Short answer: Get out of moving traffic if you can do so safely, call 911, and follow dispatcher and emergency-medical instructions. A crash report records observations and statements; it does not decide civil fault. When safety allows, identify the driver and witnesses, photograph the road and controls, and act quickly to preserve nearby video, signal records, and vehicle data. Idaho duties vary with the crossing, signals, sidewalk, shoulder, and direction of travel, so save details before assuming who was at fault.
Protect safety and get appropriate medical help
Do not step back into a travel lane to take photographs or collect property. If you are in an active lane, tell the 911 dispatcher where you are and follow instructions about reaching a safer place. Ask for police and emergency medical help when anyone may be injured or the scene remains dangerous.
This article cannot determine whether an injury is minor or serious. Describe what happened and what you are experiencing accurately to the dispatcher and health professionals. Let qualified professionals decide what evaluation or care is appropriate. Do not drive yourself if you cannot do so safely. If symptoms appear or change later, seek guidance from a licensed health professional rather than trying to diagnose the cause online.
Keep the discharge papers, visit summaries, bills, receipts, and work-status instructions you actually receive. Those records can document care and restrictions, but they do not by themselves prove that the driver was legally responsible or that every condition was caused by the collision.
Call police and request the complete crash file
Give the responding officer concrete facts: the exact location and time, each person’s direction of travel, the signal display you saw, the point of impact, and where the driver and witnesses stopped. Say when you do not know or did not see something. Get the agency name, incident number, driver’s identifying and insurance information, vehicle plate, and witness contact details if safety permits.
A police report can preserve statements, measurements, a diagram, photographs, and an officer’s observations. The Idaho State Police’s current crash-investigation procedure treats field notes, measurements, photographs, witness statements, and similar material as part of an ISP investigation. Another agency may collect or retain a different file. Ask the investigating agency how to request the report, supplements, photographs, recordings, field notes, and dispatch records that actually exist.
A report does not decide civil fault. An officer may document evidence or issue a citation, but Idaho civil responsibility still depends on the governing duties, admissible evidence, causation, and the responsibility assigned under Idaho law. A report can also contain an incomplete account, a factual error, or a statement obtained before all evidence was available. Request a correction or supplement through the agency’s process; do not alter the original report.
Preserve evidence before a device or camera overwrites it
Evidence can disappear much sooner than a lawsuit deadline. Once immediate safety and health needs are addressed, record the exact date, time, location, lane, direction, weather, lighting, and signal cycle. Photograph the vehicle, plate, damage, debris, tire marks, crosswalk lines, curb ramps, signs, signal heads, sight obstructions, and the approach from both directions. Keep original files with their metadata. Do not crop, filter, annotate, or repeatedly resave the only copy.
Identify cameras without entering private property: nearby businesses and homes, buses, parking facilities, traffic systems, and dashcams may have recorded part of the event. A prompt, specific preservation request can identify the time window and camera before routine deletion. The Idaho Rules of Evidence, including Rule 901, make identity and authenticity important, so retain the native file, source, custodian, and transfer history when possible.
| Potential source | What to identify or request | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Signal system | Road owner; timing and phase plan; pedestrian interval; controller, detector, or event data; maintenance and malfunction records; changes in effect at the exact time. | The Federal Highway Administration explains that advanced controllers can record high-resolution phase and detector events. That does not mean every intersection stores those records or keeps them for the same period. |
| Video | Camera location and owner; an interval before and after impact; the native clip; available metadata; the name of the person who exported it. | A camera may not record continuously, show the signal face, or retain footage for long. Public and private custodians have different access rules. |
| Vehicle systems | Vehicle identity and condition; event data recorder, dashcam, telematics, infotainment, diagnostic, and inspection material if present and lawfully obtainable. | The latest official annual edition of federal 49 C.F.R. part 563 standardizes EDR data for covered vehicles that are equipped with a recorder. It does not establish that a particular vehicle has one. Data fields, access, and usefulness vary and should be evaluated with other evidence. |
| Agency file | Report, supplement, diagram, photographs, recordings, field notes, measurements, dispatch/CAD, 911 audio, and body-camera material if collected. | Availability, retention, redaction, and release rules vary. Idaho Code § 74-102 presumes public records open unless a statute provides otherwise and permits a specific written request. |
Do not access another person’s device, vehicle, cloud account, or property without permission. Do not repair, discard, download, or inspect a vehicle in a way that changes potential evidence. A lawyer or qualified expert can help identify lawful preservation and inspection steps. The broader Idaho injury evidence guide covers records, witnesses, authentication, and retention in more detail.
