Pedestrian Accidents matters in Bakersfield
Bakersfield is laid out around wide, high-capacity arterials, and that design puts people on foot at real risk. Streets like Ming Avenue, White Lane, and Stockdale Highway move heavy traffic at speeds that leave drivers little time to react to someone in a crosswalk. Downtown and the Chester Avenue corridor mix foot traffic with turning vehicles, while long blocks and sparse mid-block crossings push pedestrians into conflict with fast-moving cars.
When a pedestrian is struck, drivers and insurers often rush to claim the person "came out of nowhere" or was jaywalking. The law and the physical evidence frequently tell a different story.
Why Pedestrians Are Struck Here
- Wide, fast arterials such as Ming Avenue, White Lane, and Stockdale Highway
- Downtown and Chester Avenue corridors with mixed foot and vehicle traffic
- Drivers turning across crosswalks without yielding
- Distracted, speeding, or impaired motorists
- Poor lighting and long gaps between safe crossings
California's Crosswalk Right-of-Way Law
Vehicle Code section 21950 requires drivers to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Pedestrians must still use due care, but the legal duty to yield falls on the driver, who must also exercise care for the safety of anyone on the roadway. We use this statute, along with traffic-signal timing, witness statements, surveillance or doorbell video, and accident-reconstruction evidence, to establish that a driver failed to yield when the law required it.
Injuries, Case Types & Compensation
With no barrier between the body and the vehicle, pedestrian injuries are often catastrophic, including traumatic brain injuries and skull fractures, spinal cord injuries and paralysis, a broken pelvis or legs, crush injuries, internal bleeding, and organ damage. When a pedestrian does not survive, surviving family members may bring a wrongful-death claim.
An injured pedestrian in California may pursue economic damages, including medical bills, future care, lost wages, and lost earning capacity, as well as non-economic damages for pain, suffering, and diminished quality of life. Under pure comparative negligence, even a pedestrian who was partly at fault, for example crossing outside a crosswalk, can still recover, with the award reduced by their percentage of fault rather than eliminated. Insurers routinely try to shift blame onto the person on foot, so documenting the driver's failure to yield is critical. We do not guarantee outcomes or amounts; recovery always depends on the specific circumstances and the evidence.
Deadlines, Public Entities & Kern County Court
Most California pedestrian claims must be filed within two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. But if a public entity may share responsibility, such as a city or the state in a case involving a dangerous crossing or signal, Government Code section 911.2 generally requires a formal claim within six months of the incident, a far shorter window that is easy to miss. Bakersfield pedestrian lawsuits are typically handled by the Kern County Superior Court, with its main courthouse on Truxtun Avenue downtown.
How MMG Law Firm Helps
MMG Law Firm, led by attorney Mihran M. Ghazaryan, serves injured pedestrians throughout California from our Glendale base, about 110 miles south of Bakersfield via I-5 and the Grapevine. We investigate the scene, identify every responsible party including any public entity, preserve video before it is erased, handle the insurers, and appear in Kern County court when your case calls for it. Because the government-claim deadline can be as short as six months, reaching out early protects your rights. Consultations are free in English, Armenian, and Russian, and we work on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win.
Our attorney
How Mihran M. Ghazaryan helps with pedestrian accidents
Pedestrian injuries are usually severe, and the right-of-way analysis is everything. Mihran M. Ghazaryan investigates the crosswalk, signal timing, and roadway conditions, and where a city vehicle or dangerous public road is involved he protects the short six-month government-claim deadline that can otherwise end a case before it starts. He coordinates your care and documents the full extent of your losses.
Types of pedestrian accidents we handle
Crosswalk strikes
Marked or unmarked, California pedestrians retain right-of-way. We identify the sight-line failures and signal timing that tell the real story.
Parking-lot and back-over collisions
Often involve fleet vehicles, rideshare drivers, or delivery contractors. Surveillance footage matters and disappears fast.
Hit-and-run pedestrian claims
Your own UM/UIM policy may reach. Even when the driver is unidentified, recovery is often possible.
Damages
What compensation can cover
Every pedestrian accident claim is different, but California law allows injured plaintiffs to seek several categories of damages. We build each one with documentation — medical records, wage statements, expert opinions — so nothing is left on the table.
Medical expenses
Emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and the future treatment your providers say you'll need.
Lost wages
Income you lost while recovering — and, where the injury affects your ability to work, diminished future earning capacity.
Pain and suffering
Compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, and the ways the injury has changed how you live day to day.
Property damage
Repair or replacement of your vehicle and other property damaged in the incident.
Out-of-pocket costs
Transportation to appointments, medical equipment, household help, and the other expenses an injury forces on you.
How we work
- 1
Free, no-pressure consultation
We listen first. We answer your questions. There is no fee for the initial conversation — and you decide whether to engage us at the end of it.
- 2
Investigation and evidence preservation
Police reports, scene photos, witness statements, vehicle data, surveillance video, medical records. The earlier we collect, the harder it is for the other side to reshape the story later.
- 3
Treatment, demand, and negotiation
We coordinate with your providers, document the full extent of damages — medical, lost income, pain — and present a demand backed by evidence. We push back firmly when an insurer lowballs.
- 4
Litigation when necessary
Most matters settle. When an insurer refuses to be reasonable, we file. Preparing every case as if it will be tried is what makes the settlement number move.
What to do right away
- Accept emergency medical evaluation on scene, even if you can walk.
- Take photos of the location — crosswalk, signs, signals — and the vehicle's resting position.
- Get witness names; pedestrian witnesses are common but rarely contacted by police.
- Save the clothing you were wearing — it may be evidence.
- Call us before giving any statement.
The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
Deadlines that matter
Most California personal-injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1). Miss the window and the court will almost always dismiss the case, no matter how strong it is.
Claims against government entities are much shorter — generally a written claim within six months (Government Code §911.2). Crashes involving city vehicles, public buses, or dangerous public-road conditions can fall under this rule.
Exceptions exist in both directions — discovery rules, minors, continuing violations, out-of-state defendants — so don't assume your deadline has passed or that you have time to spare. Call (818) 539-7969 and we'll tell you exactly where you stand.