Key Takeaways
- Yes, usually. Recovery is barred only where your share is more than 50%.
- At exactly 50% you still recover half. The line is above half, not at it.
- Crossing outside a crosswalk is not a bar. The driver’s duty of due care survives it.
- That is in the statute expressly, and it applies “notwithstanding” the other rules of the road.
- Drivers owe extra precaution around children and obviously confused or incapacitated people.
The rule, stated as the statute states it
Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, a pedestrian’s damages are reduced in proportion to their share of the fault, and recovery is barred only where that share is more than 50% of the total proximate cause of the injury.
The wording repays attention. The bar is not “50% or more,” and it is not “less than 50% to recover.” A pedestrian found exactly 50% responsible still recovers, at half. It is the step past half that ends the claim.
| Your share | Recovery on $300,000 of damages |
|---|---|
| 10% | $270,000 |
| 30% | $210,000 |
| 50% | $150,000 — still recovers |
| 51% | $0 |
“I wasn’t in a crosswalk” is not the end of it
This is the assumption that stops people making a claim at all, and it is wrong.
It is true that 625 ILCS 5/11-1003(a) requires a pedestrian crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk to yield the right of way to vehicles on the roadway. Failing to do so is relevant, and it will be argued.
But it does not remove the driver’s obligations, and the Vehicle Code says so in terms. 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 provides:
“Notwithstanding other provisions of this Code or the provisions of any local ordinance, every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian…”
That opening phrase does real work. The duty of due care is expressly not displaced by the other provisions of the Code, which includes the rule requiring pedestrians to yield outside a crosswalk. A driver does not acquire permission to hit someone because that person was crossing where they should not have been.
The consequence in an Illinois claim is that crossing outside a crosswalk is handled as comparative fault, reducing damages by some percentage, rather than as a bar to recovery.
Extra precaution the law requires of drivers
The same section adds two obligations worth knowing, because they frequently apply and are rarely raised:
- A driver shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary.
- A driver shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child, or any obviously confused, incapacitated or intoxicated person.
The second is significant. Where the person struck was a child, or was visibly unsteady or disoriented, the statute requires more of the driver rather than less. An insurer arguing that such a pedestrian behaved unpredictably is arguing against the very circumstance the statute anticipates.
Where the driver is usually at fault anyway
Two provisions do a lot of work for pedestrians:
625 ILCS 5/11-1002(a) requires a driver to stop and yield to a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the driver’s half of the roadway, or is approaching so closely from the other half as to be in danger. Note that it is stop and yield, not merely slow down.
625 ILCS 5/11-1002(d) provides that where a vehicle is stopped at a crosswalk to let a pedestrian cross, a driver approaching from behind shall not overtake and pass that stopped vehicle. This describes the classic multiple-threat collision, where one car stops and a second pulls out around it, and the statute prohibits precisely that maneuver.
How your percentage gets decided
No one assigns a percentage at the scene. A jury apportions fault in a case that is tried, and in the far more common settled case the number is negotiated. It moves on evidence: signal timing, sightlines, vehicle speed and damage, and independent witnesses. The general mechanics are covered in how fault is decided and the rule itself in the Illinois 51% fault rule.
Deadlines
Two years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. One year where a local public entity or its employee is a defendant under 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), which matters because pedestrian claims often involve village sidewalks, crossings and signals. One year against the Chicago Transit Authority under 70 ILCS 3605/41. See the Illinois filing deadlines.
Поширені запитання
Can a pedestrian recover damages if partly at fault in Illinois?
Yes, unless their share of the fault is more than 50%. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116 damages are reduced in proportion to the pedestrian’s share, and barred entirely only above that line. At exactly 50% a pedestrian still recovers half their damages.
What happens if I was exactly 50% at fault?
You recover half. The statutory bar applies only where your share is more than 50%, so 50% itself is on the recovering side of the line. On $300,000 of proved damages that is $150,000.
I was crossing outside a crosswalk. Do I still have a claim?
Usually yes. 625 ILCS 5/11-1003(a) requires you to yield to vehicles when crossing outside a crosswalk, and that will be argued as comparative fault. But 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 provides that notwithstanding other provisions of the Code, every driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, so the driver’s duty is not removed.
Does a driver owe extra care around children?
Yes. 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 requires a driver to exercise proper precaution upon observing any child, or any obviously confused, incapacitated or intoxicated person, and to give warning by sounding the horn when necessary.
A car stopped for me and another one hit me. Who is at fault?
The overtaking driver is likely to be. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1002(d), where a vehicle is stopped at a marked or unmarked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross, a driver approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass that stopped vehicle.
How long do I have to bring a pedestrian claim?
Two years for personal injury under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, but only one year where a local public entity or its employee is a defendant under 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), and one year against the Chicago Transit Authority under 70 ILCS 3605/41. Pedestrian claims often involve village sidewalks, crossings or signals, so the shorter period arises frequently.
Talk to an Elmwood Park pedestrian accident lawyer
A great many pedestrian claims are never brought because the person who was hurt believes that stepping out where they should not have done ends the matter. It does not. It changes the percentage, and the percentage only becomes fatal above half.
If you were struck in Elmwood Park, Oak Lawn, Skokie, Niles, Orland Park or anywhere in Cook County, Lawyer Furqan will test the fault argument properly rather than accepting the insurer’s opening percentage.
Call 847-800-8978 or contact us online. The consultation is free, there is nothing upfront, and you owe no attorney’s fee unless we win.
Sources and authorities cited
- 735 ILCS 5/2-1116 · damages reduced by the plaintiff’s share, barred only above 50%
- 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 · drivers to exercise due care notwithstanding other provisions; horn; precaution around children and obviously confused, incapacitated or intoxicated persons
- 625 ILCS 5/11-1002(a) and (d) · stop and yield at crosswalks; no overtaking a stopped vehicle
- 625 ILCS 5/11-1003(a) · pedestrians to yield outside a crosswalk
- 735 ILCS 5/13-202, 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), 70 ILCS 3605/41 · deadlines
This article is general legal information about Illinois law, not legal advice, and creates no attorney-client relationship. How fault is apportioned depends on the evidence in each case, and nothing here predicts a result.
