Hit by a Car on Foot in NJ: 8 Appeals Show Who Pays, and When You Get Nothing

What did the 8 pedestrian and cyclist appeals decide?

Two went the injured side's way on coverage or the road claim, one kept a reduced verdict, three ended the claim, and two turned on procedure or a criminal rule.

For where and when people are hit, our crash counts sit on the New Jersey pedestrian crash page and the New Jersey bicycle accident claim guide. This page covers what the courts did.

Does PIP cover you as a pedestrian in NJ?

Boone held that a liability policy on a non-private vehicle, such as a Lyft, must carry pedestrian PIP, so an uninsured pedestrian got PIP from the rideshare policy. Boone came from Atlantic County; see Atlantic City pedestrian and cyclist crash data.

Lyft's commercial policy carried liability coverage but no pedestrian PIP. The court read the state's PIP statute to require it and affirmed an order rewriting the policy to add it.¹

How rideshare coverage stacks up for riders and people on foot is on our Hudson County rideshare crash guide. A household auto policy usually comes first, and the state Fund is the last route: see PIP limits and medical bills in New Jersey.

For the minimum PIP a New Jersey policy must carry, see New Jersey's 2026 minimum insurance limits. If the driver fled or had no insurance, start with our hit-and-run claim guide and uninsured motorist claim guide.

Is it always the driver's fault if a car hits a pedestrian?

No. A claimed crosswalk did not win Daniels's case: the jury found the driver not negligent. Rice, crossing outside a crosswalk, was put at 75 percent fault.

Outside a crosswalk a New Jersey pedestrian must yield to vehicles in the roadway. Rice crossed an eight-lane state highway on a February evening, and that yield rule ended the claim.

The rule cuts the other way too: Parkhill's vehicular homicide conviction was reversed because the jury was never told about the pedestrian's duty to yield. How each fault share changes the money is in seven real New Jersey fault splits.²

How much can you get for getting hit by a car as a pedestrian or cyclist?

Dutton is the only damages figure among the eight: a $608,000 verdict for a cyclist's death, cut to $364,800 after 40 percent fault on the cyclist.

Rice, Daniels and Jameel ended at $0. How a death verdict divides between the family and the estate is in our New Jersey wrongful death claim guide. Appealed verdicts are a narrow sample, so compare them with the dollar figures from New Jersey appeals.

Can you sue the town for a pothole or a dangerous road?

It can work. In Massi the appeals court revived a cyclist's claim against two townships over a road patched "hundreds" of times in five years.

The cyclist swerved to avoid a passing truck and fell when his tires hit the potholes. The court held the surface could be found dangerous for the road's ordinary users, cyclists included.

Notice to the town is due within 90 days of the injury. The rest of the public-entity clock, and the deadline to sue the driver, are on our New Jersey filing deadlines page. The full notice process for a public body is in the NJ tort claim notice guide.³

What if you were hit in a parking lot at work?

Workers compensation can block the lawsuit. In Jameel, a hospital worker killed by a colleague's car in the staff lot, the estate's tort claims failed for that reason.

The estate argued the lot had no stop signs, crosswalks or sidewalks. The court found the Workers Compensation Act barred the claims against the hospital and the co-worker, and the intentional-wrong exception was not shown.

For lots open to the public, see what to do after a parking lot accident.

Does riding an e-bike change the claim?

It can change what the other side asks for. In Villantes, the defence wanted the e-bike's details, and the appeals court reversed a refusal to extend discovery.

The ruling decided no liability. What the case points to is simple:

• keep the bike itself, unrepaired if you can;
• note its class and motor details;
• keep the purchase records.