Pedestrian Accident Complaint - New Hampshire

PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT COMPLAINT — NEW HAMPSHIRE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Caption
2. Parties, Jurisdiction, and Venue
3. General Factual Allegations
4. Count I — Negligence (Against Defendant Driver)
5. Count II — Negligence Per Se (Crosswalk / Right-of-Way / Due Care) (Against Defendant Driver)
6. Count III — Reckless Conduct / Enhanced Compensatory Damages (Against Defendant Driver)
7. Count IV — Negligent Entrustment / Vicarious Liability (Against Defendant Owner)
8. Damages
9. Comparative Fault and Insurance Allegations
10. Prayer for Relief
11. Jury Demand
12. Reservation of Rights
13. Signature Block
14. Verification
15. New Hampshire Practice Notes
16. Sources and References

1. CAPTION

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

[COUNTY] COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT

DOCKET NO. [________________]

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES (PEDESTRIAN COLLISION)

AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL

NOW COMES the Plaintiff, by and through undersigned counsel, and complaining of the Defendants, states as follows:

2. PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

1. Plaintiff [PLAINTIFF NAME] ("Plaintiff") is an individual domiciled at [ADDRESS], [TOWN/CITY], [COUNTY] County, New Hampshire, and at the time of the Collision described below was lawfully on foot as a pedestrian upon the public ways of this State.

2. Defendant [DRIVER NAME] ("Driver Defendant") is, upon information and belief, an individual residing at [SERVICE ADDRESS], and may be served with process there or wherever found pursuant to N.H. R. Super. Ct. (Civil) and RSA 510.

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

4. This action arises under New Hampshire common law and statute for personal injuries sustained by a pedestrian in a motor-vehicle collision that occurred in [COUNTY] County, New Hampshire, on [__/__/____].

5. This Court has subject-matter jurisdiction under RSA 491:7. Plaintiff claims damages beyond the Circuit Court — District Division jurisdiction applicable under current RSA 502-A:14; counsel must confirm the selected court's current jurisdiction before filing. The former statement that $1,500 is the Superior Court threshold was incorrect: that amount marks the District Division's exclusive civil jurisdiction, while higher amounts may remain concurrent.

6. This Court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendants because they are domiciled in New Hampshire and/or committed tortious conduct within this State, consistent with due process.

7. Venue is proper in [COUNTY] County Superior Court under RSA 507:9 because [IDENTIFY PLAINTIFF OR DEFENDANT] is a New Hampshire inhabitant who resides in this county or judicial district. Confirm residence and the selected venue from current records before filing.

3. GENERAL FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

8. On [__/__/____] at approximately [TIME], Plaintiff was lawfully on foot, [crossing within a marked crosswalk / crossing within an unmarked crosswalk at the intersection / walking along the shoulder / SELECT AND DESCRIBE] on or across [ROADWAY] at or near its intersection with [CROSS STREET / LANDMARK / MILE MARKER], in [TOWN/CITY], New Hampshire (the "Collision").

9. 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].

10. Traffic, lighting, and weather conditions were [describe — e.g., clear, dry, daylight; or dusk with the pedestrian in a marked, signed crosswalk], and Plaintiff was plainly visible to any driver keeping a proper lookout.

11. The Collision occurred when Driver Defendant [SELECT / DESCRIBE THE MANNER OF COLLISION — e.g., failed to yield to and struck Plaintiff while Plaintiff was crossing within the crosswalk; turned left or right across the crosswalk into Plaintiff's path; failed to keep a proper lookout and struck Plaintiff; was traveling at a speed greater than reasonable and prudent for conditions; was distracted by a cell phone or other device; overtook and passed another vehicle that had stopped to allow Plaintiff to cross].

12. Driver Defendant failed to see what was plainly there to be seen, failed to yield the right-of-way and to slow down or stop for Plaintiff as New Hampshire law requires, and/or failed to exercise the due care required to avoid colliding with a pedestrian.

13. At all material times, Plaintiff was crossing or proceeding with the right-of-way and in a lawful, prudent, and careful manner, and did not suddenly leave a curb or place of safety into the path of a vehicle so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.

14. As a direct and proximate result of the Collision, Plaintiff — an unprotected and vulnerable road user with none of the structural protection, restraint systems, or crumple zones of a motor-vehicle occupant — was struck with great force and sustained severe, painful, catastrophic, and permanent bodily injuries, including but not limited to [LIST INJURIES — e.g., traumatic brain injury, orthopedic and pelvic fractures, spinal injury, internal organ injury, degloving and road rash, and disfiguring scarring].