Match the location to the correct Idaho pedestrian duty
“The pedestrian had the right of way” and “the pedestrian was outside a crosswalk” are often incomplete statements. Idaho uses different rules for unsignalized crosswalks, signalized intersections, mid-block crossings, sidewalks, and people walking along a roadway. The exact markings, sidewalks, signals, and movement matter.
| Context | Pedestrian duty | Driver duty |
|---|---|---|
| Marked crosswalk with no operating signal | Do not suddenly leave a curb or other safe place into the path of a vehicle close enough to create an immediate hazard. Unless another device indicates otherwise, cross at a right angle or by the shortest route. | Under Idaho Code § 49-702, yield by slowing or stopping when needed for a pedestrian crossing within the crosswalk. A driver approaching from behind may not pass a vehicle stopped for that pedestrian. Section 49-702(3) preserves the tunnel or overhead-crossing exception in § 49-704(2). |
| Unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, with no operating signal | The same sudden-entry and crossing-direction rules can apply. First confirm that the intersection fits Idaho’s statutory crosswalk definition. | Section 49-702 expressly covers a marked crosswalk and an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Under Idaho Code § 49-104(16), an unpainted crosswalk can be formed by the lateral sidewalk lines or their qualifying extension; paint is not always required. |
| Signalized intersection | Obey applicable traffic and pedestrian controls under § 49-701. A WALK signal permits starting across while yielding to vehicles lawfully in the intersection when the signal first appears. DON’T WALK or WAIT means do not start; a person already partway across continues to a sidewalk or safety island under § 49-803. | Under § 49-802, a driver proceeding or turning on green must yield to pedestrians lawfully in the intersection or an adjacent crosswalk. A permitted turn on red also requires yielding to pedestrians lawfully within the adjacent crosswalk. |
| Mid-block or otherwise outside a marked or unmarked intersection crosswalk | Under § 49-704, yield to vehicles. Between adjacent intersections where signals operate, cross only in a marked crosswalk. A tunnel, overhead crossing, or authorized diagonal crossing changes the stated rules. | Even when the pedestrian must yield, Idaho Code § 49-615 still requires a driver to use due care to avoid a collision and to take specified precautions. Crossing location alone does not decide causation or civil fault. |
| Sidewalk crossed by a driveway or vehicle path | Document whether you remained on the sidewalk and where the vehicle crossed it. | Idaho Code § 49-707 requires a driver crossing a sidewalk to yield to pedestrians and other sidewalk traffic. |
| Walking along a highway | Idaho Code § 49-708 directs pedestrians to a practicable sidewalk, then a shoulder as far from the roadway as practicable. Where neither exists, walk near the outside edge and, on a two-way highway, on the left. A pedestrian on the roadway generally yields to vehicles. | The driver’s separate due-care duty under § 49-615 remains relevant. Visibility, speed, lighting, lane position, and avoidance evidence still matter. |
Local traffic-control devices and ordinances may add context. Preserve a clear photograph of the full intersection or road segment instead of relying on a label such as “jaywalking.” The statute uses defined locations and duties, not that label as a complete liability test.
Apply comparative fault person by person
Idaho Code § 6-801 says a claimant’s responsibility does not bar recovery against a person if the claimant’s responsibility was not as great as that person’s responsibility. Any allowed damages are reduced by the claimant’s share. That is more precise than saying every case turns on one combined “under 50%” number.
When several people may share responsibility, Idaho Code § 6-803(3) requires an individual comparison. A separate judgment is entered only against a party whose responsibility exceeds the claimant’s, and that judgment is limited to the party’s proportionate share. Section 6-803(5) preserves limited exceptions for an agency or servant relationship and for the statute’s defined form of acting in concert.
A driver, another motorist, an employer or principal, or a road-related entity is not responsible merely because that person or organization is named. Each theory needs supporting law, evidence, and causation. The position of the pedestrian, signal phase, speed, sight distance, turning path, distraction evidence, and reasonable avoidance may all affect the analysis. The dedicated guide to how Idaho crash fault is investigated explains why a citation, report, insurer’s percentage, or single traffic rule is not the final civil allocation.
Check insurance without assuming pedestrian UM/UIM coverage
Start with the responsible driver’s liability policy, but do not assume a policy limit, a citation, or an apology guarantees payment. Confirm the insured vehicle, driver status, coverage period, exclusions, available limit, other claims from the event, and every person or entity for whom there is a supported liability theory.
A pedestrian’s own or household auto policy may be another place to investigate. Idaho Code § 41-2502 requires qualifying Idaho auto policies to provide uninsured-motorist and underinsured-motorist bodily-injury coverage for “persons insured thereunder,” unless a named insured rejects either or both in writing or an authorized electronic record. The quoted phrase matters: being a pedestrian does not automatically make someone an insured under every policy.
