Alabama Accident NewsJefferson County, Alabama | October 12, 2026
A 65-year-old man was hit by a vehicle while crossing Valley Avenue in Birmingham on the night of Thursday, October 8, 2026. He was taken to UAB Hospital, where he died a short time later. The driver stayed at the scene and called police. No cause has been announced, and no charges have been reported.
We are sorry for his family and for everyone who knew him. A man walking across a city street on an ordinary weeknight should have made it home, and the people who loved him now face questions that nobody has answered yet.
What Happened on Valley Avenue
According to WBRC, the man was crossing the street near the 300 block of Valley Avenue at about 8:47 p.m. on Thursday, October 8, when a vehicle struck him. He was transported to UAB Hospital and died there shortly afterward. WBRC reports that the driver remained at the scene and contacted police. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the man.
Several details that matter a great deal have not been made public: the type of vehicle, how fast it was traveling, whether the man was inside a marked or unmarked crosswalk, how the street was lit at that spot, and whether any traffic signal controlled the crossing. The crash happened inside Birmingham city limits, where the Birmingham Police Department investigates traffic fatalities, and those answers will come from its investigation and crash report.
One point is worth making early. News reports that a pedestrian was “hit while crossing” describe the physical sequence of events. They do not say anything about legal fault, and they should not be read that way. The fact that the driver stopped and called for help was the right thing to do and is required of any driver involved in an injury crash, but it does not settle fault in either direction.
Who May Be Liable
The driver. Alabama law places a specific duty on drivers where pedestrians are concerned. Ala. Code § 32-5A-213 requires every driver to “exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian,” and that duty applies regardless of where the pedestrian is in the road. If the man was in a crosswalk, marked or unmarked, at a point without a working signal, Ala. Code § 32-5A-211 required the driver to yield to him. Speed, distraction, phone use, impairment, and failure to keep a proper lookout are the questions investigators and the family’s lawyers will ask first.
The vehicle’s owner or the driver’s employer. If the driver was operating someone else’s vehicle, the owner may share responsibility if they knowingly handed the keys to an unsafe driver. If the driver was working at the time, making a delivery or running an errand for an employer, the employer can be responsible for the driver’s negligence and will usually carry far more insurance than an individual.
A public entity, in limited cases. If poor lighting, a missing crosswalk marking, or a malfunctioning signal contributed to the crash, a claim against a government body may be possible. Those claims come with strict notice requirements measured in months, not years, so they need to be evaluated quickly.
The honest obstacle: contributory negligence. Alabama is one of the few states that still follows pure contributory negligence, a common law rule the Alabama Supreme Court reaffirmed in Golden v. McCurry, 392 So. 2d 815 (Ala. 1980). Under that rule, if a jury finds the injured person was even slightly at fault, the family can be barred from recovering anything. In pedestrian cases, insurers lean on Ala. Code § 32-5A-212, which requires a pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk to yield to vehicles. Expect the driver’s insurer to argue the man was crossing where he should not have been. Whether that argument holds depends on facts that are not yet public, and Alabama’s last clear chance doctrine can still allow recovery when a driver had a real opportunity to avoid a pedestrian and failed to take it. This is why the physical evidence matters so much in a case like this one.
You can read more about how these cases work on our pedestrian accident page.
Wrongful Death Rights Under Alabama Law
When a person dies because of someone else’s wrongful act or negligence, Ala. Code § 6-5-410 allows a wrongful death action. Only the personal representative of the person’s estate, the executor named in a will or an administrator appointed by the probate court, can bring the claim. Family members cannot file it individually, so opening the estate is often one of the first practical steps.
The deadline is two years from the date of death, under § 6-5-410(d). It runs from the date he died, not from some later point when the family learns more. Any money recovered does not pass through the estate to creditors. It is distributed to family members according to Alabama’s statute of distributions.
How Alabama Wrongful Death Damages Are Assessed
Alabama is unusual here too. Damages in a wrongful death case are punitive only. A jury does not put a dollar figure on lost income, companionship, or the value of the life that was lost. Instead, it decides an amount based on how wrongful the defendant’s conduct was and what is needed to deter similar conduct by others.
That means the focus of the case is the driver’s conduct. Was the driver speeding on a city street at night? Looking at a phone? Impaired? Did the driver have time to see the man and stop? The more careless or reckless the conduct, the stronger the claim. Evidence of how the crash happened, not evidence of the family’s financial loss, is what drives the outcome. Our wrongful death page explains the process in more detail.
What Families Should Know
Evidence on a city street disappears quickly. Businesses and residences along Valley Avenue may have cameras that captured the crossing, and many systems record over their footage within days or a few weeks. The vehicle’s event data recorder, the driver’s phone records, and the condition of the street lighting are also worth preserving. A lawyer can send preservation letters before that evidence is lost.
Get the crash report. The Birmingham Police Department’s report will record the officer’s observations, witness information, and the driver’s insurance carrier. Our guide on how to get an Alabama crash report walks through the request.
Be careful with the insurance company. The driver’s insurer may call the family within days. Adjusters are often friendly, and they are also gathering statements they can use to build a contributory negligence defense. You are not required to give a recorded statement, and you should not sign a release or accept a check until you understand what you would be giving up.
Look at his own auto policy. Alabama’s minimum liability coverage is only $25,000 per person, which rarely comes close to the stakes of a fatal crash. If the man had his own auto insurance, its underinsured motorist coverage may apply even though he was on foot when he was hit. Families often do not realize this coverage exists.
Taking the First Step Toward Answers
“When a pedestrian is killed, the first version of the story usually comes from the driver and the insurance company, because the person who could tell his side is gone,” says Fob James, IV. “Families deserve to have someone look at the evidence before it disappears and before anyone decides who was at fault. You do not have to make any decisions this week, but it helps to know what Alabama law allows.”
If your family lost someone in this crash, or in any pedestrian collision in Jefferson County, you can talk it through with a lawyer before you decide anything. There is no cost for the conversation and no obligation that follows it. Call 205-407-6009.
Our firm handles pedestrian accident cases and Alabama wrongful death claims for families across the Birmingham metro and Jefferson County.
Local Resources for Jefferson County Crash Victims and Families
- Jefferson County Coroner — 205-930-3603
- Birmingham Police Department — 205-254-1700
- UAB Hospital — 205-934-3411
- Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission — 1-800-541-9388
Fob James, IV
Fob James obtained a B.S., in software engineering from Auburn University and then continued his education by getting his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law. After working for a large national firm for several years, Fob found that his passion was fighting for individuals who have been seriously injured or wronged by others. Fob believes that the jury is the great equalizer to the power and influence that large corporations have in society. Many of Fob’s cases are high profile and have been featured in, among others: Bloomberg News, PlanAdvisor, AL.com, PlanSponsor, InsuranceJournal, and BusinessInsider. For his work in obtaining numerous multi-million dollar outcomes for his clients, Fob has been recognized by: National Trial Lawyers Top 100, SuperLawyers Rising Star (2020-2026), Birmingham Business Journal Who’s Who in Law (2023-2025), and TrustAnalytica – Top Personal Injury Lawyers in Alabama.