New Braunfels Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Do You Have a Case If You Were Not in a Marked Crosswalk?

Yes. Texas law does not require you to be in a marked crosswalk to recover compensation after being hit by a car.

Texas follows a rule called modified comparative fault. This means you can still recover damages as long as you are found to be less than 51 percent responsible for the crash. For example, a pedestrian crossing mid-block can still win a case if the driver was speeding or looking at a phone.

Drivers in Texas are always required to exercise reasonable care to avoid hitting pedestrians, regardless of where those pedestrians are walking. What we see consistently in pedestrian accident cases in New Braunfels is that the comparative fault argument is used most aggressively when the pedestrian was not in a marked crosswalk. 

Insurers assign the maximum defensible fault percentage to the pedestrian in the first contact, then use that number as leverage to push a low settlement. We respond by documenting the driver’s speed, phone use, and sight lines before and during the crash, which shifts the analysis away from where the pedestrian was standing and onto what the driver actually did in the moments before impact.

What Are Your Rights in a Crosswalk Under Texas Law?

Under Texas Transportation Code Section 552, drivers must yield the right of way to pedestrians who are crossing in a marked crosswalk or at an unmarked intersection crosswalk. Drivers must also yield when a pedestrian has already entered the crosswalk on a walk signal, even if the signal changes before they finish crossing.

Texas also requires drivers to exercise extra caution around children, elderly individuals, and anyone who appears to be confused or incapacitated. When a driver fails to meet these legal duties and you are hurt as a result, you have the right to file a personal injury claim.

What Compensation Can You Recover?

A pedestrian struck by a vehicle can pursue three categories of damages in Texas.

Economic Damages

These are the measurable financial losses tied directly to your injury:

• Past and future medical bills, including emergency care, surgery, and physical therapy
• Lost wages from the time you were unable to work
• Reduced earning capacity if your injury prevents you from returning to your previous job
• Mobility equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches, or home modifications

Non-Economic Damages

These damages cover the personal toll the injury takes on your daily life. We pursue compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, permanent scarring, and the loss of activities you could do before the crash, such as playing with your children or walking without assistance.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are an additional financial penalty the court can impose on a driver who acted with extreme recklessness. These apply in cases involving a drunk driver, a driver fleeing law enforcement, or a driver engaged in street racing at the time of the crash.

What If It Was a Hit and Run?

We help hit-and-run victims pursue compensation even when the driver cannot be immediately identified. We work with local law enforcement and canvass the area for business security footage before it gets deleted.

We also review your own auto insurance policy for uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage is a policy benefit that pays for your medical bills and lost wages when the at-fault driver has no insurance or cannot be found. Many pedestrians are surprised to learn this coverage applies even when they were walking, not driving.

Don’t settle for less. Call (832) 490-7088 for a free case review. 

How Do We Prove Driver Fault?

We build pedestrian accident cases on multiple layers of evidence so the insurance company cannot dispute what happened.

Video, EDR, and Scene Evidence

We pull footage from business security cameras along Downtown corridors and request recordings from city traffic cameras. We also obtain the vehicle’s event data recorder, which is the onboard device that captures the vehicle’s speed, braking, and steering inputs in the seconds before impact. Combined with photos of skid marks and the debris field, this evidence creates a clear picture of the driver’s actions.

Police Reports and Witness Statements

We obtain the official New Braunfels Police Department crash report and review the 911 call audio to establish a timeline. We also contact witnesses near the crash site to secure their statements before memories fade.

Accident Reconstruction Experts

When the insurance company disputes how the crash happened, we bring in a licensed accident reconstruction expert. These professionals use physics and engineering principles to calculate vehicle speed and the exact point of impact, giving us courtroom-ready proof of the driver’s fault.

In our experience handling pedestrian accident cases in Comal County, the traffic camera network managed by the City of New Braunfels covers a limited number of intersections, and the cameras at many locations retain footage for only 30 days before overwriting. Business surveillance along downtown corridors, including San Antonio Street and Seguin Avenue, is often the only independent evidence available when a crash happens outside a signalized intersection. We send evidence preservation letters to businesses within the first week of representation specifically because this is the window before the footage becomes unavailable.

How Long Do You Have to File in Texas?

In Texas, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. This deadline is called the statute of limitations.

If a defective traffic signal or a dangerous road condition contributed to your crash, a government entity may be involved. Claims against government entities often require written notice within six months of the incident, which is a much shorter window. Waiting too long means lost footage, faded witness memories, and the permanent loss of your right to compensation.

Why Choose Vendt Accident Attorneys?

With 85 years of combined legal experience, Vendt Accident Attorneys handles everything from straightforward pedestrian claims to complex cases involving disputed liability and catastrophic injuries. We do not pass your case to a paralegal. You work directly with an attorney who knows your situation.

Frank Vendt has served as President of the Fort Bend County Bar Association, a reflection of the firm’s standing in the Texas legal community. We are compassionate with our clients and relentless with insurance companies.

“My wife and I were involved in a motorcycle accident a few years back and Scott handled everything from the hospital to the insurance. We were well beyond satisfied as he made the process very easy to understand and demonstrated a high level of professionalism. We highly recommend Scott Broussard as your attorney.” – Steve Ledford