Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
My son was hit by a truck driver while he was riding his bike. my son was with my other son who is 13 and his friend 13yrs old as well. there were two adults at the scene of the accident who saw everything. when the driver hit my son he drove away and came back to ask "are you okay". while my 6yr old son was thrown off of his bike on the ground unresponsive, my 13 yr old son said yes. He then drove away without leaving any info on himself. However the couple that witnessed the whole thing drove behind the truck driver and followed him to his address and took his plate #. they came back to the scene to give statements to the officers. they also took pictures of his bike with their phone. I left in the ambulance with my son and my 13 yr old stayed behind to finish talking to the officers. when obtained a copy of the report the officer did not include the adult witness' statements and the statement that the truck driver gave was a lie according to all other witnesses saying that my son hit his truck with his bike(my son's bike was damaged in the back tire area). I spoke with the officer and sgt says that this is not criminal behavior and will not add any witness statement to report because he came back and said are you ok but did not leave any info at the scene. They say that they cannot assist me any further. Is this lawful what the cops are doing? Is it lawful what the driver did?
10 Answers from Attorneys
The police may not be able to assist you any further. It is illegal to leave the scene of the accident, but since he did return, it is unlikely that anyone would pursue any criminal actions. If your son was injured, then you need to retain an attorney who should get in contact with all of the witnesses. It is not unusual for a driver to change is story. That is why witnesses are so important, and to get them early on, and tie down their recollections.
Don't expect any help from the police. Get a lawyer and sue the [guy]. Watch out for legal time limits.
You should get an attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney can get recorded and/or written witness statements from all the witnesses to show that the other party is not telling the truth. In addition, you should also speak with the supervising officer, his name should be on the police report, and advise him or her of the situation. You can try requesting a supplemental report to be added to the original report. If you child suffered physical injureis, you need to retain an attorney to help you sort through this mess. Feel free to contact our office for further advice.
It is best to get an attorney to help you with this, especially if your child suffered any injuries. Feel free to call our office and we can discuss this further.
Hire an attorney.The insurance carrier for the driver will hang their hat on what their driver said.You can contact me if you wish.It seems from your zip code that we are close geographically.
All of the above are correct, but may not fully answer your questions. If your son werre truly on-responsive [that means he was unconscious] the the truck driver would have seen that he was not okay. But your other son saying he was okay suggests that the injured son did not appea to be hurt that much. Was it wrong for the truck driver to leave, probably. Would any criminal charges be brought, probably not because it is unclear if he was hurt or not. The police officer should always take witness statements if there is any disagreement as to what happened. Ask the Officer what the department policy is as to when witness statements are taken, how does whether he returned to the scene has anything to do whether there is a conflict in statements, and then go over his head if he does not co-operate. But what he did is not actionable.
The bottom line on this is that it doesn't really matter what the police say because the facts are the facts. You have independent witnesses as to what happened. Retain an experienced personal injury attorney and they will likely hire an investigator to obtain statements from the witnesses which can assist you in recovering for your son.
We handle cases throughout California so if you wish to have a free consultation please feel free to call us at (877) 238-3086 or visit our website at www.lawkuhn.com.
The police report is just a helpful too at best and is not evidence. if the officer was not a witness then the opinions and conclusions are just that and nothing more. If you have the names and addresses of the witnesses and they are favorable to your son, this is far more valuable. While the officer may have concluded that there was no criminal violation, such behavior will probably be very useful against that truck driver from a civil liability point of view. As stated above you should seek the advice of legal counsel. I hope this helps. Bob
My firm handles car accident / pedestrian accident cases all over the State of California. You may call me for a free consultation at 800-816-1529 x. 1.
My website is located at www.thepersonalinjury.com .
If you do not have counsel yet for this matter, I would be happy to help you with this.
Best,
Daniel Bakondi, Esq.
415-450-0424
The Law Office of Daniel Bakondi, APLC
870 Market Street, Suite 1161
San Francisco CA 94102
http://www.danielbakondi.com
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