Do we have a case if a woman intentionally hit my husband, a pedestrian, with her car then left the scene?
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Do we have a case if a woman intentionally hit my husband, a pedestrian, with her car then left the scene?
In a doctors office parking lot, a woman stopped her car, screaming for help and crying. My 79 year old husband stopped and asked what he could do. She screamed that she needed help finding an address. He told her that he thought that building was on the other side of the parking lot. She continued screaming, so he told her he didn’t work there and had an appointment. He walked away from the passenger window of her car. She started screaming obscenities and screaming that she was autistic. I stopped at the window, trying to calm her, told her he was sick and on his way into the doctor. She screamed again that she was autistic, then screamed loudly, grabbed the steering wheel, turned it toward my husband and stomped on the gas. He turned, as I yelled his name, instintively put his hands out in front of him. She struck him, knocking him backwards on the ground. She waited a few seconds, put her car in reverse sped out of the parking lot. My husband suffered a broken arm, shattered wrist, had to have surgery on his wrist, a plate put in, and is still waiting for the CT’s of his back to diagnose severe back pain. There were several witnesses, who gave police the report license. The police officer spoke to me at the hospital and said they went to her house and she is autistic. According to the police report, they have turned the case over to the County Attorney.
Shouldn’t my husband be compensated for his pain and suffering? Obviously this woman should not be driving a vehicle.
Asked on October 24, 2017 under Personal Injury, Arizona
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
The attorney is correct that the driver's auto insurance won't cover an intentional act. Your husband can sue her for assault and battery. He could recover compensation for his medical bills and punitive damages (a substantial amount to punish the intentional wrongful act of being run down by the driver). Assault and battery are both civil (lawsuit) and criminal. The criminal and civil cases proceed independently and separately. Additional criminal charges could be filed for hit and run.
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