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You are standing on the sidewalk on Bailey Avenue, waiting for the light, and you step into the crosswalk the second it turns in your favor. You never see the car that runs the red. One moment you are walking to your car, and the next you are on the pavement, with a stranger asking you if you can hear them. Someone calls 911. Someone else says the driver “didn’t see” you. At New York Auto Law, we hear that phrase after almost every pedestrian crash we handle, and we know exactly how much weight it should carry once you understand what New York law actually asks of drivers.
What Should I Do After Being Hit by a Car While Walking in Buffalo?
Get medical care first, even if you feel able to walk away, since some serious injuries do not show symptoms right away. Then contact a Buffalo pedestrian accident lawyer before you give a recorded statement to any insurance company, because what you say in those first days can affect how much of the crash gets blamed on you. New York Auto Law can start protecting your claim from the moment you call.
Who Is at Fault When a Driver Hits a Pedestrian?
New York law requires every driver to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, and this duty applies on every roadway, not just at intersections or in crosswalks. If a driver causes physical injury to a pedestrian while failing to exercise due care, the law creates a rebuttable presumption that the driver’s failure caused the injury. Once you show the driver was not paying proper attention and you were hurt, the law already leans toward holding that driver responsible unless they can prove otherwise.
This duty exists because drivers control several thousand pounds of moving metal, and pedestrians have nothing to protect them but the driver’s attention. A phone glance for two seconds, a turn made without checking twice, or a stop sign treated as optional can end in catastrophic injury for the person on foot.
What Does New York Law Say About Crosswalks and Right of Way?
New York draws a clear line between two situations, and that line often decides who bears responsibility for a crash.
Inside a Crosswalk
When traffic signals are absent or not working, a driver must yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing within a marked or unmarked crosswalk, slowing down or stopping if needed. A pedestrian in a crosswalk is not asking for the right of way. New York law already gives it to them.
Outside a Crosswalk
A pedestrian crossing at any point other than a marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection must yield the right of way to vehicles on the road. This does not erase a driver’s duty to exercise due care, but it changes who had the right of way at the moment of impact, and an insurance adjuster looking for a reason to reduce your payout will notice that change.
A driver can reasonably prepare to slow down for someone stepping off a curb at a marked crossing, because the law tells the driver to expect it there. A driver has far less warning when someone crosses mid-block, between parked cars, or against a signal. Insurance companies know this, and they use it. If you were crossing outside a crosswalk when you were hit, expect the driver’s insurer to raise it early and often, which is exactly when you should contact a pedestrian injury lawyer in Buffalo, NY.
Does “I Didn’t See Them” Excuse the Driver?
Here is the point most guides on this topic get wrong: Treating “I didn’t see the pedestrian” as an explanation lets the driver off the hook before the conversation even starts. New York law does not see it that way. The due-care duty on drivers requires them to anticipate foreseeable conditions that limit visibility, not use it as an excuse after the fact.
Foreseeable conditions on Western New York roads, especially between October and April, can include:
- Heavy lake-effect snow,
- Glare off wet pavement,
- Long stretches of winter darkness on roads like Delaware Avenue, or
- A delivery truck blocking a driver’s view of the crosswalk.
A driver who fails to slow down, scan the road, or adjust for reduced visibility in those conditions has not been unlucky. That driver has failed to exercise the care required by law.
Does New York’s No-Fault Insurance Cover Pedestrians?
Yes. New York law defines a covered person as including any pedestrian injured by a motor vehicle that carries the required insurance, as well as that vehicle’s owner, operator, or occupants. As a pedestrian struck by an insured vehicle, you are generally entitled to no-fault benefits from that vehicle’s insurance policy, the same as if you had been a passenger inside it. These benefits typically cover reasonable medical expenses and a portion of lost wages, and you do not need to prove the driver was at fault to receive them.
