Buford Highway is where many families in Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville shop, eat, catch the bus and walk home. It is also a wide, busy highway, which makes Buford Highway pedestrian safety a daily concern: long stretches have few crosswalks, and the corridor has a history of pedestrian deaths.
This guide from Huggins Accident Injury Lawyer covers Georgia's crosswalk rules, what to do if you're hit and how your own insurance may help. Attorney Gary Huggins speaks Spanish and offers consultations in Spanish.
Why is Buford Highway hard to cross on foot?
Buford Highway (US-23 / SR-13) runs northeast from Brookhaven through Chamblee and Doraville into Gwinnett County. It is the main street of a large international community, where Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese are spoken within a few miles.
Several things make walking there risky:
- What you need is across the street. Apartments, markets, restaurants and bus stops line both sides, so getting home often means crossing several lanes.
- Signals can be far apart. When the nearest crosswalk is a long walk away, people cross where they are, sometimes carrying groceries or holding a child's hand.
- Driveways are everywhere. Drivers turning into and out of shopping centers watch for a gap in traffic, not for someone on the sidewalk.
- Night shortens the margin. A driver moving fast between lights after dark has less time to see someone crossing.
None of this excuses a careless driver. But it explains why the driver's insurer will start by asking where you crossed.
Hurt crossing Buford Highway, or calling for a family member who was? Call (240) 421-5511 at any hour, in English or Spanish.
What Georgia law says about crossing Buford Highway
Three statutes decide most pedestrian claims on the corridor.
In a crosswalk, the driver yields
Georgia law requires drivers to stop, and stay stopped, while you cross in a crosswalk on their half of the street, or when you're within one lane of reaching it (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91). The rule covers turning drivers, too: someone swinging off Buford Highway onto a side street must wait until you're across.
On a wide road, one part of that law matters most. When a car stops at a crosswalk to let you cross, the drivers behind it may not pass it (§ 40-6-91(d)). That rule targets a familiar danger on multi-lane roads: one lane stops for you, and a driver in the next lane, who can't see you past the stopped car, keeps going.
The same law tells walkers not to step suddenly off the curb into the path of a car too close to stop (§ 40-6-91(b)).
Outside a crosswalk, the walker usually yields
If you cross somewhere else, you must yield to vehicles unless you had already entered the road under safe conditions (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-92(a)). Between two intersections with working traffic signals, Georgia law says to cross only in a marked crosswalk (§ 40-6-92(c)).
That can put part of the blame on you. It doesn't, by itself, end your claim.
The driver must still use due care
Say you crossed mid-block near a bus stop, and a driver came through well over the speed limit while looking at a phone. You didn't have the right of way, but under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-93 the driver still had a duty to watch for you, sound the horn if needed and take extra care around children and anyone who seems confused, incapacitated or intoxicated.
Georgia's fault rule then divides the blame. Keep your share of the fault under 50% and you can still be paid, minus that share. Reach 50%, and Georgia law lets you collect nothing (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). Here's how Georgia's 50% rule works.
Has the driver's insurer already blamed you for where you crossed? Call (240) 421-5511 before you respond, and Gary will look at what the evidence shows.
What to do if you're hit while walking on Buford Highway
- Call 911 and give a landmark. Street numbers are hard to spot from the curb, so name the nearest cross street, shopping center, restaurant or bus stop.
- Let paramedics check you, even if you can stand. Serious injuries may be treated at Grady Memorial, a Level I trauma center downtown, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Arthur M. Blank Hospital, near I-85, treats injured children.
- Ask for an interpreter if you need one, so every symptom makes it into your medical records.
- Find out which department came. Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville each have their own police, and DeKalb County Police handle any stretch outside city limits. Get the agency name and report number.
- Ask nearby businesses to save video today. Restaurants, markets, gas stations and apartment complexes may have caught the crash on camera, and footage is often erased quickly.
- Write down everything about the car: color, make, damage, any part of the tag and which way it went.
- Keep fault talk out of insurance calls. No Georgia law requires you to give the driver's insurer a recorded statement.
Our Brookhaven pedestrian accident and Doraville pedestrian accident pages have more on those two cities.
Still in the hospital, or caring for someone who is? Gary can come to the bedside. Call (240) 421-5511 to set a time.
Hit-and-run on Buford Highway: your own insurance can still help
A driver who hits someone and flees breaks Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-270). Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage may still pay, sometimes from a policy you didn't know covered you.
Say you live with your sister in Chamblee, and her car insurance includes UM. If a driver hits you in a crosswalk and speeds off, her policy may cover you, even though you were walking and don't own a car. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11, UM protects the policyholder, a spouse and relatives who share the home, “while in a motor vehicle or otherwise.”