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. COUNT 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 pedestrian lawfully using the roadway, a duty to exercise reasonable care in the operation of a motor vehicle, to obey the New Hampshire Rules of the Road (RSA 265), to keep a proper lookout for pedestrians, to yield the right-of-way where required, and to refrain from conduct endangering others.

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 and to slow down or stop as required for a pedestrian in a crosswalk;
• Failing to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian and to give an audible signal where necessary;
• Turning across or into the path of Plaintiff when it was unsafe to do so;
• Overtaking and passing a vehicle stopped to allow Plaintiff to cross;
• Operating the vehicle at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent for the conditions;
• Driving while distracted or inattentive; and
• Failing to maintain proper control of the vehicle so as to avoid striking Plaintiff.

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 8 below.

5. COUNT II — NEGLIGENCE PER SE (CROSSWALK / RIGHT-OF-WAY / DUE CARE) (Against Defendant Driver)

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

23. The New Hampshire Rules of the Road impose specific statutory duties on Driver Defendant for the protection of pedestrians such as Plaintiff. These include, as applicable to the manner of the Collision:

• RSA 265:35 — 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 half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or is approaching so closely from the opposite half as to be in danger; and whenever a vehicle is stopped at a marked or unmarked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle;
• RSA 265:37 — notwithstanding the foregoing, every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, shall give an audible signal when necessary, and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated person;
• RSA 265:25 — a driver shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent; and
• RSA 265:60 — the basic rule requiring a reasonable and prudent speed for conditions.

24. Plaintiff is within the class of persons (pedestrians) 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 New Hampshire law, an unexcused violation of a safety statute is evidence of negligence (and, in appropriate circumstances, negligence per se), and was a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

6. COUNT III — RECKLESS CONDUCT / ENHANCED COMPENSATORY DAMAGES (Against Defendant Driver)

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

27. Driver Defendant, acting with conscious indifference to and reckless disregard for the rights and safety of others, engaged in conduct including but not limited to [e.g., operating the vehicle while impaired; driving at a grossly excessive speed; aggressive or intentional maneuvers; leaving the scene after striking Plaintiff].

28. [If supported by current controlling common-law authority:] The pleaded conduct and resulting injury satisfy the separately verified requirements for enhanced compensatory damages. RSA 507:16 is cited only for its prohibition on punitive damages absent another statute.

7. COUNT IV — NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT / VICARIOUS LIABILITY (Against Defendant Owner)

29. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 28 as if fully set forth herein.

30. 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, or otherwise unfit driver.

31. 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, rendering Owner Defendant vicariously liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior.

32. 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.

8. DAMAGES

33. 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 care, to be proven at trial;
• Lost earnings and diminished earning capacity — past lost income and the permanent impairment of Plaintiff's ability to earn;
• Physical pain, suffering, and mental anguish — past and future;
• Permanent physical impairment and disfigurement, including scarring from road rash and surgical intervention;
• Loss of enjoyment of life; and
• Property damage to clothing, mobility aids, electronics, and personal effects.

34. Plaintiff seeks no punitive damages under RSA 507:16. Any enhanced compensatory request in Count III depends on separately identified controlling common-law authority and supporting evidence.

35. Plaintiff seeks pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as allowed by RSA 524:1-a and RSA 524:1-b (and RSA 336:1 as applicable).

9. COMPARATIVE FAULT AND INSURANCE ALLEGATIONS

36. Pursuant to RSA 507:7-d, Plaintiff affirmatively alleges that any fault attributable to Plaintiff was not greater than the fault of the Defendants and therefore does not bar recovery; any verdict shall be reduced only to the extent of Plaintiff's proportionate fault, if any.

37. Plaintiff has complied with, or will comply with, all conditions precedent applicable to any uninsured/underinsured-motorist claim and reserves all rights against the applicable UM/UIM carrier.

10. PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this Honorable Court enter judgment against Defendants, and award:

• A. Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, in excess of the jurisdictional minimum of this Court;
• B. If separately authorized by current controlling common law, enhanced compensatory damages on Count III supported by the evidence; no punitive damages under RSA 507:16;
• C. Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as allowed by law;
• D. Costs of this action; and
• E. Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and equitable.

11. JURY DEMAND

Pursuant to Part I, Article 20 of the New Hampshire Constitution and N.H. R. Super. Ct. (Civil) 38(b), Plaintiff hereby demands a trial by jury on all issues so triable as a matter of right.

12. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

Plaintiff reserves the right to amend this Complaint to add or substitute parties, to assert additional claims (including claims against any uninsured/underinsured-motorist carrier), and to conform the pleadings to the evidence as discovery proceeds.

13. SIGNATURE BLOCK

Respectfully submitted,

[PLAINTIFF NAME], By [his/her/their] attorneys,

Dated: [__/__/____]

/s/ [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME], Esq. (NH Bar No. [________])

[LAW FIRM NAME]

[STREET ADDRESS]

[CITY, NH ZIP]

Telephone: [NUMBER]

Email: [EMAIL]

Counsel for Plaintiff

14. VERIFICATION

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

COUNTY OF [COUNTY]

I, [PLAINTIFF NAME], being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the Plaintiff in the foregoing action; that I have read the foregoing Complaint; and that the facts stated therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

[________________________________]

[PLAINTIFF NAME], Plaintiff

Subscribed and sworn to before me this [____] day of [_______________], 20[____].

[________________________________]

Notary Public / Justice of the Peace

My Commission Expires: [_______________]

15. NEW HAMPSHIRE PRACTICE NOTES

• Statute of limitations. Personal actions must be commenced within three years of the act or omission complained of (or, under the discovery rule, within three years of when the injury and its causal relationship were or should have been discovered). RSA 508:4, I. Wrongful-death actions are likewise generally subject to the three-year period (see RSA 556:11). Claims against governmental entities carry shorter notice/limitations rules (RSA 507-B; RSA 541-B).
• Modified comparative fault — the central issue. RSA 507:7-d bars recovery only if the plaintiff's fault is greater than the defendant's fault, or aggregate defendant fault when recovery is allowed against more than one defendant. Equality does not bar; an allowed award is reduced proportionally. RSA 507:7-e governs apportionment and joint-versus-several liability (joint and several where a defendant is 50% or more at fault).
• Pedestrian vs. driver duties. The driver's principal duties are to yield and slow down or stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk (RSA 265:35) and to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, giving an audible signal when necessary (RSA 265:37). The pedestrian's principal duties are not to suddenly leave a curb or place of safety into the path of a vehicle so close as to be an immediate hazard (RSA 265:35, II), to yield when crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection (RSA 265:36), and to use a sidewalk where provided (RSA 265:39). Frame the right-of-way and visibility facts to maximize the driver's share and minimize the pedestrian's.
• Fault state; no no-fault/PIP; no compulsory insurance. New Hampshire applies traditional tort liability — there is no automobile no-fault regime and no serious-injury threshold. New Hampshire is also one of the few states that does not mandate liability insurance, making early coverage investigation and UM/UIM preservation essential. A struck pedestrian's medical bills typically flow to the pedestrian's own health insurance and/or any med-pay.
• Damages. RSA 507:16 prohibits punitive damages unless another statute provides otherwise; it says nothing about enhanced compensatory damages. Plead Count III only after grounding that separate remedy in current controlling common law and the facts.
• UM/UIM and hit-and-run. Where liability coverage is absent or inadequate, the pedestrian's own (or a resident relative's) UM/UIM coverage under RSA 264 may respond; an unidentified hit-and-run/phantom driver is generally treated as an uninsured motorist subject to corroboration and policy/notice conditions. Preserve and timely notice these claims.
• Interest and service. Pre-judgment/post-judgment interest is governed by RSA 524:1-a and RSA 524:1-b. Service and commencement follow the New Hampshire Rules of the Superior Court (Civil) and RSA 510 (and RSA 264:21 for out-of-state motorists, the long-arm consequence of operating in New Hampshire).

16. SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated (Title LII — Actions; Title XXI — Motor Vehicles) — https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/indexes/default.html
• RSA 508:4 (limitation of personal actions) — https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/title-lii/chapter-508/section-508-4/
• RSA 507:7-d, RSA 507:7-e (comparative fault; apportionment) — https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/title-lii/chapter-507/
• RSA 265:35 (pedestrians' right-of-way in crosswalks), RSA 265:36 (crossing other than crosswalks), RSA 265:37 (drivers to exercise due care), RSA 265:25 (following), RSA 265:60 (speed) — https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-mrg.htm
• RSA 507:16 (punitive damages prohibited absent another statute; not enhanced-damages authority)
• RSA 491:7 (Superior Court jurisdiction); RSA 507:9 (venue)
• New Hampshire Rules of the Superior Court (Civil) (service, Rule 38 jury demand)
• New Hampshire Civil Jury Instructions (Motor Vehicle; Comparative Fault; Pedestrian Right-of-Way; Enhanced Compensatory Damages)

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