Hit While Walking on the Las Vegas Strip? Know Your Rights

The Strip is packed with people on foot, day and night. Tourists crossing between resorts, crowds leaving a midnight show, rideshare drivers hunting for a pickup spot and rental cars driven by people who don't know where they're going. When a car hits someone on foot, the injuries are often serious. I'm Frank Stucki, Esq., MBA, and here's what pedestrians need to know.

Drivers owe you care, even off the crosswalk

Nevada requires every driver to use due care to avoid hitting a pedestrian. That duty doesn't disappear because you weren't in a crosswalk. Where signals aren't working or in place, drivers generally must yield to people in a crosswalk. At signalized intersections, the lights and walk signals control.

What about the pedestrian bridges?

Many Strip intersections have overhead bridges. Nevada law says a pedestrian crossing at street level where a bridge is provided generally must yield to cars. Expect the driver's insurer to bring that up. But it goes to how fault is shared, not automatically to whether you have a claim. A pedestrian who crossed in the wrong place may still have a claim against a driver who was speeding, impaired or on a phone.

What to do after you're hit

• Call 911 and accept medical care. Pedestrian injuries are often worse than they first feel.
• Get the driver's name, plate and insurance, and if it was a rideshare, which app.
• Ask people nearby if they saw it. Many are visitors flying home soon.
• Note the nearest resort entrance, bridge or cross street.
• Ask the officer for the report number. On the Strip, that's usually Las Vegas Metro.

The video won't wait

Resorts and businesses along Las Vegas Boulevard have cameras everywhere. That footage belongs to the property and may not be kept long. A quick preservation request can make the difference.

Whose insurance pays?

The driver's liability policy is the first place to look. Depending on its terms, your own auto policy's uninsured and underinsured coverage may help even though you were on foot. If the driver left the scene, that coverage may matter even more.

Visiting from out of state? A crash on the Strip can usually be handled in Clark County. Deadlines apply, so ask early.

Read the full guide: https://bornandraisedlaw.com/articles/pedestrian-crash-las-vegas-boulevard

Call 702.702.2676

Frank Stucki, Esq., MBA

This article provides general legal information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

By Frank Stucki

Frank is a trial attorney licensed in Nevada, Washington, and Utah, handling personal injury, institutional abuse, and catastrophic injury cases. California and other states are handled with local co-counsel.

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