A pedestrian accident lawyer is a personal injury attorney who represents people struck by a vehicle while walking, jogging, biking, or riding an electric scooter. In Savannah, that work increasingly centers on the Eastern Wharf district — a riverfront development where heavy tourist foot traffic meets a four-lane primary road and a freeway terminus, all in the same few blocks.
If you or someone you love was hit on or near Eastern Wharf, East Bay Street, or the Harry Truman Parkway approach, you deserve straight answers about what Georgia law says, what your case is worth, and what to do in the next 48 hours. Roden Law has handled pedestrian, bicycle, and e-scooter cases across Chatham County for years — and we never charge upfront fees. No fees unless we win.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-14
Key Takeaways
- Georgia gives you 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33) — the clock starts the day of the crash.
- Eastern Wharf is a riverfront development on East Bay Street where tourist foot traffic, a 4-lane primary road, and the Truman Parkway terminus collide in a few blocks.
- Georgia's modified comparative-fault rule (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) lets you recover if you're less than 50% at fault — insurers fight to push you past that line.
- In the first 48 hours: get medical care, confirm a police report, photograph the scene, identify witnesses, and refuse a recorded statement to the at-fault insurer.
- This page covers pedestrians, bicyclists, and e-scooter riders — Georgia law treats each category differently, and the difference often controls your insurance picture.
- Bars and restaurants can be liable when they over-serve a driver who then injures someone — Georgia's dram-shop statute, O.C.G.A. § 51-1-40.
- Roden Law works on contingency — no upfront fees and no legal fee unless we win your case.
Why Eastern Wharf Is a High-Risk Zone for People on Foot, Bike, and Scooter
Eastern Wharf is one of the largest waterfront redevelopments on the Georgia coast — hotels (including the Thompson Savannah), restaurants, residences, and a riverwalk that bleeds into Trustees Garden and historic River Street. The crowds are great for the city. They are also a real problem for anyone trying to cross a street.
A few things stack up here in a way you do not see in most of the historic district:
- East Bay Street is a 4-lane primary road alongside the development, with no median refuge for someone crossing mid-block to reach a garage, rideshare pickup, or River Street.
- Harry Truman Parkway terminates here — a 55 mph motorway dumping highway speeds into the East Bay/President Street grid.
- Port-bound freight transitions through to reach the Port of Savannah container terminals; eighteen-wheelers and tourists on foot do not mix well at night.
- Waving Girl Landing, a river-ferry stop, sits on the wharf itself and dumps pedestrians onto streets not built for the volume.
- Nightlife spillover. People leaving Eastern Wharf bars cross East Bay Street to reach parking or rideshare. Mid-block, low light, mixed sobriety — Georgia's right-of-way statutes squarely in play.
For more on how local geometry compounds driver inattention in this part of the city, see the most dangerous intersections in Savannah — Eastern Wharf shares many of the same patterns.
The Numbers Behind the Risk
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 7,522 pedestrians were killed in U.S. traffic crashes in 2022 — the highest annual figure in more than 40 years and an 83% increase from the modern low in 2009. (Source: NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts: Pedestrians, published 2024.) According to the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) in Georgia, vulnerable road users — pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists — consistently account for a disproportionate share of the state's total traffic deaths. And according to the CDC, an estimated 67,000 pedestrians were treated in U.S. emergency departments for nonfatal traffic-related injuries in 2020.
Pedestrian injuries are rarely minor — fractures, internal trauma, and traumatic brain injuries are the norm, because a person on foot has no crumple zone, no seatbelt, no airbag. In Savannah, the closest Level I trauma center is Memorial Health University Medical Center on Waters Avenue — about 3.5 miles south of Eastern Wharf and the only Level I facility in the region. If EMS transported you there, your Memorial Health records will be a central piece of evidence.
Georgia Law: What Actually Applies to Your Crash
Everything below is Georgia law. If your crash happened in South Carolina, the rules are different — call us and we will route you to the right office.
The deadline to file
You generally have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim in Georgia. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. The clock starts the day of the crash, not the day you finish treatment. Wrongful-death and minor-victim cases follow different rules — do not assume two years is the answer for every situation.
