Consequences for accidentally hitting pedestrian

[RyanJ]

Good morning y'all

So the last few days have been a little crazy. So I was with my friend and he was driving and it was a red light. He was in the right turning lane at a 4 way checking both ways to see if its clear to make a right on red.

Anyways, we see a grandma (later found out she's 66) on the sidewalk. The driver makes eye contact (my friend) with her and she isn't walking nor does the walking signal say "walk" at the moment. So my friend checks traffic again and then proceeds to turn thinking the walking signal is still "stop".

Well in the end, when he started to turn right, the walking signal LITERALY started at 34 seconds and was at 31 when we realized the grandma was on my friends windshield. Shocked, he stops and while I'm in shock, I run out while my friend is still reversing to see if I needed to carry her n drive her to the hospital or something.

But she was okay, just shocked and stunned. She said she nothing hurt but she couldn't get up

So pretty much, my friend wants to know what's the legal actions that can betaken on him. There's 1 witness who told cops it was a COMPLETE accident, saying my friend did a complete stop, etc while another witness said the grandma had the right away to walk. Is there a possibility the grandmas family can sue him (they were chinese, and I'm half Chinese so I know how cheap we get) or what's the most that can happen.

[ROLEXrifleman]

He will be liable for any medical bills. She can try to sue in civil court but will have to prove anything she is looking for is due to the accident. Sounds like it happened at a very low speed. Her being on the windshield is a good thing, under a car is the worst. From a criminal standpoint he is GTG. From a civil side she can try to sue but wont get very far. Make sure the police report is very detailed and also the witnesses statement. If the witness didn't make one you better find them and have them do so.

Did your buddy get written for failure to yield to pedestrian traffic?

[meade916]

if your buddy had insurance, and there (obviously) wasn't any malicious intent.....there shouldn't be any consequences. His rate might go up if he is found to be at fault that is about it.

[Carbon]

Sounds like insurance fraud to me man. Hope it goes well in court for your friend.

[Leo1103]

Good morning y'all

So the last few days have been a little crazy. So I was with my friend and he was driving and it was a red light. He was in the right turning lane at a 4 way checking both ways to see if its clear to make a right on red.

Anyways, we see a grandma (later found out she's 66) on the sidewalk. The driver makes eye contact (my friend) with her and she isn't walking nor does the walking signal say "walk" at the moment. So my friend checks traffic again and then proceeds to turn thinking the walking signal is still "stop".

Well in the end, when he started to turn right, the walking signal LITERALY started at 34 seconds and was at 31 when we realized the grandma was on my friends windshield. Shocked, he stops and while I'm in shock, I run out while my friend is still reversing to see if I needed to carry her n drive her to the hospital or something.

But she was okay, just shocked and stunned. She said she nothing hurt but she couldn't get up

So pretty much, my friend wants to know what's the legal actions that can betaken on him. There's 1 witness who told cops it was a COMPLETE accident, saying my friend did a complete stop, etc while another witness said the grandma had the right away to walk. Is there a possibility the grandmas family can sue him (they were chinese, and I'm half Chinese so I know how cheap we get) or what's the most that can happen.

this part confuses me, are you saying she was walking before the sign turned to walk?

[RyanJ]

He will be liable for any medical bills. She can try to sue in civil court but will have to prove anything she is looking for is due to the accident. Sounds like it happened at a very low speed. Her being on the windshield is a good thing, under a car is the worst. From a criminal standpoint he is GTG. From a civil side she can try to sue but wont get very far. Make sure the police report is very detailed and also the witnesses statement. If the witness didn't make one you better find them and have them do so.

Did your buddy get written for failure to yield to pedestrian traffic?

So when the police officers came, they took stories from both of us. My friend did not get written up for anything AT THE MOMENT right now, but he has to get a phone call from the police station with information stating how the woman is doing, what the hospital reports say, etc. At this moment, he has 0 citations and we only know the age of the woman, (no name / address). He was going to stop by in person and apologize and explain his side of the story, but we don't have any of that information yet.

