McKinney Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

If you were hit by a car while walking in McKinney, Texas law required that driver to yield and use care to avoid you, and when they failed, they can be held responsible for your injuries.

A McKinney pedestrian accident lawyer at Tate Law Offices proves that failure and works on a contingency fee basis, so you pay no attorney fee unless we win money for you. 

Call (903) 892-4440 any time, day or night, for a free consultation. 

A pedestrian has nothing between their body and a moving vehicle, so the injuries are often catastrophic even at low speed. A person crossing near the historic downtown square, a family walking through a parking lot off Eldorado Parkway, a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk on Virginia Parkway: each has the protection of Texas right-of-way law, and each is often blamed by the driver’s insurer anyway. 

The reflex to say the pedestrian came out of nowhere is exactly what the evidence has to answer. As a family firm rooted in Collin County, Tate Law Offices holds careless drivers accountable and does it personally.

Why Choose Tate Law Offices as Your McKinney Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

You get a real attorney building your case, not a file passed through a call center. Tim Tate, Chris Rehmet, and Claire Tate-Rehmet built this firm around serious injury work, and a pedestrian accident attorney in McKinney, TX has to overcome both severe injuries and a fast blame-the-victim defense to win a fair result.

• No fee unless you recover. We advance the cost of the investigation, the experts, and the litigation. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney fee.
• A firm that answers. Call (903) 892-4440 at any hour and a person picks up.
• Straight talk. We tell you what your case is worth and what it is not, without inflating a promise to sign you up.

The point of all three is the same: you carry none of the financial risk of pursuing your claim, and we do the work. That is how a family firm treats the people it stands behind.

Who Has the Right of Way in Texas?

In most crossings, the driver must yield to the pedestrian, under the rules in Chapter 552 of the Texas Transportation Code. The table below lays out who is required to yield in the situations that come up most.

Right of way often decides fault, but it is rarely the whole story, because a driver who had the right of way can still be liable for failing to avoid a pedestrian. Knowing which rule applied to your crossing is where a strong pedestrian case begins.

Can You Still Recover If You Were Not in a Crosswalk?

Yes, in many cases. Even when a pedestrian crosses outside a crosswalk, Texas Transportation Code Section 552.008 still requires every driver to exercise due care to avoid hitting a person on the road.

• The due-care duty means a driver who could have avoided you may share the blame even if you were jaywalking.
• Comparative fault lets you recover as long as your share of the blame is 50 percent or less.
• Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault rather than erased, unless that share tops half.
• The insurer’s crosswalk argument is a starting point for negotiation, not the final word on your claim.

This is why the driver’s insurer works so hard to place you outside a crosswalk and label you careless. Countering that with evidence of what the driver could have done keeps the focus where it belongs.

Where Do Pedestrian Accidents Happen in McKinney?

Most happen where people on foot and vehicles share tight space, which in a growing city like McKinney is a long list. The location often points to how the crash happened and who is responsible.

• Downtown crosswalks and the square, where foot traffic and turning cars meet.
• Intersections along US-75 frontage roads and US-380, where turning drivers — including Uber and Lyft drivers — fail to yield.
• Parking lots and garages, where backing and turning vehicles strike people walking to their cars.
• School zones and residential streets, where speed and distraction endanger children and families.
• Poorly lit roads at night, where drivers claim they never saw the pedestrian.

Each setting comes with different evidence, from signal timing to surveillance video to the driver’s sight lines. Pinning down the location early tells us what to preserve before it is gone.

What Texas Law Applies to Your Claim?

Texas is a fault-based state, so the negligent driver and that driver’s insurer are responsible for your damages, and a few specific rules shape almost every pedestrian claim. Both of the ones below come up constantly.

How Long Do You Have to File a Pedestrian Accident Claim in Texas?

Two years from the date of the crash, under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003.

Miss that deadline and the court will almost certainly dismiss your case no matter how clearly the driver was at fault. Because surveillance video and witness memories fade quickly, acting well before the deadline protects your case.

The federal government’s pedestrian safety data shows how often these crashes leave people with serious, lasting injuries.

What If the Driver Fled the Scene?

You may still have a path to recovery, even in a hit-and-run. Your own uninsured motorist coverage often applies when an unidentified driver hits you, even though you were walking rather than driving, and police investigation or nearby cameras sometimes identify the driver later. Do not assume a fled driver means no claim, because that is frequently untrue.

Between the filing deadline and the coverage options, Texas law gives injured pedestrians more room than an insurer will admit. Getting advice early is what keeps those options open.