Who pays if you were partly at fault
Georgia is a modified comparative-fault state under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. If you are found less than 50% at fault, you can still recover — but your award is reduced by your share of the fault. Cross at 50% or more, and Georgia bars recovery entirely. This is where insurance companies fight hardest in pedestrian cases: they push your fault percentage above the 50% line so they pay nothing.
Right-of-way at crosswalks (marked and unmarked)
- Marked crosswalks. Drivers must yield to pedestrians lawfully within a crosswalk on their half of the roadway. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91.
- Outside a crosswalk. Pedestrians crossing mid-block — including at points without a marked crosswalk or a controlled intersection — must yield to vehicles. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-92. But "must yield" is not the same as "automatically loses." A driver who is speeding, distracted, or intoxicated can still bear the majority of fault for failing to use reasonable care.
For a fuller breakdown of how Georgia courts apply these two statutes in real Savannah cases, see our deep dive on Georgia pedestrian right-of-way laws and our crosswalk accident sub-type page.
Bicycles are vehicles
Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-291, a bicycle is a vehicle — cyclists have the same right to the road as motorists, and the same duties. A right-hook collision at East President & East Bay, where a turning driver fails to see a cyclist proceeding straight, is a textbook bike-injury claim and one our Savannah bicycle accident lawyers handle often.
E-scooters: the legal gray zone
Georgia treats shared electric scooters (Lime, Bird, Spin) as a separate category, and local ordinances govern where they can be ridden. At Eastern Wharf, riders often use sidewalks, crosswalks, and the riverwalk — sometimes legally, sometimes not — and collisions can implicate the rider, the driver, the scooter operator, and the property owner. Our Savannah e-scooter accident lawyers untangle exactly that.
When the bar or restaurant is on the hook
Georgia's dram-shop statute, O.C.G.A. § 51-1-40, lets you pursue a claim against a bar or restaurant that knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron who then injured someone. In an Eastern Wharf context — pedestrian struck by an impaired driver leaving a nearby bar — the dram-shop theory can apply to the server of that driver. See our page on drunk-driver pedestrian accidents.
When the property is the problem
Hotels, restaurants, and parking garages throughout Eastern Wharf owe paying customers — "invitees" under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1 — a duty of ordinary care to keep premises safe. Poor lighting at a garage exit or an unmarked drop-off zone can convert what looks like a "car accident" into a premises-liability case. Our premises liability lawyers in Savannah and hotel and resort injury sub-type page cover this in depth.
Pedestrian vs. Bicyclist vs. E-Scooter: How Your Claim Differs
Same injury mechanism — but the legal frame and insurance picture shift depending on what you were on at impact.
| Issue | Pedestrian | Bicyclist | E-Scooter Rider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal status | Pedestrian (Title 40, Ch. 6) | Vehicle operator — O.C.G.A. § 40-6-291 | Mixed; local ordinances govern |
| Right-of-way rule | § 40-6-91 / § 40-6-92 | Same rules as motor vehicles | Depends on sidewalk vs. road |
| Insurance source | Driver's auto + your UM/UIM | Driver's auto; your UM/UIM may apply | Driver's auto; scooter operator; premises |
| Comparative-fault risk | High (mid-block defense) | Moderate ("didn't see them") | Highest (sidewalk riding) |
| SOL | 2 years (§ 9-3-33) | 2 years | 2 years |
Which lane you were in — literal and legal — at the moment of impact reshapes your case. A good lawyer locks down that fact early, before the insurer's adjuster defines it for you.
What Eric Roden Tells Clients After an Eastern Wharf Crash
Eric Roden, Roden Law's founding partner, has handled pedestrian and cyclist cases in Chatham County for years, and he is direct with clients about the first 48 hours: they decide more than people realize. Surveillance footage from a hotel or a parking garage near Eastern Wharf can be overwritten in a week, and at Eastern Wharf half the witnesses are tourists who fly out Sunday.
The practical guidance he gives every client follows from that. Get medical care first. Make sure a police report is filed before you leave the scene. And call a lawyer before you talk to any insurance adjuster — because in Georgia, what you say to that adjuster will be used against you under the state's modified comparative-fault rule. In Roden Law's experience handling pedestrian cases in Chatham County, a single sentence in a recorded statement can move your fault percentage from 20% to 51% and erase your case under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. That is not a hypothetical — it is the most common way these claims die.
