Hit-And-Run Pedestrian Accidents In California
A pedestrian accident can become even more difficult when the driver leaves before police arrive. The injured person and family may have questions about whether the vehicle can be found, what information could identify the driver, who was responsible for the collision, and what insurance may be available. Witnesses, video, vehicle details, police records, and early investigation can become especially important when the driver’s identity is unknown.
DAG Law Firm, APC represents people injured in pedestrian accidents throughout California, including crashes where a driver leaves the scene. A missing driver does not necessarily mean there are no options, but hit-and-run cases can involve special insurance and reporting requirements that should be considered carefully. You do not pay attorney fees unless we win your case. There are no upfront attorney fees for qualifying pedestrian accident matters handled on a contingency-fee basis. Call (323) 930-2020 or contact DAG Law Firm today for a free consultation.
What Is A Hit-And-Run Pedestrian Accident?
A hit-and-run pedestrian accident generally involves a driver who is involved in a collision and leaves without completing the duties required after the crash. California law requires a driver involved in an accident that causes injury or death to stop immediately and complete the required accident-related duties.
The decision to leave the scene and the question of who caused the original collision are not necessarily the same issue. A driver may violate the law by leaving an injury crash, but investigators may still need to determine how the pedestrian was struck, where each person was traveling, what the traffic signals showed, and what happened before impact.
Police may therefore investigate both the original collision and the driver’s actions afterward. Photos, witnesses, video, vehicle parts, road conditions, and other records may help answer those separate questions.
Medical Care And Reporting Can Be Especially Important
Medical needs should remain a priority after a hit-and-run pedestrian crash. A pedestrian may suffer head trauma, broken bones, spinal injuries, internal injuries, or other serious conditions, and some symptoms may become clearer only after testing or follow-up care.
Reporting the collision to law enforcement can also become particularly important when the driver is unknown. Police may be able to gather witness statements, vehicle descriptions, camera footage, debris, license plate information, and other details while the information is still relatively fresh.
Reporting can also affect certain insurance rights. California’s uninsured-motorist law contains special requirements for claims involving an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle, including reporting the accident to the appropriate police, sheriff, or CHP office within 24 hours under the circumstances covered by the statute.
DAG Law Firm’s guide to what to do after a pedestrian accident in California explains additional issues involving medical care, police information, photos, witnesses, and accident records.
Vehicle Details, Witnesses And Video May Help Identify The Driver
Small details can become important when a vehicle leaves the scene. A pedestrian or witness may remember part of a license plate, vehicle color, body style, make, model, visible damage, company logo, or the direction the vehicle traveled after the crash.
Witnesses may have seen information the injured pedestrian could not. Someone driving behind the vehicle, waiting at an intersection, walking nearby, or working at a nearby business may have observed the collision or the vehicle before or after impact.
Video can also become important. Businesses, apartment buildings, homes, parking facilities, buses, dash cameras, and other systems may have recorded part of the crash or the fleeing vehicle. Some recordings may eventually be overwritten, which can make identifying possible video sources early especially useful.
An injured pedestrian should not put themselves in danger trying to chase or confront a fleeing driver. Safely preserving available information for police can be more useful than attempting to follow the vehicle.
Uninsured-Motorist Coverage May Apply In Some Cases
A pedestrian may be surprised to learn that an automobile insurance policy can sometimes become relevant even though the injured person was walking when the collision occurred. California automobile policies generally must include uninsured-motorist bodily-injury coverage unless the coverage is rejected or reduced as permitted by law. Whether a particular pedestrian qualifies depends on the policy and the person’s relationship to the insured.
California also has specific requirements for uninsured-motorist claims involving an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle. Under the statutory framework, bodily injury claims involving an unknown vehicle generally require qualifying physical contact, a report to the appropriate law-enforcement agency within 24 hours, and a sworn statement to the insurer within 30 days setting out the basis of the claim.
These requirements are much shorter than the general deadline for many personal injury lawsuits. Policy language and the facts of the collision can also affect coverage, so uninsured-motorist benefits should not be assumed simply because the driver fled.
A pedestrian may potentially qualify through an individual or household automobile policy depending on the circumstances. The actual policy should be reviewed to determine whether coverage exists and what requirements apply.
What Happens If The Driver Is Identified?
Finding the vehicle or driver can change the investigation. Police may compare surveillance video, witness descriptions, vehicle damage, license plate information, debris, and other records when attempting to determine whether a particular vehicle was involved.
If the driver is identified, the driver’s insurance may become one source that needs to be reviewed. The vehicle owner may also be different from the driver, and additional questions can arise if the driver was working at the time of the collision.
For example, a delivery driver, company vehicle, rideshare driver, or other working motorist may have connections to a business or additional insurance. Identifying an employer or vehicle owner does not automatically make that person or business responsible. Their actual relationship to the driver, vehicle, and trip needs to be examined.
