Pedestrian accident settlement amounts in Idaho

There is no published "average" pedestrian settlement in Idaho. The state doesn't track payouts, and no two cases match. What you can know are the Idaho rules that set the ceiling and the floor on a recovery, and those rules do a lot of the math for you.

Idaho's Office of Highway Safety counted 14 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes in 2024, part of 238 road deaths that year.¹ The same report clocks a pedestrian killed or injured somewhere in Idaho about once every 32 hours.¹ Nationally, 7,148 pedestrians died in 2024.² A person on foot has nothing between them and a vehicle, so the injuries run severe and the medical bills run high. What a claim is worth from there turns on a short list of Idaho-specific rules.

How fault is split in Idaho

Idaho is an at-fault, or tort, state.³ You collect from the driver who caused the crash, or from that driver's insurer, and there is no mandatory personal injury protection to bill first the way a no-fault state would have.³

Fault in a pedestrian case is rarely clean, and Idaho divides it with modified comparative negligence. Under Idaho Code 6-801, you can recover only if your share of the blame is less than the driver's. If a jury puts you at 50% or more, you take home nothing.⁴ Below that line, your award drops by your percentage, so a $400,000 case with 20% pedestrian fault pays $320,000.⁴

That one rule decides most pedestrian claims, and it usually comes down to the crosswalk statutes. Inside a marked or unmarked crosswalk, the driver has to slow down or stop to yield when no signal is present, and no one may pass a vehicle that has stopped to let you cross.⁵ Step off a curb into traffic that is too close to stop, though, and the duty flips to you.⁵ Cross somewhere other than a crosswalk, or between two signalized intersections, and Idaho Code 49-704 puts the yield on the pedestrian.⁶ Adjusters know these sections cold and argue every point of fault they can, because each percentage point pinned on you comes straight off the settlement.

The caps Idaho puts on damages

Economic damages, the hard costs like medical bills, lost income, and future care, are not capped in an ordinary Idaho crash case. Your pain and suffering is. Idaho Code 6-1603 limits noneconomic damages, and the Idaho Industrial Commission resets the number every July 1 for wage inflation. As of July 1, 2026 the cap is $538,425.04, up 5.78% from the 2025 figure of $509,013.28.⁷⁸

The cap has exceptions with teeth. It does not apply when the driver's conduct was willful or reckless, or when the trier of fact finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the act would be a felony.⁷ A hit-and-run or a drunk driver can push a case into that territory, which also opens the door to punitive damages. Those sit under a separate limit, the greater of $250,000 or three times the compensatory award, and they require proof of oppressive, fraudulent, malicious, or outrageous conduct by clear and convincing evidence.⁹

Why most cases settle at the policy limit

Caps set the top of the room. Insurance sets where you actually land. Idaho's minimum liability limits are 25/50/15: $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 per crash, and $15,000 for property damage.¹⁰ A pedestrian with a fractured pelvis and a few days in the hospital can burn through $25,000 before discharge, so when the at-fault driver carries only the state minimum, the real ceiling on the claim is that policy, not the statutory cap.

Your own coverage matters here even though you were on foot. Every auto policy issued in Idaho has to include uninsured and underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage unless you rejected it in writing.¹¹ That coverage follows you as a pedestrian, so if the driver had no insurance or too little, you can claim against your own policy. Check your declarations page for UM and UIM limits before assuming the driver's policy is all there is. Some drivers also carry optional medical payments coverage, which pays early medical bills regardless of fault, but Idaho does not require it.

If a bar over-served the driver, Idaho's dram shop law is narrow. Under Idaho Code 23-808 you can sue the seller only if the drinker was underage or obviously intoxicated when served, and you have to send certified-mail notice of the claim within 180 days.¹² Miss that window and the claim is gone even with strong facts. Distraction is a more common thread: it factored into 16% of Idaho crashes in 2024,¹ and the state's handheld ban has been primary-enforcement law since July 1, 2020, so a driver texting at impact was already breaking Idaho Code 49-1401A.¹³

Deadlines that can end a claim before it starts

Idaho gives you two years from the crash date to file a personal injury lawsuit.¹⁴ Wrongful death runs two years from the date of death, and a child injured in a crash generally has until turning 18 before the clock starts.¹⁴ The claim for your vehicle is separate and carries a three-year deadline under Idaho Code 5-218.¹⁵ Settlement talks don't pause any of these clocks, so if an insurer is still "reviewing" as the two-year mark nears, filing suit is what keeps the claim alive.

Two documents quietly move the number. The police crash report, which the Idaho Transportation Department sells for $7, records the officer's read on fault and any citations issued; our Idaho crash report guide walks through getting a copy.¹⁶ And if your car was damaged, its lost resale value is a claim of its own, covered on our Idaho diminished value page.

An Idaho pedestrian settlement is the product of four numbers: your share of fault under section 6-801, the noneconomic cap, the driver's policy limits, and your own UM/UIM. Pin those down early and a fair range stops being a guess. When injuries are serious or fault is contested, it's worth talking to a lawyer who handles these cases, and you can start with our legal directory.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Idaho Transportation Department, Office of Highway Safety, Idaho Traffic Crashes 2024. https://apps.itd.idaho.gov/Apps/OHS/Crash/24/Analysis.pdf

2. Governors Highway Safety Association, Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2024 Preliminary Data. https://www.ghsa.org/resource-hub/pedestrian-traffic-fatalities-2024-data

3. Idaho Department of Insurance, Required Auto Coverage. https://doi.idaho.gov/consumers/auto-insurance/required-auto-coverage/

4. Idaho Code 6-801, Comparative responsibility. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title6/t6ch8/sect6-801/

5. Idaho Code 49-702, Pedestrians' right-of-way in crosswalks. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title49/t49ch7/sect49-702/

6. Idaho Code 49-704, Crossing at other than crosswalks. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title49/t49ch7/sect49-704/

7. Idaho Code 6-1603, Limitation on noneconomic damages. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title6/t6ch16/sect6-1603/

8. Idaho Industrial Commission, Non-economic Damages Caps calculation, effective July 1, 2026. https://iic.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Benefits-Non-economic-caps-effective-07_01_26.pdf

9. Idaho Code 6-1604, Limitation on punitive damages. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title6/t6ch16/sect6-1604/

10. Idaho Code 49-117, financial responsibility limits. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title49/t49ch1/sect49-117/

11. Idaho Code 41-2502, Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title41/t41ch25/sect41-2502/

12. Idaho Code 23-808, Liability of an alcohol beverage server. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title23/t23ch8/sect23-808/

13. Idaho Code 49-1401A, Use of a handheld mobile device while driving. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title49/t49ch14/sect49-1401a/

14. Idaho Code 5-219, Two-year limitation for personal injury and wrongful death. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title5/t5ch2/sect5-219/

15. Idaho Code 5-218, Three-year limitation for injury to property. https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title5/t5ch2/sect5-218/

16. Idaho Transportation Department, Order a Crash Report. https://itd.idaho.gov/service/order-a-crash-report/