You were crossing at a corner on the way to work, or walking the kids to school before the sun was up, or stepping out of a parking lot at the end of the day. The driver didn't see you. You weren't in a car at all, and now you're the one dealing with insurance.
If you live in Manitoba and a vehicle hits you while you're walking, MPI's Personal Injury Protection Plan covers you, whoever was at fault and whether or not you own a vehicle. Call 911 if you're hurt, report your claim to MPI as promptly as you can, and start a dated record of your symptoms that day.
Being on foot doesn't put you outside the system. It puts you at the centre of it, because you had nothing around you when it happened.
Is a pedestrian covered after being hit by a car in Manitoba?
Yes. Every Manitoba resident has their own injury coverage through Autopac, MPI's Personal Injury Protection Plan, whether they own a vehicle or not. It pays whoever was at fault, and it covers you for a crash anywhere in Canada or the United States.
The plan covers medical treatment for as long as it's needed, with limits on some individual benefits. If you can't work, income replacement pays 90 percent of your net income, based on gross income of up to $123,000 a year.
What will permanent daylight time mean for your walk this Winter?
The dark moves from the walk home to the walk in. With Manitoba staying on daylight time, the sun in Winnipeg will rise after 8 a.m. every day until early March. Under the old clock, that only ran from late November to the start of February.
That adds up to more than 40 weekday mornings when the 8 a.m. walk to school, the bus or work used to be in daylight and now won't be. Around the shortest day, it will still be dark at 8:30 a.m., and the sun won't rise until about 9:24 a.m. in Winnipeg and 9:35 a.m. in Brandon.
The late afternoon gets the hour back, and that matters. MPI says the largest number of pedestrian incidents happen between 3 and 5 p.m., and in December the sun will now set around 5:29 p.m. in Winnipeg instead of 4:29. This Winter, the morning is the stretch to watch, especially for children walking to school and anyone heading to an early shift.
Fall and Winter are already the riskiest time to be on foot. Most incidents involving pedestrians in Manitoba happen in the Fall and Winter months, according to MPI, and an average of 19 pedestrians have been killed on the province's roads each year since 2019.
Out trick-or-treating? If a child is hit by a car
Halloween comes at the start of the months when most of Manitoba's pedestrian incidents happen, according to MPI, and MPI counted eight pedestrian collisions on 31 October alone over four recent years. This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, so trick-or-treaters will share the streets with Saturday-night party traffic. If the worst happens, here is what to do.
Call 911 and stay with your child. If your child is hurt at all, police need to know, even if the driver says it was nothing.
Get your child checked the same day. Children often can't describe what hurts, and a fall onto pavement can hide an injury that shows up later. Tell the doctor your child was hit by a vehicle.
Be the one who keeps the record. Write down what your child said, how they slept, any change in mood or behaviour, and every school day missed. The record you keep is what shows how the weeks went. Our article on what families should write down goes further.
Report the claim now, even though a child has longer. Children who live in Manitoba are covered by the plan like anyone else hurt by a vehicle, and a child has until two years after turning 18 to claim. Reporting promptly means treatment doesn't have to wait.
Whose insurance does a pedestrian claim through in Manitoba?
MPI. Basic auto insurance in Manitoba comes from MPI, so you claim through its Personal Injury Protection Plan whether or not you have a car or a policy of your own.
If you were working when you were hit, you choose between WCB benefits and the plan, not both. Ask MPI and the WCB how each would cover you before you decide.
If the driver left the scene, report it to police the same day, and report it to MPI. Note anything that could identify the vehicle, and ask witnesses for their details.
The Manitoba MVA Companion Guide sets out who to contact, along with the forms and the deadlines.
Does it matter who was at fault?
Not for your benefits. The plan pays whoever caused the crash.
It also means you can't sue the driver for your injuries in Manitoba. If you disagree with an MPI decision, you have 60 days to ask for an internal review, and after that 90 days to appeal to the Automobile Injury Compensation Appeal Commission. Our article on what happens when MPI says no walks through each step.
Why do pedestrian injuries need extra care?
