Hit by a Car While Walking After Dark in Brooklyn? Why November Is the Most Dangerous Month

Why the evenings after November 1 are so dangerous

You know the walk. Off the B41 after a long shift. Home from evening service. Down Linden Boulevard with grocery bags from the West Indian market. In October you made that walk in daylight. In November you make it in the dark, and drivers are still rushing home at the same speed.

The city has known about this danger for years. A NYC Department of Transportation study of crash data from 2010 to 2014 found that severe crashes involving pedestrians rise by about 40 percent in the late afternoon and evening hours from November through March. The same study found that left turns cause three times as many fatal and severe pedestrian crashes as right turns. The pattern has held up: DOT still runs its "Dusk and Darkness" safety campaign every fall because the hours around sunset remain the most dangerous time of year to be on foot.

That matters on our streets. Think of a driver turning left off Flatbush onto Church Avenue, eyes on the oncoming traffic, not on you in the crosswalk.

The law is on your side here. New York requires every driver to use due care to avoid hitting a pedestrian, and to yield to people in a crosswalk. Darkness is not an excuse. If a driver can't see well, the driver has to slow down.

What to do in the first 48 hours

1. Get checked out. Go to the ER or urgent care the same day. Head, neck and back injuries often show up a day or two later. A hospital record made right away is the strongest proof you have.
2. Call 911 and get a police report. Ask for the report number before you leave. If police didn't come, go to your local precinct and report it.
3. Get the driver's information. Name, plate number, insurance company. If it was a dollar van, livery cab, Uber or Lyft, write down the company name too.
4. Take photos. The car, the street, the lighting, your injuries, your clothes. Notice any store cameras on the block. Many businesses erase video within days.
5. Get witness numbers. The person who stopped to help you may be the most important person in your case.
6. Don't give the driver's insurance company a recorded statement. They may call quickly and sound friendly. Their job is to pay you as little as possible. Talk to a lawyer first.

If you were working when it happened, for example a home health aide walking between clients, you may also have a workers' compensation claim. See our guide for home health aides hurt on the job.

Who pays your medical bills

In New York, no-fault insurance pays first, no matter who caused the crash. As a pedestrian:

• If you, or a relative you live with, owns an insured car, that policy usually pays.
• If not, the insurance on the car that hit you usually pays.

No-fault covers medical bills and part of your lost pay, up to the policy limit. Most people don't know this: you lose these benefits if you don't file the application within 30 days. For the full picture, read our plain-English guide to New York no-fault insurance.

I see the same thing every winter. Someone gets hit on their way home, figures they'll be fine, and waits. By the time they call me, weeks have gone by, the doctor visits started late, and the insurance company is already using that delay against them. Don't wait. Get seen, then call.

No-fault does not pay for your pain and suffering. For that, you bring a claim against the driver. New York only allows that claim if your injury meets the "serious injury" rules, such as a broken bone, a significant limit on how your body works, or being unable to do your normal daily activities for most of the first six months. Getting steady medical care is how you prove it.

Your deadlines, in one table

The 90-day rule catches a lot of people. Read more in our guide to suing the City, MTA or NYCHA, or our page on MTA bus accidents.

"But I wasn't in the crosswalk"

Many people never call a lawyer because they think crossing mid-block, or against the light, ruins their case. It usually doesn't.

New York uses comparative fault. If you were partly to blame, your recovery goes down by your share. It does not drop to zero. A driver who was speeding, on the phone or not looking still has to answer for that.

And one more thing people worry about: whether you were born here or came from Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana, Grenada, Haiti or anywhere else, your immigration status does not stop you from getting no-fault benefits or bringing an injury claim.

If the driver didn't stop

Hit-and-runs go up after dark. If the driver took off, you still have options. You may be able to claim through your own car insurance, or through MVAIC, a fund that pays people hurt by uninsured or unknown drivers.

MVAIC has strict rules. Report the crash to police within 24 hours and file a notice of intention within 90 days. Miss those and you may lose the claim.

If a delivery van or truck hit you, the company's insurance may also be on the hook. See our delivery van crash guide and what to do if a commercial vehicle hit you on the way to work. Rideshare cases have their own rules, covered in our Uber and Lyft accident guide.