got hit as a pedestrian

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I was recently hit by a car while crossing the street. I was crossing the street during a walk sign while a car suddenly sped up and hit me, sending me flying in the air and causing massive injuries. The driver probably would have fled if it weren't for the crowd in the intersection, and I'm pretty sure of it because he wouldn't apologize at all for the injuries and is apparently worried about only himself.

I already have a lawyer on this case. But the driver has the lowest liability amount allowed in this state. My injuries are worth more than his coverage.

Believe or not, I don't care about the crap <25k amount at this point. I just want this guy punished. Is there anything I can do to ruin this guy's life?

Help me please.

there are a lot of things but since this is a legal forum and deals with legal issues, no, there isn't.

so**************there's nothing this guy can do legally in this country?? in that state?







btw: OP I'm very sorry to hear what happened.

Your legal option is the obvious one, sue him. If the award exceeds his insurance coverage then you will receive the insurance money and you may then try to get the rest by garnishing his wages, grabbing whatever he has in the bank, et c.
Some of his assets may be protected and collecting may be difficult. Also your various insurers may have a claim on any assets you can pry loose.

Good luck

so there is nothing I can do against the driver except raise his insurance premium by a few hundred dollars, huh?

If we don't stop or punish these people for driving recklessly, then what's the point of being careful not to hit pedestrians ? This guy needs to be taught a lesson or somehow needs to be prevented from driving ever again before he hits another innocent person.

lant1wor9 said:

so there is nothing I can do against the driver except raise his insurance premium by a few hundred dollars, huh?

If we don't stop or punish these people for driving recklessly, then what's the point of being careful not to hit pedestrians ? This guy needs to be taught a lesson or somehow needs to be prevented from driving ever again before he hits another innocent person.

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Insurance is there for a reason, if it only covers a certain amount there isn't much more you can do legally.
You can't just take some ones license away for hitting a person, it happens all day long all around the world.
There wouldn't be many drivers left out there if they did that..

I am even guilty of hitting some one crossing the street.. doesn't mean I should lose my license.
I hit the guy cause he ran out in front of me to try and catch a bus on the other side of the street while I had a green light but that is besides the point.

RJ2011 said:

Insurance is there for a reason, if it only covers a certain amount there isn't much more you can do legally.
You can't just take some ones license away for hitting a person, it happens all day long all around the world.
There wouldn't be many drivers left out there if they did that..

I am even guilty of hitting some one crossing the street.. doesn't mean I should lose my license.I hit the guy cause he ran out in front of me to try and catch a bus on the other side of the street while I had a green light but that is besides the point.

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I don't know your case in particular but the overwhelming majority of drivers have never hit a single pedestrian or driven drunk. The only ones that make excuses for causing accidents or driving drunk are the drivers themselves.

I guess I'm now a lot less nervous when driving out in the streets because apparently nothing can happen to me if I were to hit and injure or kill a person even if I am completely at fault.

lant1wor9 said:

I don't know your case in particular but the overwhelming majority of drivers have never hit a single pedestrian or driven drunk.

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Your kidding me, right? Have you read the numbers on drunk drivers/accidents lately? They are through the roof.
Same with people getting hit by cars, I see it here in my city at least once or twice a week and hear about it even more on the news.

Come on now, go do some research..

lant1wor9 said:

so there is nothing I can do against the driver except raise his insurance premium by a few hundred dollars, huh?

If we don't stop or punish these people for driving recklessly, then what's the point of being careful not to hit pedestrians ? This guy needs to be taught a lesson or somehow needs to be prevented from driving ever again before he hits another innocent person.

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You can sue him for damages not covered by his insurance.

If you think he intentionally hit you, you can file a criminal complaint for assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

Your obsession with revenge and "ruining his life" is unhealthy for you.

ecmst12 said:

Your obsession with revenge and "ruining his life" is unhealthy for you.

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I so agree with this statement.

In addition, I may not have apologized either. The first rule of thumb when having gotten into an accident is do not say a word. DO NOT apologize.

ecmst12 said:

Your obsession with revenge and "ruining his life" is unhealthy for you.

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I'm with you on that one.

RJ2011 said:

Your kidding me, right? Have you read the numbers on drunk drivers/accidents lately? They are through the roof.
Same with people getting hit by cars, I see it here in my city at least once or twice a week and hear about it even more on the news.

Come on now, go do some research..

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The number of 'accidents' are indeed high but, percentage-wise, most drivers do not hit people. I never hit anyone in my 20+ years of driving. Countries like Japan actually do revoke drivers licenses frequently.

In my case, I was hit when I was crossing the street during a walk sign. The driver was guilty as hell. The only apologists here are the ones who hit people themselves and yet don't want any legal hassles arising from it.

Stevef said:

You can sue him for damages not covered by his insurance.

If you think he intentionally hit you, you can file a criminal complaint for assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

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Like I said, he only has 25k in liability coverage. My injuries have become debilitating and will require lifetime treatment.

The driver looked poor, with probably not much to live for. I really doubt he has any assets and I heard that most lawyers prefer not to sue beyond insurance coverage limits, so I probably won't get any money out of this.

As for criminal complaints, well, when the driver finally got out of his car ( 10 min + )after I was hit, he kept asking me if I was of a certain ethnicity. I don't know why anyone needs to know what someone's ethnicity is in a case like this. Heck, the driver himself didn't speak good English and was not even Caucasian. If I had to analyze this, maybe it was a racial type of accident where the driver had total disregard for the pedestrian because s/he was of an assumed ethnicity. Maybe worth a police investigation. The problem is I don't have any proof of this and some time has passed since the incident. Is it still possible to prove this as assault and battery? Can anything be done?

If you have UNDERINSURED motorist coverage on your insurance, you can collect from that.

No, there is nothing you can do to the driver personally, at least not anything that won't get YOU in trouble with the law. You could sue him, but that would cost you more then you could collect.