The accident happened around 4-7mph. Im guessing on the lower side beacuse the way she landed on the windshield, it wasn't a hard impact. Sort of like a "roll" on the windshield then a "roll" onto the ground.

When it comes to medical bills, his insurance company says they will deal with that? I jsut said his insurance is probably going to sky rocket, but idk. Hes trippin out thinknigs hes gonna get finicially sued for life or get locked up for manslaughter. (but she is alive so idk how that wil happen)

[RyanJ]

if your buddy had insurance, and there (obviously) wasn't any malicious intent.....there shouldn't be any consequences. His rate might go up if he is found to be at fault that is about it.

Yeah thats what I was thinking. He has state farm, and according to him, (idk the details about statefarm), but he says he has a million dollar price cap????? meaning, insurance will cover anything up to a million dollars? IDK?! Hahaha but yeah I told him if anything, he will pay for medical bills if his insurance doesnt, and his half yearly insurance pay will probably double or triple. He is only 18, prior had 1 traffic ticket.

[RyanJ]

The crazy thing too is when I ran out to ask her if she was okay or if I needed to do anything serious like carry her to the car and SPEED to the hospital, she kept stating to us and the cops she couldn't get up. After every question the police officers ask, she would say (she couldn't speak good english, but still understandable), "I cant get up, I cant get up." It got to the ponit where they had to carry her and put her on a stretcher. The thing was, when I ran out there before the police officers came, she stood up and then when I asked her if she was okay, she like "fell" dont on the curb and started to immediately say "I can't get up". Too me, that looks like a way she can say she hurt her "hip" or something and sue. but then again, Idk the sueing laws.

AND TO ROLEX AGAIN, The witness who was in our favor (Said he did a compelte stop, etc) is actually a lawyer I think. He handed us all his bussiness cards and things of that nature.

[Ahmed Johnson]

Pedestrians always have the right of way. I found out this exact same thing last year. Happened to me. Either let insurance take care of it or have your friend work something out. If this goes to your state dmv, he could be looking at fines if he wasn't insured. If he has insurance, your friend shouldn't even worry about it.

[RyanJ]

Good morning y'all

So the last few days have been a little crazy. So I was with my friend and he was driving and it was a red light. He was in the right turning lane at a 4 way checking both ways to see if its clear to make a right on red.

Anyways, we see a grandma (later found out she's 66) on the sidewalk. The driver makes eye contact (my friend) with her and she isn't walking nor does the walking signal say "walk" at the moment. So my friend checks traffic again and then proceeds to turn thinking the walking signal is still "stop".

Well in the end, when he started to turn right, the walking signal LITERALY started at 34 seconds and was at 31 when we realized the grandma was on my friends windshield. Shocked, he stops and while I'm in shock, I run out while my friend is still reversing to see if I needed to carry her n drive her to the hospital or something.

But she was okay, just shocked and stunned. She said she nothing hurt but she couldn't get up

So pretty much, my friend wants to know what's the legal actions that can betaken on him. There's 1 witness who told cops it was a COMPLETE accident, saying my friend did a complete stop, etc while another witness said the grandma had the right away to walk. Is there a possibility the grandmas family can sue him (they were chinese, and I'm half Chinese so I know how cheap we get) or what's the most that can happen.

this part confuses me, are you saying she was walking before the sign turned to walk?

So when we pulled up to the 4 way, our straightaway and left turn was red. Meaning either the opposite traffic was turning or it was their straightaway. But anyways, we pull up. We make eye contact with the grandma and the driver then looks towards the traffic to see if its clear. Well its clear. So he checks one more time and proceeds to slowly turn right on red. As he started the motion to turn, thats when the walking signal started to count down from 34. When we realized the grandma was on the windshield, the time then said 31-32. So, it happened literally within like 4 seconds