Pedestrian Accident Intake: How to Qualify High-Value Cases on the First Call

Why Pedestrian Accident Cases Are Different From Every Other PI Call

A pedestrian who gets hit by a car is not the same as a fender bender. The injuries are almost always catastrophic. The liability questions are more complex. And the caller on the other end of the line is usually in worse shape, emotionally and physically, than any other type of personal injury caller your team will ever handle.

That creates a problem for whoever picks up the phone at your firm. If they run through a standard intake script, they will miss critical details that determine whether this case is worth $50,000 or $5,000,000. Pedestrian accident cases hinge on facts that disappear fast: traffic camera footage gets overwritten in 72 hours, witness memories fade within days, and the at-fault driver’s insurance company is already building their defense before your client even calls.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 7,522 pedestrian fatalities in 2024, the second-highest total in over four decades. Another 60,000+ pedestrians were injured seriously enough to require emergency medical treatment. These are not small cases. But too many law firms treat them like routine PI calls and lose the details that make them winnable.

Here is how to build a pedestrian accident intake process that captures every fact your attorneys need on the first call.

The 8 Questions Your Intake Team Must Ask on Every Pedestrian Accident Call

Standard PI intake scripts cover the basics: when it happened, where it happened, were you injured. Pedestrian cases need more. These eight questions go beyond the basics and capture the details that determine case value and liability.

1. Where exactly were you when the vehicle hit you?

This is the single most important liability question in any pedestrian case. The answer determines whether comparative negligence applies and how much it reduces the claim.

Your team needs to capture:

• Crosswalk or no crosswalk? A pedestrian struck in a marked crosswalk has near-automatic right of way in most states. Outside the crosswalk, the defense will argue contributory negligence.
• Intersection or mid-block? Mid-block crossings shift more responsibility to the pedestrian in many jurisdictions.
• Signal status. Was the walk signal on? Was the light green, yellow, or red? If the caller crossed against the signal, the case is still viable but the value changes significantly.
• Exact street names and nearest address. This lets your investigators pull traffic camera footage and check for nearby business surveillance cameras before recordings get erased.

Train your team to get specific. “I was crossing the street” is not enough. “I was in the marked crosswalk at 5th and Main, the walk signal was on, and the driver turned right into me” is what your attorney needs.

2. What type of vehicle hit you?

Vehicle type matters for two reasons: injury severity and insurance coverage.

A pedestrian struck by a sedan at 25 mph has a roughly 10% fatality risk. The same pedestrian struck by an SUV or truck at the same speed has a 30-40% fatality risk, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The higher hood height on SUVs and trucks means the initial impact hits the torso and head instead of the legs.

Your intake team should capture:

• Vehicle type (sedan, SUV, truck, bus, commercial vehicle)
• Approximate speed at impact
• Whether the driver stopped or fled the scene
• License plate number if the caller or any witness got it
• Whether the vehicle was a commercial vehicle, delivery truck, or rideshare (this opens additional insurance policies and potentially liable parties)

Commercial vehicles and rideshare drivers carry higher policy limits. A rideshare accident involving Uber or Lyft adds a $1 million liability policy on top of the driver’s personal coverage. Your intake team should always ask whether the driver appeared to be working at the time of the collision.

3. Did the driver stop or leave the scene?

Hit-and-run pedestrian accidents account for roughly 25% of all pedestrian fatalities nationally. This changes the intake conversation in several ways:

• If the driver fled: Ask if the caller filed a police report, got any part of the plate number, or knows of any witnesses. Time is critical here because surveillance footage from nearby businesses is often the only way to identify the vehicle.
• If the driver stopped: Ask if the caller got the driver’s insurance information, whether police responded, and whether the driver admitted fault at the scene.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage: In hit-and-run cases, the caller’s own auto insurance policy (if they have one) may provide coverage through UM/UIM provisions. Your team should ask whether the caller owns a vehicle and has auto insurance, even though they were a pedestrian at the time.

4. What injuries did you sustain?

Pedestrian accident injuries are almost never minor. The human body has zero protection against a 3,000-pound vehicle. Your intake team should expect and listen for:

• Orthopedic injuries: Broken legs, pelvis fractures, hip injuries (the “bumper strike” zone)
• Traumatic brain injury: Even if the caller sounds coherent, ask specifically: “Did you hit your head? Did you lose consciousness, even briefly? Have you had headaches, confusion, or memory problems since the accident?”
• Spinal cord injuries: Ask about numbness, tingling, or inability to move any extremity
• Internal injuries: Ask about abdominal pain, blood in urine, difficulty breathing
• Road rash and soft tissue: Often undertreated initially, can lead to significant scarring and secondary infections

The key training point here: callers will downplay injuries. They are in shock, they are on pain medication, or they simply do not realize how bad things are yet. The person on the phone should never accept “I’m okay” at face value. Ask follow-up questions about every body part from head to toe.

