• ✓Drivers must stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91, a driver must stop and stay stopped for a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk — marked or unmarked at an intersection — when the pedestrian is on the driver’s half of the roadway or approaching within one lane of it. A driver also may not pass another vehicle that has stopped to let a pedestrian cross. Many Atlanta pedestrian crashes are, at their core, a violation of this simple duty.
• ✓Every driver owes pedestrians a duty of due care — always. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-93, regardless of who had the right of way, every driver must exercise due care to avoid hitting a pedestrian, must give warning by sounding the horn when necessary, and must use proper caution around children or anyone who is obviously confused or incapacitated. This is the key answer to the “the pedestrian was jaywalking” defense: a person crossing outside a crosswalk does not give a driver license to run them down.
• ✓Crossing outside a crosswalk is not an automatic bar to recovery. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-92 says a pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk must yield to vehicles — but under Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33), fault is often split between driver and pedestrian. A pedestrian who was partly at fault can still recover as long as they were less than 50% at fault, and the driver’s due-care duty means a mistake by a person on foot rarely ends the case.
• ✓You generally have two years to file — and less against a government. The deadline to bring a personal-injury claim in Georgia is generally two years from the date of the crash (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33). Claims involving a city or the state can require written ante-litem notice far sooner — in as little as six months. Miss the deadline and your claim usually ends for good.

• •Failure to yield at crosswalks. Drivers who roll through crosswalks or ignore a person already stepping off the curb violate O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91 — a leading cause of crashes at Midtown and Downtown intersections.
• •Turning drivers who never look for people. Drivers making left or right turns at Peachtree Street intersections often watch for cars and miss the pedestrian legally crossing right in front of them.
• •Distracted & speeding drivers. A driver texting or speeding down a multi-lane arterial has no time to react to a person in the road — and with 1 in 7 Georgia drivers observed distracted, this danger is everywhere.
• •Poor visibility & dark, unlit roads. Wide corridors like Buford Highway are notoriously hard for people on foot at night, with long gaps between signals and stretches of poor lighting.
• •Backing vehicles & parking lots. Drivers reversing out of spaces or through garage aisles strike pedestrians they never checked for — common near Downtown and Midtown lots and decks.
• •Hit-and-run & impaired drivers. Drivers who flee after striking a pedestrian, or who were drunk or drugged, cause some of the most catastrophic crashes — and your own UM coverage may become the path to recovery.

1. “The pedestrian came out of nowhere.” The insurer’s first instinct is to claim you darted into traffic or were not in a crosswalk — ignoring the driver’s independent duty of due care under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-93.
2. “You were jaywalking.” Crossing outside a crosswalk is not an automatic defense in Georgia, but adjusters treat it as one to pin 50% or more of the fault on you and pay nothing.
3. The fast, friendly recorded statement. An adjuster calls while you are still in the hospital, sounding helpful, and asks you to go on record — then uses your words to argue you were careless or that your injuries are minor.
4. The quick, lowball offer. A small check framed as help, offered before anyone knows the full extent of a brain or orthopedic injury — and accepting it usually closes your case for good.
5. Delay, dispute, and surveillance. Dragging out the claim, disputing your treatment, and even watching your social media — anything to weaken your position before you have a lawyer.

The most important protection is simple: talk to a lawyer before you give the driver’s insurer a recorded statement — and before the crosswalk video disappears.

• ✓We move immediately to preserve the video. We obtain the crash report and move to secure traffic-camera, MARTA, and nearby business surveillance footage — and the vehicle’s event-data-recorder information — before it is overwritten or lost.
• ✓We prove the driver breached a specific duty. We build the case around the driver’s failure to yield (§ 40-6-91) or breach of the due-care duty (§ 40-6-93), using witness statements, physical evidence, citations, and where needed accident-reconstruction experts.
• ✓We fight the comparative-fault attack head-on. Because insurers try to blame the pedestrian, we develop the facts that keep your share of fault low — sight lines, signal timing, the driver’s speed and attention, and the vehicle’s approach.
• ✓We identify every responsible party and policy. The at-fault driver, an employer or commercial policy, or your own UM/UIM coverage may each apply — missing one leaves money on the table, especially in a hit-and-run.
• ✓We document your injuries fully and prepare for trial. We gather your complete records and, in serious cases, bring in medical and economic experts to project future care and lost earning capacity — and we prepare every case to be tried to a Fulton County jury.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every case depends on its own facts, injuries, and available insurance coverage. Results shown are prior matters handled by the firm and are not a prediction about your case.