Pedestrian Accident Complaint

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES (PEDESTRIAN COLLISION) — COLORADO

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Caption
2. Parties, Jurisdiction, and Venue
3. General Factual Allegations
4. Claim I — Negligence (Against Defendant Driver)
5. Claim II — Negligence Per Se (Against Defendant Driver)
6. Claim III — Negligent Entrustment / Vicarious Liability (Against Defendant Owner)
7. Damages
8. Prayer for Relief
9. Jury Demand
10. Reservation of Rights
11. Signature and Service Blocks
12. Certificate of Service
13. Colorado Practice Notes
14. Sources and References

1. CAPTION

DISTRICT COURT, [COUNTY] COUNTY, COLORADO

Court Address: [________________________________]

Case Number: [________________] Div.: [____] Ctrm.: [____]

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES (PEDESTRIAN COLLISION)

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

Plaintiff, by and through undersigned counsel, for this Complaint against Defendants, states and alleges as follows:

2. PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

1. Plaintiff [PLAINTIFF NAME] ("Plaintiff") is an individual residing in [COUNTY] County, Colorado, and at all material times was lawfully present as a pedestrian upon or crossing the public roadways of this State.

2. Defendant [DRIVER NAME] ("Driver Defendant") is, upon information and belief, an individual residing in [COUNTY / STATE] and may be served with process at [SERVICE ADDRESS] pursuant to C.R.C.P. 4.

3. Defendant [OWNER / EMPLOYER NAME] ("Owner Defendant") is [an individual / a corporation / an LLC] that, at all material times, owned, controlled, and/or maintained the vehicle operated by Driver Defendant and/or employed Driver Defendant. Owner Defendant may be served at [SERVICE ADDRESS / REGISTERED AGENT].

4. This action arises under Colorado tort law for personal injuries sustained when a motor vehicle struck Plaintiff, a pedestrian, in [COUNTY] County, Colorado, on [__/__/____].

5. This Court has subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to Colo. Const. art. VI, § 9 and C.R.S. § 13-1-124, as the claims sound in tort and arise within the State of Colorado.

6. Venue is proper in this county under C.R.C.P. 98 because the tort was committed in this county and/or one or more Defendants resides herein.

3. GENERAL FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

7. On [__/__/____] at approximately [TIME], Plaintiff was lawfully crossing [ROADWAY] [within a crosswalk / within a crosswalk at the intersection of [CROSS STREET] / with the pedestrian "WALK" signal illuminated], in [CITY], Colorado (the "Collision").

8. At the same time and place, Driver Defendant was operating a [YEAR / MAKE / MODEL] [passenger vehicle / pickup truck / SUV / commercial vehicle] owned by Owner Defendant, traveling [northbound / southbound / etc.] on [ROADWAY].

9. Traffic, lighting, and weather conditions were [describe — e.g., clear, dry, daylight], and Plaintiff was plainly visible to a driver keeping a proper lookout.

10. The Collision occurred when Driver Defendant [SELECT / DESCRIBE THE MANNER OF COLLISION — e.g., failed to yield the right-of-way to Plaintiff crossing within a crosswalk; turned left or right across the crosswalk into Plaintiff's path; accelerated through the intersection without looking; passed a vehicle that had stopped to allow Plaintiff to cross; was traveling at an unsafe speed and could not stop].

11. Driver Defendant "looked but failed to see" Plaintiff, failed to maintain a proper lookout for pedestrians, was distracted and/or inattentive, was traveling at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent for the conditions, and/or failed to yield the right-of-way and take evasive action to avoid striking Plaintiff.

12. Plaintiff was crossing in a lawful, prudent, and careful manner at all material times, had the right-of-way, and did nothing — and failed to do nothing — that proximately caused or contributed to the Collision.

13. As a direct and proximate result of the Collision, Plaintiff — an unprotected human being with no vehicle, restraint system, or crumple zone to absorb the forces of impact — was struck by Driver Defendant's vehicle, thrown to the roadway, and sustained severe, painful, and permanent bodily injuries, including but not limited to [LIST INJURIES — e.g., orthopedic fractures, traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, internal organ injuries, degloving injuries, and disfiguring scarring].

14. Because a pedestrian lacks any of the protections afforded the occupants of a motor vehicle, the forces of the Collision caused Plaintiff to suffer catastrophic injuries materially more severe than those typically sustained by vehicle occupants in a comparable collision.

15. Plaintiff received emergency care at [HOSPITAL / EMS PROVIDER] and has since undergone [SURGERIES / HOSPITALIZATION / REHABILITATION / ONGOING TREATMENT], and will require future medical care.

