Pedestrian Accident Complaint - Nevada

PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT COMPLAINT — NEVADA

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 — Negligent Entrustment / Vicarious Liability (Against Defendant Owner)
7. Damages
8. Prayer for Relief
9. Jury Demand
10. Reservation of Rights and Preservation of Evidence
11. Signature and Service Blocks
12. Verification
13. Certificate of Service
14. Nevada Practice Notes
15. Sources and References

1. CAPTION

IN THE [____________] JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA

IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF [COUNTY]

CASE NO. [________]

DEPT. NO. [____]

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES (PEDESTRIAN COLLISION)

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

(Exempt from Arbitration — Damages in Excess of $50,000)

COMES NOW Plaintiff, by and through undersigned counsel, and for Plaintiff's causes of action against Defendants alleges as follows:

2. PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

1. Plaintiff [PLAINTIFF NAME] ("Plaintiff") is, and at all material times was, a resident of [COUNTY] County, [Nevada / State], who, at the time of the Collision described below, was lawfully on foot as a pedestrian upon the public roadways of this State.

2. Defendant [DRIVER NAME] ("Driver Defendant") is, upon information and belief, a resident of [COUNTY / STATE] and may be served with process at [SERVICE ADDRESS] pursuant to Rule 4, Nev. R. Civ. P.

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

4. The true names and capacities of Defendants DOES I through X and ROE CORPORATIONS I through X are presently unknown to Plaintiff, who will amend this Complaint to allege their true names and capacities when ascertained. Plaintiff alleges that each fictitiously named Defendant is responsible in some manner for the events and damages alleged herein.

5. This action arises under Nevada tort law for personal injuries sustained by a pedestrian in a motor-vehicle collision occurring in [COUNTY] County, Nevada, on [__/__/____].

6. This Court has subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to Nev. Const. art. 6, § 6, as the District Court has original jurisdiction over civil matters not assigned to the justice courts, and the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000 (the jurisdictional ceiling of the justice court under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 4.370).

7. Venue is proper in [COUNTY] County under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 13.040 because the Collision occurred in said county and/or one or more Defendants resides therein.

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 [CITY], Nevada (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 an excessive or unsafe speed 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 Nevada law requires, and/or failed to exercise the due care required to avoid striking 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 that it was impossible for the driver to yield.

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 Nevada rules of the road, 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 striking a pedestrian and to give a warning 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 an excessive or unsafe speed for 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 7 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 Nevada 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:

• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.283 — when official traffic-control devices 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 so to yield, to a pedestrian crossing the highway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the highway upon which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning, or is approaching so closely from the opposite half as to be in danger; and whenever a vehicle is stopped at a crosswalk, a driver approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle;
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.280 — a driver of a motor vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid a collision with a pedestrian, give an audible warning with the horn if appropriate, and exercise proper caution upon observing a child or a person who is obviously confused or incapacitated;
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.127 — a driver shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent; and
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.600 — the duty to operate at a reasonable and proper 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]. Such violation constitutes negligence per se under Nevada law, and was a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

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

29. Owner Defendant's negligent entrustment and/or vicarious liability was a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries and damages.

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 care, to be proven at trial;
• Lost wages 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.

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

8. PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully demands judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally, as follows:

• A. General and special damages in an amount in excess of $15,000, to be proven at trial;
• B. Punitive damages as allowed by law, if the evidence establishes oppression, fraud, or malice by clear and convincing evidence;
• C. Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest pursuant to Nev. Rev. Stat. § 17.130;
• D. Costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees as allowed by law; and
• E. Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

9. JURY DEMAND

Pursuant to Nev. Const. art. 1, § 3 and Rule 38, Nev. R. Civ. P., Plaintiff demands trial by jury on all issues so triable as a matter of right.

10. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS AND PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE

Plaintiff reserves the right to amend this Complaint to add or substitute parties (including the fictitiously named DOE and ROE Defendants when identified), to assert additional claims (including any claim against an uninsured/underinsured-motorist carrier), and to conform the pleadings to the evidence as discovery proceeds.

Plaintiff places Defendants on notice to preserve all evidence relating to the Collision, including but not limited to the vehicle, event-data-recorder ("black box") and telematics data, photographs, video (including surveillance, dashcam, and traffic-camera footage), electronic and cell-phone records, maintenance logs, and insurance communications. Failure to preserve such evidence may result in sanctions, adverse-inference instructions, or other remedies.