DAG Law Firm’s guide to who may be liable in a California pedestrian accident explains how drivers, vehicle owners, employers, and other businesses may become relevant.
Hit-And-Run Pedestrian Crashes Can Cause Serious Injuries
Pedestrians have little physical protection when struck by a moving vehicle. The first impact may involve the legs, hips, pelvis, or torso, followed by contact with the hood, windshield, roadway, curb, or another object.
Depending on the collision, injuries may include traumatic brain injuries, fractures, spinal trauma, internal injuries, pelvic injuries, cuts, scarring, and other serious conditions. Some injuries are immediately apparent, while others may become clearer after imaging, testing, or follow-up medical care.
Serious injuries can require surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, rehabilitation, or continuing treatment. They may also affect work, mobility, family responsibilities, and ordinary daily activities.
Medical records can help show how injuries were diagnosed and treated over time. Readers can learn more through DAG Law Firm’s guide to common injuries in California pedestrian accident cases.
Insurance, Responsibility And Case Value Are Separate Questions
A driver’s decision to flee does not automatically determine the full value of a pedestrian accident case. Investigators may still need to examine where the pedestrian was walking, crosswalk markings, traffic signals, vehicle speed, visibility, lighting, witnesses, and other information surrounding the original impact.
California can divide responsibility when more than one person’s conduct contributed to an injury. A pedestrian’s crossing location or movement may therefore become relevant, but those facts should be considered along with the driver’s conduct rather than in isolation.
The seriousness of the injuries, medical care, time away from work, long-term limitations, available insurance, and responsibility for the collision may all affect how a claim is evaluated. There is no reliable average settlement amount that applies to every hit-and-run pedestrian accident.
Readers can learn more about California pedestrian right-of-way laws, California crosswalk accident claims, and how much a California pedestrian accident case may be worth.
Hit-And-Run Cases Can Involve Several Different Deadlines
Hit-and-run pedestrian accidents can involve more than one timeline. As discussed above, California’s uninsured-motorist statute contains special requirements for qualifying claims involving an unidentified vehicle, including the 24-hour law-enforcement report and 30-day sworn statement to the insurer.
Separate deadlines can apply to a personal injury lawsuit. California Courts states that the general deadline for many personal injury cases is two years from the date of injury, while warning that exceptions and shorter deadlines can apply.
Government-related claims can have substantially earlier requirements. California Courts explains that an injury claim against a California government agency generally must first be presented to the agency within six months, subject to exceptions and additional procedures.
These different timelines should not be treated as interchangeable. Reporting a hit-and-run to police does not necessarily satisfy an insurance or court deadline, and communicating with an insurer does not automatically extend another applicable time limit. DAG Law Firm’s guide to California pedestrian accident filing deadlines provides additional information.
Early Investigation Can Help Preserve Important Information
Time can be especially important when the driver has not been identified. Surveillance video may be overwritten, witnesses can become harder to locate, vehicles may be repaired, and physical debris can disappear from the roadway.
The collision scene may contain information about the missing vehicle. Broken parts, paint transfer, tire marks, debris, the point of impact, or nearby camera footage may help investigators understand what type of vehicle was involved or where it traveled afterward.
Early review can also help identify potential insurance coverage. An injured pedestrian may have access to qualifying uninsured-motorist coverage through an automobile policy without initially realizing that the policy could be relevant to an accident that occurred while walking.
Preserving information does not guarantee that police will identify the driver or that a particular insurance policy will provide coverage. It can, however, help reduce the chance that useful records disappear before they can be evaluated.
Resources And How DAG Law Firm Can Help
A hit-and-run pedestrian accident can involve medical treatment, a police investigation, efforts to identify the missing driver, uninsured-motorist insurance, and questions about how the original collision happened. These different issues may need to be evaluated separately rather than assuming that the driver’s decision to leave answers every question about the accident.
DAG Law Firm provides additional resources about what to do after a pedestrian accident in California, California pedestrian right-of-way laws, who may be liable in a pedestrian accident, and common pedestrian accident injuries.
Additional information is available about California crosswalk accident claims, how much a pedestrian accident case may be worth, pedestrian accidents involving children, and pedestrian accident filing deadlines.
A serious hit-and-run pedestrian accident may require reviewing police reports, witness information, surveillance or dash-camera video, vehicle descriptions, photos, medical records, insurance policies, employment information, and other available facts. Which records and insurance sources matter should depend on the actual collision and policy terms rather than assumptions based only on the driver’s disappearance.
You do not pay attorney fees unless we win your case. There are no upfront attorney fees for qualifying pedestrian accident matters handled on a contingency-fee basis. Learn more about California pedestrian accident representation, call (323) 930-2020, or contact DAG Law Firm today for a free consultation.