16. All injuries and damages alleged were the foreseeable, natural, and probable consequence of Defendants' conduct.

4. CLAIM I — NEGLIGENCE (Against Defendant Driver)

17. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 16 as if fully set forth herein.

18. Driver Defendant owed Plaintiff a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation of a motor vehicle, to obey the Colorado Rules of the Road, to keep a proper lookout for pedestrians, to yield the right-of-way where required, to operate the vehicle at a safe and prudent speed, and to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon the roadway.

19. Driver Defendant breached that duty by, among other things:

• Failing to keep a proper and careful lookout for Plaintiff, a plainly visible pedestrian;
• Failing to yield the right-of-way to Plaintiff while Plaintiff was lawfully crossing within a crosswalk;
• Turning across, or proceeding into, the crosswalk occupied by Plaintiff when it was unsafe to do so;
• Overtaking and passing a vehicle that had stopped to permit Plaintiff to cross;
• Operating the vehicle at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent for the conditions then existing;
• Driving while distracted, inattentive, or impaired;
• Failing to reduce speed, sound the horn, brake, or take other evasive action to avoid striking Plaintiff; and
• Failing to maintain proper control of the vehicle.

20. Each of the foregoing acts and omissions, separately and in combination, was a direct and proximate cause of the Collision and of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

21. As a direct and proximate result, Plaintiff has sustained the damages described in Section 7 below.

5. CLAIM II — NEGLIGENCE PER SE (Against Defendant Driver)

22. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 21 as if fully set forth herein.

23. The Colorado Model Traffic Code and statutes impose specific duties on Driver Defendant for the protection of pedestrians such as Plaintiff, including, as applicable to the manner of the Collision:

• C.R.S. § 42-4-802(1) — when traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle "shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk" when the pedestrian is upon the driver's half of the roadway or so closely approaching from the opposite half as to be in danger;
• C.R.S. § 42-4-802(4) — whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear "shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle";
• C.R.S. § 42-4-807 — "every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any obviously confused or incapacitated person upon a roadway"; and
• C.R.S. § 42-4-1101 — duty to operate the vehicle at a speed that is reasonable and prudent under the conditions.

24. Plaintiff is within the class of persons the foregoing statutes were enacted to protect, and the Collision is the type of harm those statutes were designed to prevent.

25. Driver Defendant violated [CITE THE SPECIFIC SECTION(S) APPLICABLE], and was cited for [TRAFFIC CITATION, IF ANY]. Under Colorado law, the violation of a statute or ordinance adopted for the public safety constitutes negligence per se, and Driver Defendant's violation was a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

6. CLAIM III — NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT / VICARIOUS LIABILITY (Against Defendant Owner)

26. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 25 as if fully set forth herein.

27. Owner Defendant entrusted the subject vehicle to Driver Defendant when Owner Defendant knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, that Driver Defendant was an incompetent, inexperienced, reckless, impaired, or otherwise unfit driver.

28. Alternatively, at the time of the Collision, Driver Defendant was operating the vehicle as the agent, servant, or employee of Owner Defendant and within the course and scope of that agency or employment, and/or as a member of Owner Defendant's family or household to whom Owner Defendant furnished the vehicle, rendering Owner Defendant vicariously liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior and/or the family car doctrine.

29. Owner Defendant's negligent entrustment and/or vicarious liability was a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries and damages, for which Owner Defendant is liable to the extent permitted by Colorado law.

7. DAMAGES

30. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants' conduct, Plaintiff has suffered and seeks recovery of the following:

• Past and future medical expenses — emergency, ambulance, hospital, surgical, diagnostic, rehabilitative, pharmaceutical, and physician care;
• Future medical and life care — anticipated surgeries, therapy, assistive devices, and long-term or attendant care, to be proven at trial;
• Lost wages and impaired earning capacity — past lost income and the permanent impairment of Plaintiff's ability to earn;
• Physical pain, suffering, and inconvenience — past and future;
• Emotional and mental distress — past and future;
• Permanent physical impairment and disfigurement;
• Loss of enjoyment of life; and
• Property damage to personal effects, including loss of use.

31. Plaintiff pleads each category of damage separately and in the alternative.

8. PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully prays for judgment against Defendants as follows:

• A. Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by the trier of fact and sufficient to compensate Plaintiff fully;
• B. Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as allowed by law, including C.R.S. § 13-21-101;
• C. All costs and expert witness fees as allowed by law; and
• D. Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

9. JURY DEMAND

Plaintiff demands a trial by jury on all issues so triable, and tenders the requisite jury fee with this Complaint pursuant to C.R.C.P. 38.

10. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

Plaintiff reserves the right to amend this Complaint to add or substitute parties, to assert additional claims (including a claim for exemplary damages by amendment in accordance with C.R.S. § 13-21-102 and any uninsured/underinsured-motorist claim), and to conform the pleadings to the evidence as discovery proceeds. Plaintiff specifically denies any comparative negligence and asserts that Plaintiff exercised due care at all relevant times.

11. SIGNATURE AND SERVICE BLOCKS

Respectfully submitted this [____] day of [MONTH], 20[____].

/s/ [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME] (Atty. Reg. No. [________])

[LAW FIRM NAME]

Attorney for Plaintiff

[STREET ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

Telephone: [NUMBER]

Email: [EMAIL]

12. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this the [____] day of [_______________], 20[____], I served (or will cause to be served with the summons) a copy of the foregoing COMPLAINT upon the following by [the method of service under C.R.C.P. 4 — personal service / waiver of service / service on registered agent]:

[NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) OF DEFENDANT(S) / COUNSEL]

/s/ [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME]

13. COLORADO PRACTICE NOTES

• Statute of limitations. Tort actions for bodily injury resulting from the use or operation of a motor vehicle must be commenced within three years of accrual. C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n). This is longer than Colorado's general two-year tort limitations period (C.R.S. § 13-80-102); because a pedestrian struck by a vehicle arises from the operation of a motor vehicle, the three-year period applies. Confirm accrual and any tolling before filing.
• MODIFIED COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE — the central issue. Colorado applies a modified comparative-negligence rule with a 50% bar. C.R.S. § 13-21-111. A plaintiff whose negligence is "not as great as" the defendant's recovers, with damages diminished in proportion to the plaintiff's fault; if the plaintiff's negligence is equal to or greater than the defendant's, the plaintiff is barred. Because the defense will attempt to attribute fault to the pedestrian (suddenly leaving the curb under C.R.S. § 42-4-802(3); crossing outside a crosswalk under § 42-4-803; crossing against a signal; or distraction), plead the plaintiff's due care affirmatively (¶¶ 11–12) and emphasize the driver's overriding due-care duty under § 42-4-807.
• Crosswalk and due-care framework. The driver's duty to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk is C.R.S. § 42-4-802; § 42-4-803 governs crossing at other than crosswalks; and § 42-4-807 imposes the driver's overriding duty of due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on the roadway, with special precaution for children and obviously confused or incapacitated persons. Many municipalities (e.g., Denver) have parallel ordinances that may also be pleaded.
• Damage caps. Colorado caps noneconomic damages (C.R.S. § 13-21-102.5; figures adjusted periodically for inflation — verify the current cap) and limits exemplary damages (C.R.S. § 13-21-102), which may be added only by amendment after initial disclosures. Plead within these constraints.
• UM/UIM and hit-and-run. Colorado is a fault state. A pedestrian struck by an uninsured, underinsured, or unidentified (hit-and-run) driver may recover under the pedestrian's own (or a resident relative's) automobile policy's UM/UIM and medical-payments coverage even though the pedestrian was not occupying a vehicle. Promptly identify and notify any applicable UM/UIM carrier, preserve the claim, comply with notice/consent-to-settle and subrogation requirements, and coordinate with the third-party liability claim. Verify current Colorado UM/UIM statutory requirements (C.R.S. § 10-4-609).
• Service. Service is governed by C.R.C.P. 4. Confirm proper service before relying on the timeliness of the action.

14. SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• Colorado Revised Statutes (Title 13 — Courts and Court Procedure; Title 42 — Vehicles and Traffic) — https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/
• C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n) (three-year limitations — motor-vehicle tort)
• C.R.S. § 13-21-111 (comparative negligence — 50% bar) — https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2021/title-13/article-21/part-1/section-13-21-111/
• C.R.S. § 13-21-102 / § 13-21-102.5 (exemplary damages; noneconomic-damages cap)
• C.R.S. § 42-4-802 (pedestrians' right-of-way in crosswalks) — https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-42/article-4/part-8/section-42-4-802/
• C.R.S. § 42-4-803 (crossing at other than crosswalks)
• C.R.S. § 42-4-807 (drivers to exercise due care) — https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-42/article-4/part-8/section-42-4-807/
• C.R.S. § 42-4-1101 (speed limits — reasonable and prudent)
• C.R.S. § 10-4-609 (uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage) — verify
• Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 4, 38, 98)
• Colorado Jury Instructions — Civil (CJI-Civ), Chapter 11 (Motor Vehicles and Highway Traffic; Pedestrian in Crosswalk; Negligence Per Se; Comparative Negligence)

Disclaimer: This template is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. An attorney licensed in Colorado must review and customize this document before filing. Laws, citations, and court rules change frequently; verify all authorities before use.