
Quoting
cdwjava
Insurance companies are not legally required to assign fault as the police do. They can assign it as they see fit, and can apportion fault between the parties if they wish.
The question that will always come up is why the pedestrian was in the roadway? It does not matter if he was crossing the road, or walking off the curb and onto the street to get to the driver's door, he should not have been in the roadway. Period. While it is possible that the pedestrian was in "control" of the roadway and the vehicle might then have the obligation to avoid him, that is not apparently what the driver's statement indicates.
Your friend can engage an attorney at his own cost, gather his witnesses and sue the driver. Now, if his medical expenses are small (under $7,500) then he will have to do this himself in small claims court. But, if his witnesses are going to say that he walked into the street and almost immediately got hit, bad for your friend because they will hang him.
If attorneys are not leaping to his aid there is either no money in this (the damages are minor and the chance of an award is low), or he was clearly at fault.