This is the same principle behind every effective intake call. As we covered in the real cost of a bad intake call, missing injury details on the first conversation can cost your firm tens of thousands in case value.

5. What medical treatment have you received so far?

This question serves two purposes. First, it documents the injury timeline for your attorney. Second, it reveals gaps in treatment that could hurt the case.

Your team should capture:

• Emergency room visit (which hospital, when)
• Ambulance transport or private vehicle to ER
• Follow-up appointments scheduled or completed
• Any surgeries performed or recommended
• Whether the caller has health insurance (affects liens and subrogation)
• Whether the caller is still receiving treatment or has been discharged

Red flag for your team: if the caller was struck by a vehicle and did not go to the emergency room, that needs to be flagged immediately. Defense attorneys will argue that injuries could not have been serious if the plaintiff did not seek immediate medical attention. Your intake team should strongly encourage the caller to seek medical evaluation if they have not already done so.

6. When did the accident happen?

Statute of limitations is the obvious reason. But timing matters for pedestrian cases in ways it does not for other PI matters:

• Time of day: Pedestrian accidents that occur at dusk or after dark raise visibility questions. Was the pedestrian wearing dark clothing? Were the streetlights working? Was the crosswalk properly lit? The NHTSA reports that 77% of pedestrian fatalities occur in dark conditions.
• Day of week: Weekend nights have higher rates of impaired driving. If the accident happened on a Friday or Saturday night, your team should ask whether the caller suspected the driver was intoxicated.
• Weather conditions: Rain, fog, or snow affect both driver visibility and stopping distance. Capture weather conditions at the time of the accident.
• Recency: If the accident happened within the last 48-72 hours, flag it as urgent. Traffic camera footage, nearby surveillance video, and skid mark evidence all have short preservation windows.

7. Were there any witnesses?

Pedestrian accidents happen in public spaces, which means witnesses are often present. But witnesses disappear fast. Your intake team needs to capture:

• Names and phone numbers of any witnesses
• Whether any bystanders recorded video on their phones
• Whether nearby businesses may have exterior cameras
• Whether the caller took any photos at the scene

If the caller mentions that someone filmed the accident, treat that as the highest priority follow-up. Phone footage of a pedestrian being struck is the single most powerful piece of evidence in these cases. Your attorney needs to obtain that footage before it gets deleted or posted to social media and potentially edited.

8. Has anyone from the driver’s insurance company contacted you?

Insurance adjusters move fast on pedestrian cases because they know the potential exposure is high. Your intake team needs to know:

• Has the caller given a recorded statement? (If yes, flag this immediately for the attorney)
• Has the insurance company offered a settlement? (Almost always a lowball offer made before the full extent of injuries is known)
• Has the caller signed any documents from the insurance company?
• Has the caller posted about the accident on social media? (Advise them to stop immediately)

Every day without representation is a day the insurance company has an advantage. This should create urgency in your intake process, not pressure tactics, but a clear explanation of why timing matters.

Liability Factors That Change Case Value

Beyond the eight core questions, your intake team should listen for specific liability factors that significantly increase case value. These are the details that separate a $100,000 settlement from a $1,000,000+ verdict.

Municipal liability

If the crosswalk was faded, the traffic signal was malfunctioning, the streetlights were out, or the road design was inherently dangerous to pedestrians, the city or county may share liability. Your intake team should ask: “Was there anything about the road or intersection that made it dangerous for pedestrians?” Capture the answer verbatim.

Driver impairment

Ask directly: “Did the driver appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs?” Also ask whether the police administered a breathalyzer or field sobriety test. A DUI driver in a pedestrian accident case opens the door to punitive damages in most states, which can multiply the case value by 3-5x.

Distracted driving

The caller may have seen the driver looking at a phone, eating, or otherwise distracted before impact. Even if they did not see it directly, ask: “Did the driver brake before hitting you, or did they hit you at full speed with no braking?” No braking strongly suggests distraction or impairment.

Prior complaints about the location

Some intersections and road segments have a history of pedestrian accidents. If your intake team hears the caller say “this happens all the time at that intersection” or “everyone knows that crosswalk is dangerous,” that is a signal to investigate municipal liability. Prior complaints to the city that went unaddressed create a powerful negligence argument.

The Urgency Factor: Why Pedestrian Cases Cannot Wait

Your intake team needs to understand that pedestrian accident cases have shorter evidence windows than almost any other type of PI case. Here is why:

• Traffic cameras: Most municipal traffic cameras overwrite footage every 72 hours. Some overwrite every 24 hours. If your firm does not send a preservation letter within 2-3 days, the footage is gone.
• Business surveillance: Nearby gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants may have cameras that captured the accident. Most overwrite every 7-14 days.
• Skid marks and debris: Physical evidence at the scene gets washed away by weather and traffic within days.
• Witness availability: Bystanders who witnessed the accident become harder to locate with every passing day.
• Medical records: The initial ER records are critical. If the caller delays treatment, the defense will exploit that gap.

