Pedestrian accident settlement amounts in Washington

There's no set price for a pedestrian injury claim in Washington. What a case is worth depends on how badly you were hurt, who was at fault, and how much insurance money can actually be reached. Washington law shapes all three, and those rules are where a state guide earns its keep.

The stakes are high because a person on foot has nothing between them and the vehicle. In 2024, 155 of the 731 people killed on Washington roads were pedestrians, roughly one in five deaths, according to preliminary Washington Traffic Safety Commission figures.¹ Nationally, pedestrians made up 18 percent of all traffic deaths in 2023, up from 15 percent a decade earlier.² A car that leaves only a dented bumper can leave a pedestrian with broken bones or a brain injury, which is part of why these claims tend to run larger than a typical fender-bender.

The insurance that actually pays

A settlement can only be as large as the insurance behind it. Washington requires every driver to carry liability limits of at least $25,000 for one person's injuries, $50,000 per crash, and $10,000 for property damage, the "25/50/10" minimum.³⁴ Many drivers carry exactly that and nothing more. If the person who hit you has a minimum policy, $25,000 is often the practical ceiling on the at-fault side, no matter how high your medical bills climb.

That's why your own coverage matters so much in a pedestrian case. Two types can pay even though you weren't behind the wheel.

Personal injury protection (PIP) is the first money most injured pedestrians see. Under Washington's definitions, a pedestrian struck by an insured car counts as an "insured" under that driver's PIP, and your own auto PIP follows you when you're on foot.⁵ It pays medical bills regardless of who was at fault. The minimum benefits are $10,000 in medical and hospital expenses, $10,000 in lost income (capped at $200 a week), $5,000 for loss of services, and $2,000 toward funeral costs.⁶ Insurers must offer PIP and can drop it only if you rejected it in writing, and enhanced PIP that raises the medical limit to $35,000 is available.⁷

Underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) is the backstop that often decides a serious case. Nearly one in four pedestrians killed nationally in 2023 was struck by a hit-and-run driver.² Add the drivers who carry only state-minimum limits, and a large share of pedestrian claims involve someone who can't cover the harm they caused. UM/UIM on your own or a household member's auto policy steps in when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough. Washington insurers must offer it on every new and renewed policy, and you can waive it only in a signed writing.⁸

How fault changes the number

Washington follows pure comparative negligence. Any fault assigned to you "diminishes proportionately" what you recover, and it "does not bar recovery" even when you were mostly to blame.⁹ A pedestrian found 40 percent at fault on a $200,000 injury still collects $120,000. That one rule is frequently the gap between a full settlement and a fraction of one.

So the real fight in most pedestrian claims is over who had the right of way. Washington drivers must stop and stay stopped for a pedestrian crossing in a marked or unmarked crosswalk once the person is within one lane of the driver's half of the road.¹⁰ A crosswalk exists at every Washington intersection whether or not it's painted, so a pedestrian crossing at a corner usually has the right of way even with no markings.¹¹ The statute cuts the other way too: a pedestrian can't leave a curb and move into the path of a car that's too close to stop.¹⁰ Crossing mid-block, away from an intersection, the pedestrian has to yield to vehicles on the roadway.¹²

Adjusters know the crash data and use it. Across the country, 74 percent of pedestrian deaths in 2023 happened away from intersections, and 77 percent happened in the dark.² An insurer will point to a mid-block crossing or poor lighting to shift fault onto the injured person, since every percentage point they assign to you trims the payout.

No damage caps, and no punitive damages

Washington does not cap what an injured person can recover. The state Supreme Court struck down the legislature's limit on noneconomic damages as unconstitutional in Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wn.2d 636 (1989).¹³ Medical costs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering are all recoverable with no statutory ceiling. In a serious pedestrian case the largest pieces are usually future medical care and lost earning capacity, and a Washington claim can include both in full, so the value tracks the actual harm rather than an arbitrary cap.

There's a limit on the other side. Washington doesn't allow punitive damages unless a statute expressly authorizes them, and none does for an ordinary crash.¹³ Even when the driver was drunk or grossly careless, the settlement reflects compensation, not a penalty.

Deadlines that can end a claim before it starts

You generally have three years from the date of the crash to file a pedestrian injury lawsuit in Washington.¹⁴ Let that window close and the claim is worth nothing, however strong it once was.

A second deadline surprises people. If a government body shares the blame, say a city intersection with a dead signal or a badly designed crossing, you first have to file a formal claim on the state's standard tort claim form and then wait 60 days before you can sue a city, county, or the state.¹⁵ The three-year clock is paused during that 60-day wait.¹⁵ These claims come up more often in pedestrian cases than in ordinary car crashes, because road and crosswalk design is so often part of what went wrong.

Order the official collision report early, since it locks in the facts on fault. You can request it through Washington's system, covered on our Washington crash report page. Because a pedestrian settlement turns so heavily on the fault split and on stacking PIP, UM/UIM, and liability coverage in the right order, most people with a serious injury do better having a lawyer value the case before accepting any offer. Our legal directory is a place to start.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Washington Traffic Safety Commission, "Preliminary Traffic Fatality Numbers for 2024," https://wtsc.wa.gov/20555-2/

2. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Pedestrians: 2023 Data," Traffic Safety Facts, DOT HS 813 727, June 2025, https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813727

3. Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Washington state's mandatory auto/motorcycle insurance law, https://www.insurance.wa.gov/insurance-resources/auto-insurance/how-auto-insurance-works/washington-states-mandatory-automotorcycle-insurance-law

4. RCW 46.29.090, required motor vehicle liability policy limits, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.29.090

5. RCW 48.22.005, Definitions, personal injury protection, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.22.005

6. RCW 48.22.095, Minimum personal injury protection coverage, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.22.095

7. RCW 48.22.085, Optional personal injury protection coverage and rejection, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.22.085

8. RCW 48.22.030, Underinsured motorist coverage, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.22.030

9. RCW 4.22.005, Effect of contributory fault, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.22.005

10. RCW 46.61.235, Crosswalks, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.235

11. Washington State Department of Transportation, Pedestrian laws & safety, https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/bicycling-walking/walking-rolling-washington/pedestrian-laws-safety

12. RCW 46.61.240, Crossing at other than crosswalks, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.240

13. Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wn.2d 636 (1989), http://courts.mrsc.org/supreme/112wn2d/112wn2d0636.htm

14. RCW 4.16.080, Actions limited to three years, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.080

15. RCW 4.96.020, Claims against local governmental entities, https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.96.020