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Hit a pedestrian

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accident202

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona


Today I hit a woman in a wheelchair who was paralyzed waist down.

Of course any injuries I may have caused were negligible according to the paramedics.

I was making a left turn and the sun glared into my eyes so I did not see her crossing the sidewalk until the last second,I immediately braked so I hit her
at approximately 5-8 mph.

I hit the side of her wheelchair and maybe one of her legs,she fell off the
wheelchair and complained of back pain afterwards.

From the looks of it she did'nt suffer any injuries other than some bruising.

However I'm concerned as to what she may do about it legally.

I was cited by the police for failure to yield to pedestrian.

I have no assets worth fighting over and have minimum liability insurance.



My question is what can I expect out of this whole situation,any advice would
be greatly appreciated.
 


ecmst12

Senior Member
Minimum liability coverage could be a problem. You may be in deep doo-doo. But nothing you can do about it now but wait. If a lawsuit is coming, you won't see it for a year or 2.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
accident202;2689862]

Of course any injuries I may have caused were negligible according to the paramedics.
and they knew this how? Are they giving them Xray eyes in their training classes now?


From the looks of it she did'nt suffer any injuries other than some bruising.
and you have X ray eyes as well?

However I'm concerned as to what she may do about it legally.
that would depend on what her actual injuries are. You are obviously liable for any damages she suffers so it is a matter of waiting until she figures out what they are.




I have no assets worth fighting over and have minimum liability insurance.
well, you may have even less after this is over.
 

Country Living

Senior Member
This is where you find out significantly increasing your liability coverage would have equaled the cost of a couple of lattes a week. That's a hint.

You may not have any assets currently. The problem is a judgment lasts for a long time. Your only hope is, if (when) you are sued, they settle for the amount of your current insurance.

I'd like you to think about something. What would have happened if you caused her great injury? Let me reframe this. What do you think would happen if someone hit you (and they were at fault) and you had lots of medical bills? Oh, and the person who hit you didn't have much insurance - certainly not enough to cover your medical bills. And you didn't have the right coverage on your own policy to pay the bills. You could sue them; but, you are ultimately responsible for the bills. Then the collection calls start, they get a judgment against you, and financially you're a mess.

All because you didn't spend a few dollars more to make sure you had the right coverage. I'm not fussing, I'm educating. The purpose of insurance is to protect you. It only works if you carry reasonable liability limits. The state mandated minimums are just too low.
 

MikeKV

Member
This is where you find out significantly increasing your liability coverage would have equaled the cost of a couple of lattes a week. That's a hint.

You may not have any assets currently. The problem is a judgment lasts for a long time. Your only hope is, if (when) you are sued, they settle for the amount of your current insurance.

I'd like you to think about something. What would have happened if you caused her great injury? Let me reframe this. What do you think would happen if someone hit you (and they were at fault) and you had lots of medical bills? Oh, and the person who hit you didn't have much insurance - certainly not enough to cover your medical bills. And you didn't have the right coverage on your own policy to pay the bills. You could sue them; but, you are ultimately responsible for the bills. Then the collection calls start, they get a judgment against you, and financially you're a mess.

All because you didn't spend a few dollars more to make sure you had the right coverage. I'm not fussing, I'm educating. The purpose of insurance is to protect you. It only works if you carry reasonable liability limits. The state mandated minimums are just too low.
This was excellent and makes us, including myself, want to go home and double check our policy.
 

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