What to Do in the First 48 Hours
- Get medical care immediately — adrenaline masks brain injuries and internal bleeding.
- Make sure a police report is filed. It is the spine of your claim.
- Photograph everything — vehicle, street, signage, injuries, lighting.
- Identify witnesses on the spot. Tourists do not stick around.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurer before talking to a lawyer.
- Save your scooter or bicycle. Do not return a shared scooter to its rack.
- Call Roden Law. Free consultation, no upfront fees, evidence preserved same-day.
If the crash happened on private property — parking deck, wharf walkway, hotel drop-off — there may be a parallel premises-liability claim layered on the auto claim, exactly the kind of detail the Roden Law pedestrian accident pillar team spots early.
Where Cases Are Filed
Personal injury lawsuits arising from a crash in this corridor are filed in Chatham County — most in Chatham County State Court, larger matters in Chatham County Superior Court at 133 Montgomery Street. Roden Law's Savannah office is at 333 Commercial Drive — reach us at (912) 303-5850 or 1-844-RESULTS. For the bigger picture beyond Eastern Wharf, see our page for pedestrian accident lawyers in Savannah, GA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident lawsuit after a crash near Eastern Wharf?
A: In Georgia, you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. The clock starts on the day of the crash, not when you finish treatment. Wrongful-death and minor-victim cases follow different rules — confirm your specific deadline with an attorney as soon as possible, because hotel and garage surveillance video at Eastern Wharf is often overwritten within 7 to 30 days.
Q: I was crossing East Bay Street mid-block when I was hit. Can I still recover anything?
A: Often, yes. Georgia is a modified comparative-fault state under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 — if you are less than 50% at fault, you can still recover, with your award reduced by your share of fault. Mid-block crossings implicate O.C.G.A. § 40-6-92, but a driver who was speeding, distracted, or impaired can still bear most or all of the fault. Do not assume crossing mid-block ends your case.
Q: What does it cost to hire a Savannah pedestrian accident lawyer?
A: At Roden Law, nothing upfront. We work on a contingency-fee basis — you pay no legal fees unless we win your case. Initial consultations are free, and we cover the cost of investigating your claim, ordering medical and police records, and retaining experts. If we do not recover compensation for you, you owe us no attorney's fee.
Q: Can I sue the bar or restaurant if a drunk driver hit me leaving Eastern Wharf?
A: Possibly, yes. Georgia's dram-shop statute, O.C.G.A. § 51-1-40, allows you to pursue a claim against a bar, restaurant, or other licensee that knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person who then injured someone behind the wheel. These claims require fast investigation — receipts, server statements, video, patron interviews — so the sooner you involve a lawyer, the better. Punitive damages may also be on the table.
Q: Is an e-scooter accident handled the same way as a pedestrian accident in Georgia?
A: No. Bicycles are legally vehicles under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-291, and electric scooters fall into a separate, ordinance-driven gray zone in Georgia. Where you were riding (sidewalk, road, or private path) often controls which rules apply and which insurance policies respond — the driver's auto policy, the scooter operator's coverage, or the property owner's liability insurance if the crash happened on the Eastern Wharf walkways.
Q: I am a tourist visiting Savannah and live in another state. Where do I file my claim?
A: Your case is filed in Chatham County, Georgia, because that is where the crash occurred. You do not have to relocate to pursue it — Roden Law handles the entire matter for out-of-state clients remotely. Larger cases proceed in Chatham County Superior Court at 133 Montgomery Street. We coordinate records from your home state and schedule depositions virtually where possible.
About the Author
Eric Roden is the Founding Partner and CEO of Roden Law. He is admitted to practice in Georgia and South Carolina and has represented injured pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists across Chatham County for years. Eric leads the firm's Savannah office at 333 Commercial Drive — part of Roden Law's $300M+ recovered across 5,000+ cases. Contact the Savannah office at (912) 303-5850 or 1-844-RESULTS for a free, no-obligation case review.
About the Author
