Pedestrian rights and legal advice

[MrLiou168]

What is the name of your state? NJ

Driving in NYC yesterday making a right turn (my light was green, of course) and almost got hit by a pedestrian traversing the street from right to left (his light was solid "do not walk"). He then proceeded to kick in my rear passenger door screaming in some foreign language and threatening to call the police. My passenger promptly got out, was physically threatened, and made a bloody mess out of him and I ended up just driving away. In hindsight, this was obviously wrong.

My question is: since pedestrians are overly protected in America, as a motor vehicle operator, what happens if one accidentally hits a pedestrian who clearly has a red light?

Also, what are the limitations of "personal property defense" in this case? If some stranger on the street does $1700 (already got estimate for the car) worth in damage to the car, what is the correct course of action? It's not like pedestrians walk around with license plates and IDs attached to them... am I legally allowed to restain the perpetrator until the police arrive?

Any input greatly appreciated!

 

[Maestro64]

First NYC has some very specific rule about crosswalks intersection and pedestrians. In NYC pedestrians do not have right-away in all cases like some other places. NYC has become very intolerant of people or cars blocking crosswalks and intersections. So if your not suppose to be in the crossway you can be fines that includes pedestrians. I personally got yield at by an officer for not clearing a crosswalk quickly enough while walking.

If NYC law says that a pedestrian is not allow to cross when they have red or do not cross sign and this person in fact did that and hit your car, you would be in the right, and you could attempt to invoke a citizen arrest, but, you're going to be limited on what actions you can take to retain the person.

The rule of thumb, the force you exert should not exceed the crime, so throwing the person to the ground and sitting on them for denting the car is probably not valid. however, if the person tried to assault you then you probably okay sitting on them.