Pedestrian Hit by Car
$725,000
Insurer offered$25,000
Hip fracture and concussion in a crosswalk. The insurer offered $25,000.
Serving Newark, New Jersey
Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Newark, New Jersey
Hurt in a crash in Newark? The insurance company already has a team working on your claim. You should too. A free call tells you where you stand.
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Your attorneyPaul Perkins, Esq.Of Counsel. Licensed in New Jersey.Attorney advertising. Services are not available in all states.
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In New Jersey, a pedestrian hit in Newark gets medical bills paid through PIP coverage, from your own auto policy if you have one or from the car that hit you if you do not, and then claims against the driver for everything else. Top USA Law handles both steps. Call (877) 411-5291.
Where pedestrians get hit in Newark
Newark is a walking city with roads built for driving through it. Broad Street and Market Street meet at Four Corners, where NJ Transit buses, delivery trucks and turning cars share the intersection with the city's heaviest foot traffic, and a driver turning right on red while looking left is the crash we see most. Outside Penn Station, the bus lanes on Raymond Boulevard put people between a stopped bus and the cars passing it.
In the Ironbound, Ferry Street is narrow, double parked and busy at night, and a person stepping out between parked cars is hidden until they are in the lane. McCarter Highway, Route 21, is the opposite problem: wide, fast and lined with crossings where the signal gives a healthy adult barely enough time and an older resident none.
Springfield Avenue, South Orange Avenue and Bloomfield Avenue are long commercial streets with bus stops every few blocks, and the crashes there are drivers turning across crosswalks at Irvine Turner Boulevard and the other cross streets. The Newark Light Rail runs at street level on parts of its route, and a pedestrian crossing the tracks at a station is watching a train and the cars queued around it. Each case begins with the Newark Police crash report.
PIP for pedestrians, the threshold question and the Essex County Veterans Courthouse
New Jersey's no fault system was written for drivers, and a pedestrian needs a guide through it. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, PIP on your own auto policy pays your medical bills first, regardless of fault, even though you were on foot. If nobody in your household owns a policy, the PIP on the vehicle that hit you pays instead. Either way, the bills from University Hospital on Bergen Street, the Level I trauma center for Newark's serious pedestrian injuries, go to a PIP carrier, not to you.
Whether the verbal threshold applies to you
Pain and suffering come from the driver's liability insurer, and here your own policy matters again. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8, a person who selected the limitation on lawsuit option on their own policy is bound by it even as a pedestrian, and can recover for pain only with a displaced fracture, the loss of a body part, significant scarring, a permanent injury backed by objective medical evidence, or death. A pedestrian with no policy in the household is generally not bound by any threshold. We pull the declarations page in the first week, because the answer shapes the case.
Fault, hit and run and the 90 day notice
The insurer will say you crossed mid block on Broad Street or against the signal on McCarter Highway. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1 your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and only a share greater than 50 percent bars it, so the fight is over the driver's speed and attention. If the driver left, N.J.S.A. 39:4-129 makes that a crime, and the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund backstops a pedestrian with no policy. Suit is filed in the Superior Court, Law Division, Essex County, at the Essex County Veterans Courthouse, within two years under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, or two years from a death under N.J.S.A. 2A:31-3. An NJ Transit bus, a light rail train or a City of Newark vehicle brings the Tort Claims Act into it, and N.J.S.A. 59:8-8 requires written notice of the claim within 90 days.
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Results in cases like this
Rear End Collision
$2,300,000
Insurer offered$85,000
Spinal cord injury after a rear end crash. The insurer offered $85,000.
T Bone Accident
$1,800,000
Insurer offered$120,000
Broken pelvis and internal bleeding at an intersection. The insurer offered $120,000.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict a similar outcome.
Where we help in New Jersey
How Top USA Law handles Newark pedestrian claims
Top USA Law works Newark pedestrian cases from its main office at 411 Hackensack Ave in Hackensack, and comes to your home or University Hospital when you cannot travel. In the first days we send preservation letters to the businesses and bus cameras along the block, request the Newark Police report, read your declarations page and open the PIP claim with the right carrier. If NJ Transit or the City is involved, the 90 day notice goes out first. The New Jersey pedestrian accident lawyer page explains the statewide rules, or call (877) 411-5291 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win; costs may apply.
Our New Jersey offices
Courts where New Jersey crash cases are heard
- Essex County Superior Court, Newark
New Jersey laws that control your case
N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4
Personal injury protection: your own policy pays medical bills after a crash regardless of fault.
N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8
The limitation on lawsuit option, known as the verbal threshold, chosen on your own auto policy.
N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1
Modified comparative negligence: recovery is reduced by your share of fault and barred at 51 percent.
N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2
Two year deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit.
N.J.S.A. 2A:31-3
Two year deadline for a wrongful death action.
N.J.S.A. 59:8-8
Ninety day notice of claim under the Tort Claims Act for claims against public entities.
N.J.S.A. 39:4-129
Duty to stop and report after a crash; leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime.
N.J.S.A. 39:4-50
Driving while intoxicated.
Hurt in a crash in Newark? Talk it through for free.
New Jersey filing deadlines and insurance notice rules can be short. A free call tells you where your clock stands.
Pedestrian Accidents questions in Newark
I do not own a car. Who pays my medical bills after being hit in Newark?
The PIP coverage on the vehicle that hit you. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, a pedestrian with no auto policy in the household claims medical benefits from the striking car's insurer, regardless of fault. If you or a relative you live with owns a policy, that PIP pays first. Top USA Law sorts out which is primary.
Does the verbal threshold apply to me if I was on foot?
Only if you own an auto policy that selected the limitation on lawsuit option under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8. That choice follows you as a pedestrian and limits pain and suffering claims to serious, permanent injuries. A pedestrian with no policy in the household generally faces no threshold. Your declarations page answers the question.
The insurer says I was jaywalking on Ferry Street. Is my claim over?
No. New Jersey's comparative fault rule in N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1 reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault and bars it only when your share is greater than 50 percent. A driver who was speeding, on a phone or not looking carries most of the fault, and Ironbound storefront cameras often prove it.
An NJ Transit bus or the light rail hit me. What is the deadline?
Ninety days. NJ Transit is a public entity under the Tort Claims Act, and N.J.S.A. 59:8-8 requires written notice of the claim within 90 days of the crash before any lawsuit. A City of Newark vehicle, or a crosswalk signal the City failed to maintain, falls under the same rule.
The driver who hit me on Springfield Avenue drove off. Do I still have a claim?
Yes. Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime under N.J.S.A. 39:4-129, and Newark Police will look for the car. Your own or a household member's PIP and uninsured motorist coverage responds meanwhile. With no policy at all, the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund is the state's backstop.
What does a Newark pedestrian accident lawyer at Top USA Law cost?
Nothing unless the firm recovers money for you. The consultation is free, the fee is a contingency fee, and costs may apply and are explained in writing before you sign. Top USA Law meets Newark clients at its Hackensack office, at home or at University Hospital, whichever works while you recover.
Last reviewed by Paul Perkins, Esq., September 2026.
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Hit by a semi truck on the highway. Top USA Law knew exactly how to deal with the trucking company. Got me $425,000 after they initially offered $30,000.
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Statewide guide: Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in New Jersey