Pedestrians die on Central Florida roads all too often. As I have previously blogged, Central Florida is the most dangerous place in the United States for pedestrians. Of course, every one of these deaths is tragic in its own right. But the story behind what happened to 82-year old pedestrian Angel Rivera seems worse to me as an Orlando accident attorney.
According to WFTV.com, things are not what they appeared to be surrounding the death of Mr. Rivera as he was hit crossing Colonial Drive in Orange County on Halloween night. When Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrived at the scene, they found a woman at the scene tending to Mr. Rivera. She told troopers that damage to her car at the scene was caused after someone sideswiped her after she stopped to help. It now turns out that the Good Samaritan appears to have been the first one to hit Mr. Rivera – but she initially lied about it.
To make matters worse, Mr. Rivera was hit by a second vehicle while he was on the ground. This vehicle stopped briefly, then sped off. The woman was apprehended later by police, and has said that she didn’t realize she needed to stop.
First, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries is a felony. This information is part of the Florida Drivers Handbook and textbook stuff on the driver’s license test. Second, what kind of person leaves the scene when they know they have hit another human being with their car?
Hopefully, both of these drivers have plenty of bodily injury liability coverage in place to respond to any kind of wrongful death claims brought by Mr. Rivera’s surviving family. This seems like the least that should be done in light of the circumstances here.
If you have any questions regarding a Florida automobile versus pedestrian accident, or a Florida wrongful death claim, call Winter Park personal injury attorney Kim Cullen at 407-644-4444.
