Jacksonville Man Killed in Hit and Run Accident
A Jacksonville, Florida pedestrian was killed after he was struck by a pickup truck that left the scene immediately after the accident in timuquana road, according to an article on News4jax.com. The driver of the pickup truck was located a few miles from the crash and arrested on felony hit and run charges. The victim, Alphonso Dow, died at the scene of the crash.
In wrongful death cases like this one, the fact that the at fault driver violated the law and left the scene is relevant to the case and the damages the victim's family can recover in a wrongful death lawsuit. When a driver leaves the scene of an accident, it often shows that the driver was negligent, or possibly reckless, in causing the crash. The argument is, of course, that if the driver did not do anything wrong, why did he leave the scene of the crash? There may be other reasons for a person to leave the scene, such as an outstanding warrant or a suspended license, but those are not favorable to the driver either. Of course, when a driver leaves the scene in a serious injury or fatal accident, personal injury and wrongful death lawyers will also look into whether the driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol, which is another common reason for people to leave the scene of an accident.
