Alameda County · Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian accident lawyers serving Livermore
Livermore rebuilt First Street into a downtown worth walking — wine bars, restaurants, the Bankhead. The streets around it still move commuter traffic. When those two things collide, we represent the person on foot. Free case review, no fee unless we win.
Downtown Livermore is a success story: First Street's restaurants, tasting rooms, and the Bankhead Theater fill the sidewalks on evenings and weekends with people who parked once and are walking the rest of the night. That is exactly what the city intended — and it means the crosswalks along First Street and the side streets around Livermore Avenue carry constant foot traffic, including plenty of people crossing after dark and after a glass of wine, when driver attention matters most.
Outside downtown, Livermore is a driving city with long, fast surface streets. Stanley Boulevard runs toward Pleasanton at near-highway character, Portola Avenue and East Avenue carry commute and school traffic past neighborhoods and campuses, and the crossings on these roads are far apart and wide. Students walking to Livermore High off East Avenue or to Las Positas College cross this kind of pavement daily.
If a driver hit you or someone in your family here, we will investigate, preserve the evidence, and take over the insurance fight. The case review is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
First Street nights and arterial crossings
Downtown's pedestrian collisions cluster around predictable moments: a driver turning off First Street toward the parking garages while scanning for a space, a car easing through the crosswalks near Livermore Avenue as the evening crowd crosses, drivers unfamiliar with the one-way sections and flag-stop feel of a busy downtown. Evening timing raises the stakes — lighting, dark clothing arguments, and driver impairment all become part of these cases, and each is answerable with evidence rather than assumption.
The arterial cases look different. Stanley Boulevard's long straightaways invite speed, and a pedestrian crossing between distant signals has little margin. East Avenue and Portola Avenue mix school-zone crossings with commuter volume. Out by the outlets and the Highway 84/Isabel corridor, retail traffic meets pedestrians in acres of parking where drivers behave as if no rules apply — legally, they still do.
Livermore Police Department reports, downtown camera footage, and signal data form the backbone of these cases. All of it is easiest to collect in the first days after a collision, which is why the free conversation with us is worth having early.
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 First Street at night. The driver blames the darkness.
Darkness is a condition drivers must adjust to, not an excuse — due care at night means appropriate speed, working headlights, and actual attention to crosswalks in a downtown full of people. Lighting conditions cut both ways in these cases, and downtown Livermore's businesses often have camera footage that settles what the driver could see. The sooner it is requested, the more likely it still exists.
How long do I have to pursue a claim after a Livermore pedestrian collision?
Generally two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. The exception to watch: a claim based on a dangerous condition of public property — a failed pedestrian signal, a crosswalk with blocked sight lines — generally must be presented to the public entity within six months. Six months passes quickly when you are in treatment, so the safest move is to have the deadlines mapped early.
I crossed Stanley Boulevard away from a signal because the nearest one was far away. Does that sink my claim?
No. California applies pure comparative negligence: crossing mid-block may assign you a share of fault, but it reduces your recovery rather than barring it, and drivers owe due care to pedestrians wherever they are. On a road like Stanley, where marked crossings are widely spaced, the driver's speed and reaction time usually become the center of the case.
What if the driver who hit me has no insurance — or drove off?
Look to uninsured motorist coverage. Your own auto policy, or the policy of a family member you live with, can cover you as a pedestrian struck by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver. Report a hit-and-run to police immediately, get medical care, and let us review the available policies — the 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.