and rehabilitation
- Traumatic brain injury and other lasting cognitive harm
- Wages lost and earning capacity permanently reduced
- Pain, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent disability, scarring, and disfigurement
- Loss of consortium belonging to a spouse or child
Fault gets apportioned among everyone who contributed. Under Article 2323, amended effective January 1, 2026, a claimant assigned 51 percent or more of the fault recovers nothing, and anyone below that line has the award reduced by their share. Being found partially at fault does not end a claim, though it changes its value. Crashes before that date remain under Louisiana’s former pure comparative fault rule.
What Are Important Aspects of a Pedestrian Accident Case?
Proving negligence in these cases means answering the driver’s version before a jury ever hears it. Several elements carry the most weight:
- Where you were and where the vehicle was at impact
- Lighting, sight lines, and roadway condition
- Independent witnesses, since the driver is the only other account
- Treatment begun immediately and continued without gaps
- Every available policy identified, including your own coverage
Scene evidence matters more here than in most vehicle claims, because the physical record is thin and disappears quickly. Where a child was hurt, the question of who brings a child’s claim has to be resolved before anything else proceeds.
What Is The Pedestrian Accident Case Timeline?
Severity sets the pace. Article 3493.1 allows two years from the date of injury to file suit on causes of action arising on or after July 1, 2024. Earlier claims carried one year.
- Scene investigation and preservation of any available footage
- Treatment continuing until the medical condition stabilizes
- Demand delivered to each carrier with exposure
- Suit filed where fault is contested or negotiation stalls
- Discovery, depositions, and consulting opinions
- Mediation, settlement, or trial
Claims involving brain or orthopedic injury run longest, because future care cannot be priced until physicians can say what it requires.
What Should You Bring to Your Pedestrian Accident Consultation?
Whatever you still have shortens the investigation, though we can obtain most records ourselves.
- The crash report or the agency and report number
- Photographs of the location, the vehicle, and your injuries
- Names of any witnesses who stopped at the scene
- Medical bills and the names of your treating providers
- Your auto policy declarations page, which may supply coverage
The review costs nothing. We will explain what coverage is available, where the driver’s account is vulnerable, and what the coming months involve.
Most Dangerous Locations for Pedestrian Accidents in Houma
Louisiana recorded 161 pedestrian fatalities and 1,285 pedestrian injuries statewide, and nearly 24 percent of those deaths involved alcohol, according to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission. Locally, risk concentrates where foot traffic meets wide roadways and inconsistent sidewalks.
Surface streets:
- Barrow Street, a busy north-south route with intermittent sidewalk coverage
- Park Avenue, wide and commercial with long distances between signals
- Tunnel Boulevard, carrying heavy traffic through the center of the city
- Roussell Street, narrow and busy through the downtown blocks
- Bayou Gardens Boulevard, connecting residential areas to retail
Highways and major routes:
- U.S. Highway 90, high speed with limited pedestrian accommodation
- Louisiana Highway 24, the main corridor into and through Houma
- Louisiana Highway 182, an older alignment with narrow shoulders
- Louisiana Highway 316, serving Bayou Blue
- Louisiana Highway 3040, linking neighborhoods to the highway
Reach Out to Kiefer & Kiefer to Schedule a Consultation
A pedestrian accident attorney in Houma can evaluate your claim at no cost to you. There is no fee unless we recover, and a consultation obligates you to nothing. We will give you an honest read on liability and on what the claim is realistically worth. Contact us to arrange a review with a pedestrian accident lawyer in Houma, LA.