Can you be punished if you hit someone with your car but it isn't your fault?

[Roseboy]

Okay - three situations I thought of

1. If somebody pushes somebody in front of your car will you be punished

2. If somebody jumps in front of your car to commit suicide will you be punished

3. If children are playing and run in front of your car will you be punished

vroom vroom

[Aerissa_Jade]

Each case is decided on a case by case basis in the legal system. It isn't black and white like people like to think it is.

If you are speeding, the chances of being punished will drastically increase, because often it will rest on, had you been going the speed limit, would you have been able to stop in time or not? Such as a school zone at 15-20 mph, could you have stopped to avoid hitting them, or if you could at least slow before the collision the human damage will be less, vs. Speed limit is 80 on the freeway and no chanced a reasonable person would be able to stop. Likely to not be punished in that case, but if your going 30 or 35 in a 25 and that happens, far more likely.

It may also depend on the local city and its ordinances. There are some cities, where pedestrians have the right away in any cross walk, but if they are jay walking and get hit. The pedestrian is at fault.

There was a case here were two young teenage girls snuck out of their parents, wearing dark cloths so they would not be spotted at night, jay walking across a state highway with a limit of 45 and they were hit by a guy driving a jeep going 50 at 2am and killed.

The driver was cited for speeding but not held at fault for the deaths of the two girls, because no reasonable person would of been able to see someone wearing all black at 2am and stop in time... even if he had been going 45, no way. He in turned sued the parents of the girls to get his jeep repaired, as parents are 100% liable for the actions of their children. The parents had to pay thousands of dollars to fix the damage to his jeep from the deaths of their children.

There is legal precedent for these cases, and factors that are always unique to each case so there is no, yes it will happen, or no it will not.

[jennifer_bloom]

I guess it depends on how much money you have to bribe your way out of prison, my layman’s understanding is, you are required to require pedestrian life, even if the pedestrian intentionally violates traffic protocols by Jay walking or taunting you and standing in front of your vehicle.

[OlderAndWiser]

"1. If somebody pushes somebody in front of your car will you be punished" Did you have any reason to anticipate what was about to happen? Were you being attentive? Was there any opportunity for you to avoid striking the person?

"2. If somebody jumps in front of your car to commit suicide will you be punished" Did you have any reason to anticipate what was about to happen? Were you being attentive? Was there any opportunity for you to avoid striking the person?

"3. If children are playing and run in front of your car will you be punished" Did you have any reason to anticipate what was about to happen? Were you being attentive? Was there any opportunity for you to avoid striking the child or children?

Your question does not indicate if you interest is civil or criminal liability. Civil liability in these situations is always premised upon a finding of negligence: did you do something that a person of ordinary capabilities would have avoided doing, or did you fail to do something that a person of ordinary capabilities would have done?

A finding of criminal liability, under most laws, requires a finding of something more than simple negligence. It requires what is usually called "gross negligence" or "recklessness." That means that you did something, perhaps without any actual intention of harming someone else, but it was so careless that injury or death to another person was foreseeable.

[OlderAndWiser]

Thanks for MHO!

[WindAtMyBack]

Let's just say that you should have a good lawyer. Any time you hit a pedestrian it's not good. I don't know the law on this, and don't know how this is handled in court. But I do know that you should have a good lawyer. Let them handle it.

Keep in mind that any time there is a pedestrian anywhere near the road, you should be prepared for them to do the unexpected. That's part of basic defensive driving. You should anticipate it.

When it comes to children, you should ALWAYS be prepared for them to jump in front of you. If that means slow down to a crawl, just in case, then that's what you should do. Like I said, I don't know how the law handles this, but I don't think you will get the benefit of the doubt if you hit a pedestrian. Get a good lawyer. Better safe than sorry.

[bolverk]

1. If somebody pushes somebody in front of your car will you be punished - No, situation outside your control - but do not leave the scene, the cops will do you for that.

2. If somebody jumps in front of your car to commit suicide will you be punished - again No, same reasoning as 1 and do not leave the scene, the cops will do you for that.

3. If children are playing and run in front of your car will you be punished - Probable Yes, you'd most likely get done for driving without due care and attention at a minimum if you hit any of the kids. but If you miss them then No.

[AmandaYVR]

You have to be found at fault. There are 'no fault' situations sometimes.

Some people do an insurance scam and intentionally run into peoples' cars, to get payouts. Insurance companies will always be on the lookout for this too.

Hit and run - you could go to jail. But staying at the scene and explaining what happened, you may not be punished.

[KelleyNice]

In the USA, being innocent has little to do with whether or not you are punished. In most cases, you would not be punished but if the police and some DA decides to charge you with a crime, you will be punished unless you can prove that your are not guilty. If you don't have proof that you are not guilty, it is best to take a plea and plead guilty to a minor offense rather than be charge with multiple offenses, pay $50,000 for your defense and be found guilty and sentenced far longer.

[LexiXide]

You would have to go to court and get a lawyer to decide on this if someone was pushed in front of you and killed then the person who pushed the person would be in court and probably go to jail not you even if you were driving the car you have to have a case for this

[exitseven]

I knew somebody who ran over somebody who was busy texting and walked right into traffic, She was charged with some crime I don t know if it was vehicular homicide or what but she lost her drivers license for a few years. I wanted to make a joke about it but she was clearly upset by the whole thing.

[dustybiker]

You are responsible for the multi thousand pound vehicle you are in operation of. Details would be deciding factor.

[Anonymous]

1 no, that's murder, not by you unless you were part of the plot.

2 no, that's suicide and unpredictable by you, unless you were part of the plot, then it's murder.

3 yes, children are unpredictable, you should have been more vigilant, this would likely be manslaughter.

[AndrésC64]

I say no to all three. But the details on the last one could be significant. As long as you weren't breaking any driving laws and were operating the vehicle in a reasonable manner, then there should be no problem.

[BlueScorpio]

No, those are usually considered accidents or freak accidents. Suicide one unfortunately has happened before but people never got in trouble for it.

[Flower7]

1) Yes because that probably couldn’t be proven.

2) Yes because again, can’t be proven.

3) 100% most definitely!!!

[purplepoppy]

The clues in the title "not your fault" the hard part is proving that part.

[Jouth]

huh? the clues? what do you mean?

[Daniela1982]

I think you already know the answer to those.

[Phoenix98]

One and two could go either way but three most likely would be involuntary man slaughter.

[Staximus]

Usually only if it's your fault, but they might sue you

[Wise4myage]

Only if you were drunk, or did it intentionally.

[In_Trance]

It is always your fault if you're driving a car and hit someone

[Dinosaursandanime65]

In a situation like that, you’re definitely going to get sued. You can sue anyone for anything now

[Gowri24]

Definitely you have punished because while drive you must be with alertness if you not thats your mistake

[Anonymous]

No unless you leave the scene or it seems intentional

[Mangospacho]

1. No

2. No

3. Maybe

[Bee-Hatch]

Buy a dash cam.

[Subarugirl]

Yes you can

[Kingofkings1992]

It varies from case to case