Lima Road accident in Fort Wayne? Coliseum Boulevard and other busy streets

Car Accident Lawyer Fort Wayne is a free referral service, not a law firm. What follows is general information from Indiana law, state agencies and the region’s planning council.

What the local numbers show

In 2024, police reported 9,198 collisions in Fort Wayne, out of 12,878 in Allen County, according to Indiana Criminal Justice Institute crash data (Indiana County Profiles 2024). The Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council’s pedestrian safety appendix lists Coliseum Boulevard with 30 recorded pedestrian crashes and Jefferson Boulevard with 24 from 2009 to 2020 (NIRCC safety plan). The figures say where crashes were recorded, not why.

The same plan found that right angle crashes made up 26 percent of Allen County crashes with incapacitating or fatal injuries from 2018 to 2022, and that among those right angle crashes, failure to yield the right of way was the primary factor in 44.0 percent and disregarding a signal or sign in 42.9 percent. Those are county-wide figures, not figures for any one street.

Turning crashes at lights

When one driver was turning left across oncoming traffic, or pulling out of a side street, the two drivers may remember the light differently. That makes the details you collect important:

• Photos of the signal heads and any turn arrows, taken from where each car came from.
• Names and numbers of witnesses, especially anyone waiting at the light.
• Nearby businesses with cameras facing the intersection. Ask soon, before recordings are replaced.
• Your own written account the same evening.

Parking lots and store entrances

Some crashes on busy commercial streets happen just off the street, in parking lots and driveways. The same steps make sense there: stop, exchange your name, address and registration number, show your license, and if you hit an unattended car, take reasonable steps to find the owner or contact police, as Indiana Code 9-26-1-1.1 asks of drivers after a crash. Whether police come to a property-damage-only lot crash may depend on the damage: an officer must investigate a crash with injury or death, or apparent damage of at least $2,500.

For small dents with no injuries, the insurance companies may handle it between them. Some property-damage-only disputes under $10,000 go to small claims court in Indiana.

Pedestrians and bus riders on busy streets

Wide streets with several lanes, store entrances and bus stops mean people on foot crossing traffic. If you were hit while walking, the walkers, cyclists, passengers and bus riders guide covers whose insurance may apply and the deadlines when a public bus is involved.

Insurance and fault

Indiana generally handles crash injury claims on a fault basis: the at-fault driver and that driver’s liability insurance are usually where a claim starts. Indiana’s general rule is modified comparative fault: at 51 percent or more at fault you generally cannot recover, and at 50 percent or less any amount is generally reduced by your share. In a turning crash, both sides may argue about shares of fault, which is why the evidence above matters. More in Indiana’s 51 percent fault rule.

Next steps

Get the crash report through BuyCrash, the service the Indiana State Police uses (Indiana State Police crash reports); the Fort Wayne accident report guide explains how. Then, if you want to talk with an attorney, call the free referral line on this page, or choose from the Fort Wayne car accident law firms directory, which lists several firms with offices on the north side. Those firms are listed free and are not the attorneys on the referral line.

Questions people ask