Pasadena Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Vehicle Code § 21950 requires drivers to yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection — and unmarked crosswalks exist at every Pasadena intersection, whether or not the paint is worn.

Where a pedestrian crosses outside a crosswalk, Vehicle Code § 21954 places the duty to yield on the pedestrian, but it also requires drivers to exercise due care for the safety of any pedestrian on the roadway. The two duties are weighed together, so a mid-block collision is not automatically a lost claim — it is a comparative-fault question that turns on speed, sightlines, and lighting.

Pedestrian cases are won on scene evidence that does not last: vehicle rest positions, crosswalk paint wear, the signal timing at the intersection, and the cameras on the storefronts and buildings along Colorado, Lake and Foothill. Preservation letters go out in the first days, before the footage overwrites.

The police report matters, but it is not the last word. Officers arrive after the fact and often record the driver's account of the collision. Physical evidence and camera video regularly contradict it, and the claim is built on both.

Huntington Hospital, 100 W. California Blvd, is the city's emergency hospital, and orthopedic and head injuries from a vehicle strike need the same-week record to connect them to the collision. Vehicle Code § 20008 requires a written report within 24 hours where no officer took one at the scene.

Claims are brought in the Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St. Where a city vehicle, an ARTS bus, or a signal condition contributed, the claim runs against the City of Pasadena on the six-month Government Code § 911.2 deadline.