Contra Costa County · Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian accident lawyers serving Concord
Todos Santos Plaza on a market night, the BART station at commute hour, the long crossings on Monument Boulevard — Concord asks a lot of people on foot. If a driver failed you, the case review is free and no fee unless we win.
Walk around Todos Santos Plaza on a farmers market evening and Concord feels like a small town: families crossing Willow Pass Road and Salvio Street, music in the square, restaurants spilling onto the sidewalk. But the streets around that square, and the corridors beyond it, were built to move cars — and when a driver turning off Grant Street or Concord Avenue is watching traffic instead of the crosswalk, the person on foot pays the price.
Concord's two BART stations add their own rhythm. Around the downtown Concord station, every weekday concentrates drop-offs, pick-ups, and drivers hunting for parking into a few blocks that are also full of people walking to the platform. Then there are the arterials: Monument Boulevard and Clayton Road run for miles past shopping centers, schools, and apartment blocks, and their crossings are long, multi-lane, and spaced far apart — exactly the conditions in which people get hit.
Our office is one town over in Walnut Creek, so Concord cases stay local for us: we can visit the intersection, request the Concord Police Department report, and start looking for cameras and witnesses right away. The case review is free, we speak English, Spanish, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese, and you pay nothing unless we recover.
Why pedestrians are vulnerable on Concord's streets
Monument Boulevard is the clearest example. It is wide, busy, and lined on both sides with the places people actually need to reach on foot — markets, laundromats, schools, bus stops. Signalized crossings sit far apart, so crossing mid-block is common, and drivers moving at arterial speed are not expecting a person in the roadway. Clayton Road and Willow Pass Road repeat the same pattern on their own stretches. When a collision happens there, insurers reflexively blame the pedestrian — and California law says that is not how fault works.
Downtown is a different kind of case. Around Todos Santos Plaza and the Concord BART station the speeds are lower but the conflicts are constant: drivers turning across crosswalks on Clayton Road and Galindo Street, cars pulling in and out of the garages, rideshare stops in the middle of busy blocks. A turning driver who never looked right before accelerating can put a lawful crosswalk user in the hospital at fifteen miles per hour.
The location determines the evidence. Downtown collisions often have camera coverage from businesses and transit facilities; arterial collisions turn on sight lines, lighting, and time-and-distance analysis of what the driver could see. We gather that record early, before footage is overwritten and memories fade — starting with a conversation that costs you nothing.
California law that protects people on foot
- Drivers must yield the right of way to pedestrians in marked crosswalks and in unmarked crosswalks at intersections — a crossing does not need painted lines to be legally protected.
- Even outside a crosswalk, drivers owe pedestrians due care. Crossing mid-block may affect the fault allocation, but it does not strip you of the right to recover.
- California's pure comparative negligence rule means partial fault reduces your recovery by your percentage — it never automatically bars the claim, no matter what an adjuster implies.
- Most pedestrian injury claims must be filed within two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
- If a dangerous public condition contributed — a malfunctioning signal, an obstructed crosswalk, poor intersection design — a claim against the public entity generally must be presented within six months.
Frequently asked questions
I was hit crossing Monument Boulevard mid-block. Is my case dead?
No. California's pure comparative negligence rule means crossing outside a crosswalk can reduce your percentage of recovery, but it never automatically bars the claim. Drivers owe due care to pedestrians everywhere on the road, and on a corridor like Monument — where marked crossings are far apart and pedestrian traffic is constant — what the driver could see and how fast they were going usually matters more than where you crossed.
What deadlines apply to a pedestrian claim in Concord?
The general rule is two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. The exception that matters most: if a dangerous condition of public property played a role — a signal that malfunctioned, a crosswalk hidden by overgrowth, poor intersection design — a claim against the public entity generally must be presented within six months. Raise the possibility early rather than discover the shorter deadline too late.
It was a hit-and-run near the Concord BART station. Do I have any options?
Possibly more than you think. Report it to the police right away and get medical care. Then look at your own auto insurance, or a household family member's policy: uninsured motorist coverage can apply to a pedestrian struck by a hit-and-run driver, even though you were on foot. The BART station area also tends to have camera coverage that can help identify the vehicle. We can review both angles for free.
The insurance adjuster already offered a quick settlement. Should I take it?
Not before you understand what your injuries actually are. Pedestrian impacts transfer the full force of the vehicle to the body, and fractures, concussions, and soft-tissue injuries can reveal their real cost weeks later. An early offer is priced on incomplete information — usually in the insurer's favor. Have the offer and your medical picture reviewed before signing anything; our review costs nothing.
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The case review is free and confidential, and you pay nothing unless we win. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you honestly where you stand.