11. SIGNATURE AND SERVICE BLOCKS

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

[LAW FIRM NAME]

By: /s/ [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME], Esq., Nevada Bar No. [________]

Attorney for Plaintiff

[STREET ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

Telephone: [NUMBER]

Email: [EMAIL]

12. VERIFICATION

I, [PLAINTIFF NAME], declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Nevada that I am the Plaintiff in the foregoing action; that I have read the foregoing Complaint; and that the matters stated therein are true and correct of my own knowledge, except as to matters stated on information and belief, and as to those matters, I believe them to be true.

Executed this [____] day of [_______________], 20[____], at [CITY], Nevada.

[________________________________]

[PLAINTIFF NAME], Plaintiff

13. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this the [____] day of [_______________], 20[____], a true and correct copy of the foregoing COMPLAINT was served upon the following by [summons and service of process under Rule 4, Nev. R. Civ. P. / the Court's electronic filing system under Rule 5 / N.E.F.C.R.]:

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

/s/ [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME]

14. NEVADA PRACTICE NOTES

• Statute of limitations. Actions for personal injury in Nevada must be commenced within two years of accrual — one of the shortest windows in the country. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(4)(e). This short period makes prompt investigation, evidence preservation, and filing critical. Claims against governmental entities trigger separate notice requirements.
• MODIFIED COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE — 51% BAR. Under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41.141, a plaintiff may recover so long as the plaintiff's negligence was not greater than the combined negligence of the defendants; a plaintiff more than 50% at fault is barred, and otherwise damages are reduced in proportion to the plaintiff's share. In pedestrian cases, developing fault evidence (EDR data, video, reconstruction) to keep the plaintiff at or below 50% is important.
• Pedestrian vs. driver duties. The driver's principal duties are to exercise due care to avoid a pedestrian collision (§ 484B.280) and to yield the right-of-way and slow down or stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk (§ 484B.283). The pedestrian's principal duties are not to suddenly leave a curb or place of safety into the path of a vehicle too close to yield (§ 484B.283(1)(b)) and to yield when crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk (§ 484B.287). Under § 484B.283(2), a driver who violates the yield duty and is the proximate cause of a pedestrian collision faces the additional penalty in § 484B.653 (reckless driving) — useful evidence of breach. A jaywalking citation does not automatically bar recovery; comparative negligence governs. Verify current law.
• Fault state; no no-fault/PIP mandate. Nevada applies traditional tort liability; there is no compulsory automobile no-fault regime and no injury threshold. A struck pedestrian's medical bills are typically paid by the pedestrian's own health insurance and/or med-pay, with the tort claim pursued against the at-fault driver/owner.
• Punitive damages. Recoverable only on clear and convincing evidence of oppression, fraud, or malice. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 42.005. Statutory caps apply (generally the greater of three times compensatory damages where compensatory damages are $100,000 or more, or $300,000), with an exception removing the cap for certain DUI-related conduct under § 42.010 (verify current figures). Plead a punitive count only where supported.
• UM/UIM and hit-and-run. Nevada is a fault state and a high-risk state for pedestrians. Pedestrians struck by minimally insured, uninsured, or hit-and-run drivers may have recourse to their own (or a resident relative's) uninsured/underinsured-motorist coverage; UM/UIM commonly responds to a pedestrian struck by a covered vehicle, and a "phantom"/unidentified hit-and-run driver is generally treated as an uninsured motorist (subject to corroboration and policy/notice conditions). Promptly identify and notify all potentially applicable policies, preserve UM/UIM claims, and comply with consent-to-settle and subrogation procedures before resolving the liability claim. Verify current coverage and notice requirements.
• Court, arbitration, and procedure. The Nevada District Court is the court of general civil jurisdiction; the justice court is limited to claims of $15,000 or less (Nev. Rev. Stat. § 4.370). Many districts (e.g., the Eighth Judicial District) operate a court-annexed arbitration program with a presumptive cap (commonly $50,000) and an exemption for higher-value cases; include the exemption notice where appropriate. Plead DOE/ROE defendants per Nevada practice. Service is governed by Rule 4, Nev. R. Civ. P.; confirm county venue and local rules and e-filing requirements.

15. SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• Nevada Revised Statutes (Title 2 — Civil Practice; Title 43 — Public Safety; Vehicles) — https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190 (two-year limitations) — https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41.141 (comparative negligence) — https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-041.html
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.283 (right-of-way in crosswalk) — https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484b.html
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.287 (crossing outside crosswalk; pedestrian to yield) — https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484b.html
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.280 (driver's duty of due care to avoid striking pedestrian) — https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484b.html
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.127 (following too closely); § 484B.600 (basic speed rule); § 484B.653 (reckless driving — additional penalty)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 4.370 (justice court jurisdiction) — https://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/chapter-4/statute-4-370/
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 42.005, § 42.010 (punitive damages; DUI exception)
• Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 4, 5, 8, 38)

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