I Hit A Pedestrian With My Car, Now What?

I hit a pedestrian with my car, now what? This is one question that we have been getting more and more lately and we have decided to talk about it in this article. This sort of accident is one that could lead to loss of life of an individual or the individual incurring serious injuries and in some states, pedestrians are considered to not just people walking on foot but people riding skates and scooters.

If you hit a pedestrian with your vehicle then you are likely to be labeled a criminal and accused of civil liability. Many of these type of accidents happen mostly at nights and in some cases, it tends to happen maybe when someone runs into the street or maybe if the driver isn’t fully focused on his driving.

Ways by which a driver might not be fully focused when driving includes talking or phone or texting while driving, tuning the radio station while driving and children coming down from a school bus is a very common situation especially if the driver doesn’t flash his light to signal coming vehicles of kids alighting from the school bus.

Through a civil lawsuit visibility claim, the driver at fault might be sued for damages and in addition, he might face a prosecution for committing a criminal offense in some states. If it happens that the driver actually broke some laws that led to hitting down a pedestrian like driving under the influence of alcohol or driving recklessly then he might have bigger problems that might lead to serving jail time as well as suspension of his driving license.

In pedestrian accidents, a very common occurrence is the “hit and run” situation in which a driver knocks down a pedestrian and refuses to stop. If a driver commits a hit and run coupled with the fact that he knocked down a pedestrian then he would be looking at prosecution for a criminal offense as well as standing a civil lawsuit. Based on the theory of negligence, an injured pedestrian would be able to file a lawsuit against any driver and negligence starts most time when you breach your duty of care as the driver.

Drivers are mandated to care for and obey every traffic law and this would definitely lead to preventing hitting down pedestrians or running into another vehicle. The damages awards that a pedestrian hit by a driver would receive includes;

• Suffering and pain
• Emotional distress
• Lost wages
• medical bills which could be cost of medication, rehab and therapy

I Hit A Pedestrian With My Car, Now What

One way of defending hitting down a pedestrian accidents that happen especially on the highway is contributory negligence and what this means is the negligence of a pedestrian that contributed to him getting hit by a vehicle. This could lead to having their damages reduced if they are truly guilty and in some cases, they might not receive an award at all.

It is very important that you do not engage in a hit and run if you knock down a pedestrian. What this means is that you should not flee from the scene of the accident as you could attract more charges when caught.

What you should do is render aid that you can and also ask eye witnesses to stay at the scene of the accident. If the pedestrian that you knocked is still conscious and able to speak then you can go ahead and exchange contact information and names as well as names of insurance providers. When the police gets to the scene of the accident, you are free to give your statement but avoid stating who or who isn’t at fault. If you are permitted, you can take pictures of the scene of the accident, injuries and the surrounding area.

You should also try speaking to your attorney as soon as possible before lastly, contacting your insurance provider. You would have a maximum of thirty days to do this and you can also ask your attorney to guide you through all of these processes. If it is stated in a state’s law or road sign or ordinances that a pedestrian must cross diagonally or directly but he is found guilty of jaywalking then that tells them who might just be at fault already.

There are laws in some states that do not permit pedestrians to cross the road using crosswalks but they are asked or instructed to cross the road making use of the right angles alone.