This means your intake team should treat every pedestrian accident call as time-sensitive. The same principles that apply to auto accident intake in the first 60 seconds apply here, but with even more urgency.

Common Mistakes That Kill Pedestrian Cases at Intake

After analyzing hundreds of intake calls across law firms of every size, these are the mistakes that show up most often in pedestrian cases:

1. Assuming the pedestrian was at fault

If the caller says “I was jaywalking” or “I was not in the crosswalk,” some intake staff will mentally dismiss the case. That is a mistake. Comparative negligence states still allow recovery even when the pedestrian shares fault. A pedestrian who was 30% at fault in a $1,000,000 case still recovers $700,000. Your team should never screen out a pedestrian case based on the caller’s self-assessment of fault.

2. Not asking about TBI symptoms

Traumatic brain injuries are underreported in initial intake calls because the caller does not recognize the symptoms. Headaches, confusion, light sensitivity, mood changes, and sleep disturbances are all TBI indicators. Your team should ask about each one specifically, not just “were you hurt?”

3. Failing to capture the exact location

As covered above, the exact location determines liability, evidence availability, and whether municipal parties can be added to the claim. “Downtown near the bank” is not actionable. Your team needs the specific intersection or street address.

4. Missing the commercial vehicle angle

Delivery drivers, rideshare drivers, and commercial vehicle operators carry significantly higher insurance coverage. If your intake team does not ask whether the driver was working at the time, you might miss a case that has $1 million+ in available coverage versus $50,000 on a personal auto policy. The same principles we outlined in our truck accident intake guide apply here.

5. Not creating urgency around evidence preservation

Every pedestrian case should trigger an immediate evidence preservation workflow. If your team takes the call on Monday and the attorney does not see it until Wednesday, two days of critical evidence may already be lost.

Building a Pedestrian Accident Intake Checklist

Based on everything above, here is the complete checklist your intake team should follow for every pedestrian accident call:

Caller Information

• Full name, phone, email, date of birth
• Best time to reach them
• Whether they have auto insurance (for UM/UIM coverage in hit-and-run cases)

Accident Details

• Date, time, and exact location (intersection, crosswalk, street names)
• Walk signal status at time of crossing
• Weather and lighting conditions
• Vehicle type, color, make/model if known
• Did the driver stop or flee?
• Police report filed? (Get report number)
• Was the driver cited?

Injury Assessment

• All injuries described by caller
• TBI screening: head impact, loss of consciousness, headaches, confusion, memory issues
• Spinal screening: numbness, tingling, inability to move
• Internal injury screening: abdominal pain, blood in urine, breathing difficulty
• Emergency room visit (hospital name, date)
• Current treatment status
• Surgeries performed or recommended
• Health insurance status

Evidence and Witnesses

• Witness names and contact info
• Photos or video taken at scene
• Bystander recordings
• Nearby businesses with cameras
• Social media posts about the accident (advise to stop posting)

Insurance Contact

• Has the driver’s insurance contacted the caller?
• Recorded statement given?
• Settlement offered?
• Documents signed?

Urgency Flags

• Accident within 72 hours (evidence preservation critical)
• Hit-and-run (surveillance footage timeline)
• Commercial/rideshare vehicle involved
• Recorded statement already given to insurance
• TBI symptoms present

What Happens After the Call

A strong intake call is only half the equation. What your firm does in the 24 hours after that call determines whether you preserve the evidence that wins the case.

Within 2 hours of intake:

• Attorney reviews the intake form and makes a case acceptance decision
• If accepted, a retainer agreement is sent immediately
• Evidence preservation letters go out to the municipality (traffic cameras), nearby businesses (surveillance), and the at-fault driver’s insurance company

Within 24 hours:

• Investigator visits the scene to photograph the location, crosswalk condition, signal timing, and any remaining physical evidence
• Police report is ordered
• Medical records request is sent to the treating hospital

This rapid response protocol is what separates firms that win pedestrian cases from firms that struggle with them. The evidence does not wait for you to get organized.

The Bottom Line

Pedestrian accident cases are among the highest-value personal injury matters your firm will handle. But they are also among the most time-sensitive. The difference between a strong case and a weak one often comes down to what your intake team captures in that first phone call.

Build the checklist. Train your team on the eight questions. Create urgency around evidence preservation. And never, ever dismiss a pedestrian case because the caller thinks they were partially at fault.

The firms that get this right are signing cases worth 5-10x what their standard PI intake produces. The firms that do not are leaving those cases for someone else.

See how eNZeTi works in a real law firm — Book a Free Call Analysis at enzeti.com.