Evaluating Your Options

What Happens If You Have Hit A Pedestrian With Your Car?

23 January 2020

Dale Watkins

It's an accident that is happening more frequently in recent years. A car hitting a pedestrian and causing either serious injury or even death. It has become a real prospect because cities continue to grow and more people are walking and crossing streets than ever before.

What happens if you have hit a pedestrian with your car? Is there a way to defend against charges? Here is what you need to know if you have hit a pedestrian with your vehicle.

Stay At The Scene And Get Help

The first thing you need to do if you have hit a pedestrian with your car is to stay at the scene and don't drive off. If you panic and drive off, this can potentially get you more charges and also hurt your defense should it go to trial. It can make it appear that you either intentionally hit the person, or were being negligent while driving.

Get the person help as soon as possible. If you can, get them out of the roadway onto the shoulder and away from traffic. If you can't do that, try to keep them protected as best as you can and call 911. If you need to, perform CPR and do basic first aid.

How To Defend The Charges

If you are charged with hitting the pedestrian, there are ways you can defend against the charges. First, you need to prove fault in the accident. If your car has a dashcam, the courts can see what happened from your point of view. They can see how you were driving, the traffic conditions around you, and the moment the pedestrian stepped in front of you.

You could also speak to witnesses who saw the accident happen. If it was a busy street, you could potentially have other drivers step forward who saw what happened, other pedestrians can be a witness and other vehicle's dashcams can show what happened too.

Your lawyer could also look to traffic cameras to prove your innocence in the accident. Many busy intersections and roadways have traffic cameras in place to keep an eye on the flow of traffic to see where the problems lie. This is a benefit to you because it could show the pedestrian stepped out in front of you on a red light or even mid-block.

Drinking And Driving Could Lead To More Charges

If you were drinking and driving before the accident occurred, this could lead to more charges for you. Even if you feel you could drive the car just fine, if the police decide to test you for drinking and driving, it could lead to more serious charges. It might be a good idea in this case, to contact a criminal lawyer.

Learn more about finding an accident attorney today. 

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