Atlanta Hit and Run Pedestrian Accidents Often Involve Drunk Drivers

While fatal accidents are a tragic reality of annual New Year’s celebrations in Atlanta, they remain completely avoidable tragedies if drivers avoid drinking and driving. On this past New Year’s Day, a drunk driver hit a 5-year-old child and then fled the scene rather than stay and render assistance. This type of pedestrian accident is particularly upsetting because it involves both a drunken driver hitting a child, and the refusal to stay and assist the injured child.

Georgia law requires drivers that are involved in an accident resulting in injury to remain at the scene and render assistance or summon emergency medical personnel. When a driver injures a pedestrian in a collision, the driver has both a legal and moral responsibility to mitigate the potential injuries by taking steps to ensure that prompt medical attention prevents further injury. Unfortunately, alcohol-related hit and run accidents involving pedestrians are not as rare as one might hope. Drivers typically know that a pedestrian will likely suffer serious injury in an Atlanta pedestrian accident. Drunk drivers are one of the most common risk factors involved in pedestrian accidents. When a drunk driver hits a pedestrian, the criminal and civil consequences are severe, creating an incentive to flee the scene.

Hit and run accidents can pose challenges for those injured in seeking compensation depending on the circumstances of the hit and run collision. If the driver is identified and arrested, a criminal conviction for hit and run and/or DUI may make it easier to successfully pursue a personal injury lawsuit. However, many times the intoxicated driver that flees the scene of a hit and run accident cannot be identified or located. If that happens, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are out of luck- as your own uninsured motorist coverage may afford protection even when the identity of the driver is not known.

Our experienced Atlanta hit and run lawyers will typically look for third parties that may be liable for your injuries. Potentially responsible third parties may include the following:

• Vehicle owner
• Employer
• Parent of minor child
• Manufacturer of defective component, system or vehicle
• Public entity (dangerous roadway)
• Party that entrusts a vehicle to a driver that one should know is unsafe

Even if a drunk driver is a cause of your Atlanta car accident, a careful investigation and analysis of an accident frequently will reveal multiple parties that may have contributed to the car accident. If no third party can be identified as potentially liable for your accident, then we may be able to look to your own uninsured motorist (UM) insurance. UM coverage may provide vital financial compensation for your injuries and loss during an Atlanta hit and run pedestrian accident. At the Atlanta personal injury law firm of Montlick and Associates, we have successfully represented many people injured in Atlanta hit and run pedestrian accidents for nearly 30 years.

Our Atlanta pedestrian accident attorneys are available to assist clients throughout all of Georgia and the Southeast, including but not limited to Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Gainesville, Macon, Marietta, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Valdosta, Warner Robins and all smaller cities and rural areas in the state. No matter where you are located our attorneys are just a phone call away, and we will even come to you. Call us 24 hours a day/7 days a week for your Free Consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333). You can also visit us online at www.montlick.com and use our Free Case Evaluation Form or 24-hour Live Online Chat.