Because there's nothing between you and the vehicle. No seatbelt, no airbag, no frame. Even a slow impact can mean a fall onto pavement, a head injury or a knee or hip that takes the full force.
Adrenaline hides a lot at the scene. Many people stand up, say they're fine and walk home, then wake up the next morning unable to move. Our article on why car accident injuries sometimes appear days later explains why, and why the date a symptom first appears matters so much.
What should you do in the first week?
Four things, in this order.
Get assessed, even if you feel alright. Tell the doctor you were hit by a vehicle while walking, and describe every symptom, including the small ones. That first visit is the starting point everything else is measured from.
Make sure police know. If you're hurt, call 911. If police didn't come to the scene, call the Winnipeg Police non-emergency line at 204-986-6222, or your local RCMP detachment outside the city. In Winnipeg, a collision involving a pedestrian is reported in person or by phone, not online.
Report your claim to MPI. Do it as promptly as you can, online or by phone at 204-985-7000 or 1-800-665-2410 toll-free. The law gives you two years from the crash to make a claim, but reporting early keeps treatment and income from waiting. Our article on how an MPI injury claim works goes step by step.
Start writing things down. Nobody else records the days between appointments. That part is yours.
What are you allowed to do?
You are allowed to make a claim even though you weren't in a vehicle.
You are allowed to see a doctor days later and say the pain arrived after the crash rather than at it.
You are allowed to say you're afraid to cross that street now, and to have that written into your file alongside the physical injuries.
You are allowed to change your route, or wait for daylight, while you recover.
You are allowed to ask a family member to keep notes for you if writing is hard right now.
What should you record after being hit while walking?
| What to record | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Where you were, which way you were walking and the light and weather | Sets out how it happened while your memory is clear |
| The vehicle, the driver's details and any witnesses | Hard to find again later, easy to note on day one |
| Your police file number and your MPI claim number | MPI and later forms will ask for them |
| Every symptom and the date it first appeared | Connects each injury to the collision |
| Every appointment, and any you had to cancel | Shows treatment running continuously |
| What you couldn't do that week that you could do before | Turns the injury into something another person can measure |
The National MVA Recovery Guide is built for anyone hurt in a collision, whether you were driving, riding or walking. It gives every symptom a date and every appointment a page.
Keep your recovery in one place
The National MVA Recovery Guide holds your whole recovery. The Manitoba MVA Companion Guide adds MPI, the forms and the deadlines in Manitoba.
Why use Hurt Square?
Because a pedestrian's injuries are often more serious, and the details of the day are hard to rebuild later. Hurt Square guides give you one place to keep it all.
- The day it happened, and every day after. The National MVA Recovery Guide has space for the first hours after your accident, daily pain and symptom tracking, every appointment and every expense, for anyone hurt by a vehicle.
- Manitoba's rules, in plain words. The Manitoba MVA Companion Guide holds the MPI deadlines, forms and steps in Manitoba.
- Made for hard days. 192 pages and more than 1,600 fillable fields that work on your phone, tablet or computer, in plain language.
Both guides, $39 until 22 November. The National MVA Recovery Guide and the Manitoba MVA Companion Guide, with the discount applied at checkout. Bought separately: $63.99.
Get both guidesRead next
- “I Need to Open an MPI Claim!” | Hurt in a Car Crash in Manitoba? How an MPI Injury Claim Works
- “I Want MPI to Look Again!” | MPI Said No. What Happens Next in Manitoba?
- Recovering After a Car Accident in Manitoba: A Complete Guide
- “I Felt Fine. Now I Hurt!” | Why Car Accident Injuries Sometimes Appear Days Later
Last verified 24 October 2026. Coverage, income figures, claim reporting and pedestrian patterns from Manitoba Public Insurance; the two-year claim limit and the rule for children from The Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act, section 141; review and appeal times from the Government of Manitoba and the Automobile Injury Compensation Appeal Commission; permanent daylight time from the Government of Manitoba; police reporting from the Winnipeg Police Service; sun times calculated for Winnipeg and Brandon. This article is general information for people in Manitoba. It is not medical, legal or insurance advice.