No-fault benefits have limits, and they were not built to cover every cost of a serious injury. State law defines a serious injury as one resulting in:
- Death,
- Dismemberment,
- Significant disfigurement,
- Fracture,
- Loss of a fetus,
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ or system, or
- Permanent consequential limitation of use, or significant limitation of use of a body function or system.
If your injuries meet this threshold, you may be able to step outside the no-fault system and pursue a claim against the driver directly for costs no-fault does not cover, including pain and suffering.
What If I Were Partly to Blame for the Accident?
Recent changes to New York law raise the stakes here for anyone hit while walking. For personal injury cases involving motor vehicles, New York now prohibits a pedestrian from recovering damages entirely if that person’s own fault is greater than the driver’s fault, or greater than the combined fault of everyone else being pursued for damages. If you are found 50% or less at fault, you can still recover damages, reduced by your share of the blame. If you are found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing.
The crosswalk-versus-mid-block distinction from earlier is no longer just a matter of principle. Insurance companies have a new incentive to argue you were crossing improperly, moving too slowly, or not paying attention, because pushing your share of fault above 50% now means paying you nothing at all. A hit-by-a-car walking attorney in Buffalo that families turn to after a crash can push back on these arguments early, gather evidence of where you were crossing and what the driver could have seen, and keep one driver’s convenient version of events from becoming the only version the insurance company hears.
What Makes Pedestrian Accident Injuries Different?
A pedestrian has no seatbelt, no airbag, and no steel frame between their body and a vehicle that may weigh 4,000 pounds or more. The injuries that follow are often severe: broken bones that require surgery and hardware, traumatic brain injuries from a fall or impact, spinal injuries that affect mobility for years, and internal injuries that are not always obvious right after the crash.
These injuries tend to lead to long recoveries, extended time away from work, and medical bills that far exceed what no-fault benefits were designed to cover. A pedestrian recovering from a fractured pelvis or a head injury is not in a position to negotiate with an insurance adjuster while also managing physical therapy appointments and missed paychecks. Building a case with the medical documentation and evidence that shows the full extent of what you are dealing with is how that difference gets addressed.
Meet the Team Behind New York Auto Law
New York Auto Law brings decades of collective experience representing injured people across New York to Buffalo and Western New York, with a singular focus that sets it apart from firms that spread their attention across every kind of injury case. Motor vehicle crashes, including those that hurt pedestrians, are the only cases this team handles. That focus means the people working on your case are not learning the rules of the road alongside you; they already know them.
Unlike high-volume firms where clients rarely speak with the same person twice, New York Auto Law is built around direct access to the team handling your case and honest updates about where things stand. We are seasoned Buffalo pedestrian accident lawyers who are committed to treating every client’s recovery as the priority and to standing up to insurance companies that would rather pay less than what a case is worth.
Let Us Deal with the Insurance Company, So You Don’t Have To
If you were hit by a car while walking in Buffalo or anywhere in Western New York, you do not have to sort out fault percentages, no-fault paperwork, or an insurance adjuster’s questions on your own. New York Auto Law can review what happened, explain where you stand, and start working toward the outcome you deserve. Reach out today for a free case review, and let an experienced team carry this weight while you focus on getting better.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:
Buffalo Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
- Drivers to exercise due care, N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1146 (2014).
- Pedestrians’ right of way in crosswalks, N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1151 (2014).
- Crossing at other than crosswalks, N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1152 (2014).
- Definitions, N.Y. Ins. Law § 5102(j) (2026).
- Damages recoverable when contributory negligence or assumption of risk is established, N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 1411(b) (2026).
Michael Greenspan has been deeply involved in the affairs of his community for his entire professional career. Mike has been a certified high school track and field official since 1992 and has officiated at prestigious invitational meets as well as the New York State Championships. Additionally, Mike has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Glenn D. Loucks Games at his alma mater, White Plains High School since 1991 and as a member of the Board of Directors of the JCC-Rockland.