Hit by a Car While Walking in Des Moines?

If you've been hit by a car, your first job is to get out of the traffic lane if you can move safely. Des Moines' high-volume roads — I-235 through downtown, East University Avenue, E 14th Street, Ingersoll Avenue — are dangerous for anyone on foot, especially after a crash when other drivers may not see you.

Call 911 immediately. If the driver who hit you is still at the scene, do not let them leave without police documenting the incident. If the driver fled, give the dispatcher every detail you can: vehicle make, model, color, direction of travel, any part of the plate number.

Even if your injuries seem minor, get police on the scene. A crash report is your most important piece of evidence. Without it, proving what happened becomes exponentially harder.

Pedestrian injuries are almost never minor. When a 4,000-pound vehicle hits an unprotected human body, the result is broken bones, head trauma, spinal injuries, internal bleeding, and severe soft tissue damage. You may feel functional at the scene because of adrenaline, but that doesn't mean you're okay.

Get to an emergency room. UnityPoint Health — Iowa Methodist Medical Center is the only Level I Adult Trauma Center in Central Iowa. MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center operates as a Level II Trauma Center. Blank Children's Hospital provides Level II Pediatric Trauma care for children struck by vehicles. Several urgent care clinics throughout Polk County can evaluate less severe injuries.

A same-day medical visit does two things: it gets you treated, and it creates a documented link between the crash and your injuries. If you wait days or weeks to see a doctor, the insurance company will argue your injuries came from something else or aren't as serious as you claim.

If you're physically able, pull out your phone before you leave the scene. Photograph the vehicle that hit you — front end, license plate, any damage to the hood or bumper. Pedestrian impacts leave distinctive marks on vehicles: dents in the hood, cracked windshields, broken headlights. Those marks are evidence.

Photograph the intersection or road where you were hit. Capture crosswalk markings (or the lack of them), traffic signals, sight lines, lighting conditions, and any road hazards. Take wide shots that show the full scene and close-ups of specific details.

If witnesses saw what happened, get their names and phone numbers before they leave. Witness testimony is often the deciding factor in pedestrian cases, especially when the driver claims they didn't see you. Also look for security cameras on nearby buildings and businesses — footage can be requested through your attorney or the police investigation.

Write down exactly where you were when you were hit. Were you in a crosswalk? At an intersection? Midblock? Which direction were you walking? Where was the car coming from? These details matter for determining right-of-way under Iowa law.

Iowa law gives pedestrians the right-of-way in crosswalks. Under Iowa Code § 321.327, drivers must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians crossing within any marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Pedestrians who have started crossing on a green signal or "Walk" indicator have the right-of-way to finish crossing.

An unmarked crosswalk exists at every intersection where sidewalks are present — even if no paint is on the road. This is a point most drivers and many insurance adjusters don't understand. You don't need painted lines to have a legal crosswalk in Iowa.

Pedestrians crossing outside a crosswalk must yield the right-of-way to vehicles. But that doesn't mean a driver can hit someone who's already in the road and claim they had no duty to avoid them. Drivers always have a duty to exercise ordinary care, which means watching for pedestrians and driving at a speed that allows them to stop.

What this means for your claim: if you were in a crosswalk, the driver almost certainly violated Iowa's right-of-way statute. If you were crossing midblock, the analysis is more nuanced — but being outside a crosswalk does not automatically make you at fault.

Iowa's modified comparative negligence rule (Iowa Code § 668.3) applies to pedestrian accidents. If you're found partially at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you're 51% or more at fault, you get nothing.

Insurance companies love to blame pedestrians. They'll argue you were distracted by your phone, wearing dark clothing at night, crossing outside a crosswalk, or stepping into the road too suddenly. Some of these arguments carry weight; many don't. The driver always has a duty to watch for pedestrians and to drive at a safe speed. A driver who was speeding, texting, running a red light, or impaired carries the bulk of the fault regardless of what the pedestrian was doing.

In Des Moines, where nine fatal crashes in 2024 were speed-related and nine involved impaired drivers, the argument that a driver couldn't stop in time often comes down to one thing: they were going too fast. A pedestrian hit at 23 mph has a 10% chance of dying. At 32 mph, that jumps to 25%. At 42 mph, it's 50%. Speed kills pedestrians — and Des Moines has documented speeding problems on its arterial roads.

Pedestrian accident injuries tend to be severe and the damages reflect that. Iowa allows you to recover the full range of personal injury damages with no cap on most categories.

Medical expenses include everything from the ambulance and ER visit through surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and any future treatment. Pedestrian injuries — traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, pelvic fractures, internal organ injuries — often require months or years of ongoing care.

Lost wages cover time missed from work during recovery and any permanent reduction in your earning capacity. If a TBI or spinal injury prevents you from returning to the same type of work, the difference in lifetime earnings is compensable.

Pain and suffering accounts for the physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, PTSD, and the lasting psychological impact of being hit by a car. Many pedestrian crash survivors develop a persistent fear of crossing streets that affects their daily life for years. You can also recover for property damage — your phone, laptop, glasses, clothing, or any mobility device you were using.

You have two years from the date of the pedestrian accident to file a personal injury lawsuit in Iowa (Iowa Code § 614.1(2)). If the crash was fatal, the wrongful death statute of limitations is also two years from the date of death.

If you were hit by a city vehicle, a public transit bus, or on a road with a dangerous design defect maintained by a government entity, additional notice requirements may apply under Iowa Code § 670.5. Government entity claims have specific procedural requirements that your attorney can help you navigate.

Don't let the two-year window lull you into waiting. Evidence degrades. Witnesses forget. Surveillance footage gets overwritten — many businesses only keep footage for 30 to 90 days. The sooner you start, the stronger your case.

Pedestrian accident cases often involve higher damages, contested fault, and complicated insurance situations — especially when the driver fled or was uninsured. An attorney can investigate the crash, obtain surveillance footage and traffic camera data, hire accident reconstruction experts if needed, and negotiate with the insurance company.

If the driver fled, your attorney will pursue compensation through your uninsured motorist coverage and push for a thorough police investigation. If the crash was caused by a dangerous road design — no crosswalk, poor lighting, a missing sidewalk — there may be a claim against the municipality responsible for the road. Des Moines' Vision Zero plan has identified multiple High Injury Network corridors, and documented road deficiencies can support a government liability claim.

Most pedestrian accident attorneys in Des Moines work on contingency. No upfront cost, and they only get paid if you recover. A free consultation tells you whether you have a case and what it might be worth.