When the driver is never found, UM can treat the car as uninsured, with conditions. If the car struck you, that physical contact meets one of them; without contact, an eyewitness other than you must back up what happened. Either way, the crash must be reported to police (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-273), so call right away.
If the driver is found but carries only Georgia's $25,000 minimum, UM can help there too. Georgia's default since 2009 is added-on UM, which pays beyond whatever the driver carries; our UM guide explains how it differs from reduced-by. Medical payments (med-pay) coverage in your household, if any, may also help with bills regardless of fault.
Not sure whose policies cover you? Call (240) 421-5511 with every insurance card in your household, and Gary will sort out which may apply.
What families should know
- A child's claim has its own clock. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90, the two-year deadline for a child's own injuries generally starts on the 18th birthday. Parents' claims for the child's medical expenses run on a different timeline, so don't wait.
- When a loved one dies, Georgia lets the closest family, usually a spouse, then children, then parents, bring a claim for the full value of the life. The estate can separately recover medical and funeral costs. The usual deadline is two years from the date of death.
- Public vehicles mean shorter deadlines. A claim over a city vehicle requires written notice within six months; a county vehicle, within 12 months. MARTA claims have special notice rules of their own.
- Medical bills need a plan. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470, a Georgia hospital may file a lien that gets paid out of your settlement, and in cases from crashes on or after April 21, 2025, SB 68 opens the door for jurors to learn what health insurance actually paid. Keep every bill.
Buford Highway pedestrian safety tips for walkers and drivers
If you walk the corridor, crossing at a signal with a marked crosswalk is safer and keeps the law on your side. Wait for the walk signal, watch for drivers turning right, and wear something light or reflective after dark.
If you drive it, slow down near bus stops and shopping-center entrances, never pass a car stopped at a crosswalk, and keep your phone out of your hand; Georgia's Hands-Free law bars holding it while driving.
Talk to a pedestrian accident lawyer who speaks Spanish
Gary's Perimeter Center office, at 1050 Crown Pointe Parkway, Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30338, is about 10 to 15 minutes from Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville outside rush hour, just off I-285 near GA-400. He also makes home and hospital visits and can talk by phone or video. Consultations are free and can be in Spanish: información sobre accidentes peatonales en español.
Learn how Gary handles pedestrian accident claims in Atlanta. If you hire the firm, there is no attorney's fee unless we recover compensation for you. Call (240) 421-5511, day or night.
Free consultation. Call (240) 421-5511 any time, or send the form and Gary’s office will call you back.
Questions people ask about buford highway pedestrian safety: your rights in brookhaven, chamblee and doraville
Do drivers have to stop for pedestrians on Buford Highway?
Yes, when you're in a crosswalk. A Georgia driver must stop and remain stopped while a pedestrian crosses on the driver's half of the street, or comes within a lane of it, and that includes the half of the street a turning driver is entering (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91). When one car stops for you, drivers behind it may not pass it. Outside a crosswalk, the walker generally must yield, but drivers must still use due care to avoid hitting anyone.
Is it illegal to cross Buford Highway outside a crosswalk?
Not everywhere, but the rules favor traffic there. Someone crossing outside a crosswalk has to yield to traffic unless already in the road under safe conditions (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-92), and between two intersections with working signals, Georgia law allows crossing only in a marked crosswalk. Even so, drivers must use due care to avoid hitting anyone (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-93). A walker found less than half at fault can still recover, with the award cut by that share.
Will car insurance pay if I was hit while walking and the driver drove off?
It may. Georgia's UM law reaches the policyholder plus a spouse and relatives under the same roof, “while in a motor vehicle or otherwise,” so coverage can apply when you're on foot (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11). For a hit-and-run, the car must have actually struck you, or an eyewitness other than you must confirm your account. A police report is also required. Check every auto policy in your home.
Can I talk to a lawyer in Spanish about a pedestrian accident?
Yes. Gary Huggins speaks Spanish and offers consultations in Spanish, so the whole conversation, from what happened to what the insurance letters mean, can happen in your language. You can meet him at the office, have him come to your home or hospital, or set up a phone or video call, and the phone is answered 24 hours a day. You can also start with our page on accidentes peatonales en español.
What should we do if our child was hit on Buford Highway?
Get medical care first and keep every record. Georgia drivers must take extra care when they see a child (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-93). Georgia generally gives a child the same two years to file, counted from the 18th birthday (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90). Separate rules govern a parent's claim for the medical bills, and evidence such as business video can disappear within days. Call early so nothing is lost.