Statewide Utah Representation
Utah Pedestrian Accident LawyerInsurers Blame the Walker. Utah Law Says Drivers Still Have to Watch the Road.
The first question an adjuster asks is where you were crossing. It is the wrong question. Utah Code § 41-6a-1006 requires every driver to exercise due care to avoid a pedestrian, and that duty does not switch off because you stepped outside a crosswalk. We make that argument, with the statute behind it.
The Difference
Why Pedestrian Claims Aren't Ordinary Injury Cases
Three forces make these claims their own discipline, and each is a reason to have a lawyer who handles them specifically.
The Blame Starts With You
No other injury case opens with the insurer investigating the victim's conduct first. The jaywalking argument gets raised reflexively, often before anyone has looked at the driver's speed or attention.
The Injuries Are Catastrophic
There is no crumple zone, no airbag, no seatbelt. The same impact that dents a bumper breaks a pelvis, and pedestrians are a badly disproportionate share of Utah's road deaths.
Fault Is Rarely All-or-Nothing
These cases turn on percentages, not a yes or no. Under Utah's comparative negligence rule, the difference between 40% and 55% fault is the difference between a recovery and nothing at all.
Utah & Local Law
The Utah Pedestrian Laws That Decide Your Case
These statutes pull against each other. Knowing how they fit together is the whole case.
Crosswalk right-of-way. Drivers must slow or stop to yield to a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk. A pedestrian may not leave a curb suddenly and walk into the path of a vehicle close enough to be an immediate hazard.
Complete stop required. A vehicle approaching a school crosswalk must come to a full stop when the school speed-limit warning lights are flashing and the crosswalk is occupied.
Where you may cross. Outside a crosswalk, a pedestrian yields to vehicles. Between adjacent signalized intersections you must use a marked crosswalk. This is the statute insurers quote, and it is one side of the picture, not the whole one.
Due care survives regardless. Every driver must exercise care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, give an audible signal when necessary, and take extra precaution around children and anyone obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated.
Comparative fault. Being partly at fault for how you crossed does not automatically end your claim. You recover as long as you are less than 50% at fault, reduced by your share.
Four-year deadline. Utah generally allows four years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury claim. Wrongful death is shorter, and government claims shorter still.
How Crashes Happen
Common Causes of Utah Pedestrian Accidents
Almost all of these trace back to a driver's choice, not a walker's.
Distracted Driving
A glance at a phone is long enough to cross an entire intersection blind.
Failure to Yield
Drivers rolling through crosswalks, or turning without checking the walk signal.
Speeding
Speed decides both whether a driver can stop and whether the person survives.
Impaired Driving
Slowed reactions and poor lane control, disproportionately at night.
Turning Without Looking
Right on red and left across traffic, where the driver is watching for cars only.
Hit-and-Run
A leading factor in Utah pedestrian crashes, and its own kind of claim.
Poor Visibility
Dawn, dusk, storms, and unlit stretches where drivers outdrive their headlights.
Parking Lots & Backovers
Low speeds, tight sightlines, and reversing vehicles around heavy foot traffic.
Aggressive & Fatigued Driving
Tailgating, unsafe lane changes, and drivers too tired to react in time.
Accountability
Who Can Be Held Liable After a Pedestrian Crash
More than one policy often applies, and the driver's is not always the largest.
The Driver
Bound by § 41-6a-1006 to exercise due care to avoid a pedestrian, whatever else happened.
The Vehicle's Owner
When someone else was driving, the owner's policy is frequently the one that pays.
Employers
Delivery, rideshare, and work vehicles carry commercial coverage far larger than a personal policy.
Government Entities
Dangerous crossings, dead signals, missing markings. A notice of claim may be due within one year.
Property Owners
Parking lots and private drives where design, lighting, or sightlines created the hazard.
Your Own Insurer
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which is what carries most hit-and-run claims.
What's at Stake
Common Injuries in Utah Pedestrian Crashes
Between 2020 and 2024, 219 of the 1,483 people killed on Utah roads were pedestrians, a share far out of proportion to how rarely pedestrians are involved in crashes at all (Utah Highway Safety Office).
Traumatic Brain Injury
From the impact itself or the secondary fall to the pavement.
Spinal Cord Injury & Paralysis
Life-altering, with lifetime care costs insurers work hard to discount.
Pelvic & Leg Fractures
The classic bumper-height injuries, often requiring multiple surgeries.
Internal & Organ Damage
Bleeding that is not obvious at the scene and can be missed initially.
Amputations
Crush injuries beyond surgical repair, with lifelong prosthetic needs.
Road Rash & Degloving
Extensive skin loss requiring grafts and leaving permanent scarring.
Permanent Disfigurement
When the crash changes how someone looks and lives for good.
Psychological Trauma
PTSD and fear of traffic: real, compensable, and routinely ignored by adjusters.
Building Your Case
Evidence That Beats the Jaywalking Defense
When the insurer's theory is that you crossed wrong, the answer is proof of what the driver was doing. We move early to collect and preserve:
- The police crash report and any citations issued to the driver
- Intersection, transit, doorbell, and business camera footage
- Signal and walk-phase timing data from the city or UDOT
- The vehicle's event data recorder: speed, braking, throttle
- The driver's phone records where distraction is suspected
- Scene measurements, sightlines, lighting, and crosswalk markings
- Witness statements, taken before memories blur
- Medical records tying every injury to the impact
Most of this is gone within weeks. Some of it within days.
Economic Damages Measurable
Emergency and surgical care, rehabilitation, assistive equipment, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and the future treatment a catastrophic injury guarantees.
Non-Economic Damages Personal
Pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and the anxiety that follows people back into traffic.
Punitive Damages Rare
For egregious conduct such as a drunk or fleeing driver. Utah's comparative negligence rule (§ 78B-5-818) lets you recover as long as you are less than 50% at fault.
Protect Yourself
What to Do After a Pedestrian Crash in Utah
What happens in the first hours shapes the whole claim. If you're able:
Get Medical Care
Go the same day. Internal injuries and concussions often surface hours later.
Call the Police
Insist on a report. It fixes the location, the vehicle, and the driver's account early.
Photograph the Scene
Crosswalk markings, signals, sightlines, lighting, vehicle damage, and your injuries.
Get Witnesses
Names and numbers. Nearby businesses may have cameras that overwrite within days.
Say Nothing About Fault
Not to the driver, not to their adjuster. Call us before any recorded statement.
Local Help
Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Near You
Statewide representation, with attorneys who know your community's intersections and its courts.
Let Our Lawyers Fight for Your Recovery
The driver's insurer is already building the case that this was your fault. Level the field: talk to us before you talk to them.
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Kurt London
This page was written and reviewed by Kurt London of London Harker Injury Law. Kurt represents injured Utahns in pedestrian, auto, and catastrophic-injury cases statewide, holding negligent drivers and their insurers accountable under Utah law. Read Kurt's full bio →
Common Questions
Utah Pedestrian Accident FAQ
I was jaywalking. Do I still have a case?
What if the driver says they never saw me?
How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident claim in Utah?
The driver fled, or has no insurance. What now?
What if a child was hit near a school?
How much does a pedestrian accident lawyer cost?
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