Obtain the declarations, full policy, definitions, endorsements, and any UM/UIM rejection record for each potentially relevant policy. Confirm who is a named insured or other insured, household and residency facts, the covered event, notice and cooperation terms, exclusions, and whether the policy uses excess or difference-in-limits/offset UIM. The Idaho Department of Insurance’s required-coverage guide explains that Idaho insurers may offer different UIM forms. Do not assume limits stack or that a declarations page answers the entire question.
The final canonical guide to Idaho uninsured and underinsured driver claims covers that policy workflow. Before a recorded statement or release, identify which insurer is asking, whom it represents, what policy duty it invokes, and what issues remain open. Be truthful and do not guess. A release can end rights beyond the immediate payment, so read its parties, claims, and scope before signing.
Track losses and calendar more than one deadline
Keep records by date and source. Useful categories can include medical records and bills, pharmacy and travel receipts, damaged personal property, time missed from work, pay records, employer verification, replacement services, and communications with insurers. Record what changed and when without assigning yourself a diagnosis or copying estimates into a damages total. A claimed loss still requires proof of amount, cause, and legal recoverability.
Idaho Code § 5-219 generally provides two years for an action for personal injury, but accrual, minors, government defendants, notice statutes, insurance terms, and other facts can change the analysis. The Idaho personal-injury filing-deadline guide explains the main questions. Do not wait for that date to preserve video, signal data, a vehicle, or witness memory.
Common questions after an Idaho pedestrian crash
Is there a crosswalk if no lines are painted?
Possibly. Section 49-104(16) can define an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection from qualifying sidewalk lines or an extension. Photographs and measurements should show the sidewalks, curbs, edges, intersection, and intended route. Do not assume every unpainted location is—or is not—a crosswalk.
Does crossing mid-block make the pedestrian automatically at fault?
No. Section 49-704 can require the pedestrian to yield outside a marked crosswalk or an unmarked intersection crosswalk, but § 49-615 still requires driver due care. A statutory duty, breach, cause, comparative responsibility, and damages remain separate questions.
Does a police report decide who pays?
No. It may preserve useful observations, statements, measurements, and citations. Civil responsibility and insurance coverage are separate legal and factual decisions. Compare the report with photographs, video, signal information, vehicle data, witnesses, and applicable statutes.
Can UM/UIM apply if the pedestrian did not own a car?
Sometimes a potentially applicable policy exists through a household or another insured relationship, but coverage cannot be assumed. Section 41-2502 protects persons insured under a qualifying policy, subject to a named insured’s permitted rejection. The policy’s definitions, facts, exclusions, and endorsements control the starting analysis.
Sources and Legal References
- Idaho Code § 49-104(16) — marked and unmarked crosswalk definition.
- Idaho Code § 49-615 — driver due care toward pedestrians.
- Idaho Code § 49-701 and § 49-803 — obedience to traffic and pedestrian controls.
- Idaho Code § 49-702 — duties at unsignalized crosswalks.
- Idaho Code § 49-704 — crossings outside crosswalks and between signalized intersections.
- Idaho Code § 49-707 and § 49-708 — sidewalks, shoulders, roadway edge, and direction of travel.
- Idaho Code § 49-802 — vehicle and pedestrian duties at green, yellow, and red signals.
- Idaho Code § 6-801 and § 6-803 — claimant reduction, individual comparisons, proportional judgments, and limited exceptions.
- Idaho Code § 41-2502 and the Idaho Department of Insurance guide — UM/UIM offer, rejection, insured status, and UIM forms.
- Idaho Code § 74-102 and Idaho State Police Citizen Resources — public-record access and the current crash-report request route, subject to statutory limits.
- Idaho State Police Procedure 07.02, Crash Investigation — examples of scene evidence and investigative records; revised October 2025.
- Federal Highway Administration, travel-time data and traffic-signal detectors — high-resolution phase, detector, and event data capabilities and limitations.
- 49 C.F.R. part 563, Event Data Recorders — latest official annual edition; federal applicability, definitions, data elements, and limits for covered vehicles equipped with a recorder.
- Idaho Rules of Evidence, including Rules 901 and 1001–1003 — authentication and recordings.
- Idaho Code § 5-219 — general personal-injury limitation period.
Get a focused review of the facts and coverage
A useful review should identify the crossing context, test the report against time-sensitive evidence, compare responsibility person by person, inspect every potentially applicable policy, and calculate the actual deadlines. Attorneys of Idaho can review those issues without promising that one record or traffic rule decides the result. You may request a case review.
This article provides general information, not legal or medical advice. It does not determine fault, coverage, causation, treatment, value, or a deadline for a particular matter. Current statutes, policy language, agency records, and case-specific facts require individual review.
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Reviewed by J.W. Bond , Founding Attorney and Partner on September 2, 2026.