FATAL PEDESTRIAN VERSUS CAR ACCIDENT ENDS IN DRIVER’S CONVICTION

A man from Surrey who hit and killed a 19-year-old pedestrian with a car in 2010 was recently found guilty of “willful blindness” relating to the fatal accident. Allegedly, he struck the man and failed to stop to investigate what happened. He was also found guilty of charges relating to hit and run in a fatal accident.

According to the convicted man and his lady friend, who was riding in the car with him, the pair had been driving in their car along Fraser Highway when something smashed into their windshield. Originally, the woman was driving but the pair claims that she was having chest pains, so she asked the man to drive. The man agreed to drive the car even though his license was suspended, but he did not inform the woman of his suspended license.

Soon, their vehicle was struck by something, which ended up shattering their windshield. However, rather than stopping, the woman urged the man to keep going forward because she was frightened. Eventually, they stopped at a point further down the road and the woman got into the driver’s seat, then they continued driving away.

The next morning, the man claims that he heard a police report relating to the death of a pedestrian along Fraser Highway. He then contacted a lawyer and contacted authorities through is lawyer. Police later found DNA evidence of the deceased pedestrian’s hair in the cracked windshield that belonged to the car.

It is difficult to know whether authorities would have charged this man in the accident if he had stopped, assessed the cause of the car crash and acted in a legally appropriate manner following the collision. Now, he will likely be sentenced to jail for his crimes.

Family members of people killed in fatal pedestrian crashes may have cause to investigate the pursuit of a wrongful death claim in civil court. This could be away for families to get money to pay for end of life expenses, lost family income, emotional hardship and other kinds of damages.