Jaywalking

[winter4w]

I will like to know if a dash cam would of helped me out in this situation. Let me explain my story first. So today I was driving to get my bros from school. When I picked them up and pulled out on the main road there was traffic on the opposing traffic lane. Next thing you know this kid come jumping out in front from behind another car and I almost hit him. What I will like to know is if I did hit him and had a dash cam on showing he just popped out would I be able to protect myself from a sue?

 

[Nigel]

If you were driving past a school when the children where leaving school then you should have expected something like that to happen, so if you try to use dashcam footage to show what happened, even if you think it shows you were not at fault the judge/jury will just see it as showing that you were not driving with sufficient care and attention for the situation.

Probably more useful to change your driving to ensure it never happens...

 

[jokiin]

like this near miss

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=752056664853976

 

[winter4w]

like this near miss

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=752056664853976

lol something close I was able to stop in time by jamming on the brakes (Plus I was going 15MPH). But back to my question if I did hit him and had a dash cam can I protect myself from getting sued?

 

[winter4w]

If you were driving past a school when the children where leaving school then you should have expected something like that to happen, so if you try to use dashcam footage to show what happened, even if you think it shows you were not at fault the judge/jury will just see it as showing that you were not driving with sufficient care and attention for the situation.

Probably more useful to change your driving to ensure it never happens...

If I was not paying attention I would of hit him. I was driving 15MPG as it is in a school zone. There was a bus going the other way of traffic and as I passed him he popped right out running across the street. So I had no idea he would pop out. And yes I am going to report him to the school.

 

[winter4w]

Ok guys found my answer to my question. No matter with or without a dash cam and you hit someone there is really no way of fighting it since it is your fault for hitting them. If you hit someone while jaywalking its your fault because you were not paying good attention to the road. If you stop (Like what I did) then you were paying attention and if it happened at a school you should report the kid and let the school deal with it.

 

[Nigel]

If I was not paying attention I would of hit him. I was driving 15MPG as it is in a school zone. There was a bus going the other way of traffic and as I passed him he popped right out running across the street. So I had no idea he would pop out. And yes I am going to report him to the school.

If you hit someone at 15mph driving a car with reasonable pedestrian safety scores then you don't really need to worry as there should be little damage, if they decide to sue you anyway then the camera may help but as I suggested above, different people will view the footage in different ways and it may give negative help.

If you are driving passed a school bus then you should expect children to pop out, away from a school it is different matter and a camera may show that you were driving normally when someone ran into the road leaving you no time to avoid an accident, in that case the camera will be useful in showing that you are not to blame, your last post may be good guidance but it doesn't cover situations where you could do nothing and were doing nothing wrong beforehand.

As for reporting the kid, it wont help much, you can't change the fact that kids don't always think before acting which is why it is up to you to be careful outside schools. Much better to avoid the accident than to record it for everyone concerned.

 

[Boxerman]

As for reporting the kid, it wont help much, you can't change the fact that kids don't always think before acting which is why it is up to you to be careful outside schools. Much better to avoid the accident than to record it for everyone concerned.

How many kids have you got Nigel? It's up to us as adults and parents to teach our kids how to behave. No! they don't always think first and if they aren't taught the error of their ways they will continue to go through life (probably a short one) not thinking first. If the OP had been travelling faster, the child would now be injured or even dead. Irrelevent of whose blame it was.

Frank

 

[Nigel]

if they aren't taught the error of their ways they will continue to go through life (probably a short one) not thinking first.

Thankfully most kids are very good at learning for themselves from experience so the lesson has probably already been learned and if it hasn't then it will probably be very hard to teach! For many kids, practical lessons like that are essential hence you will always have to be careful when driving outside a school however good its teachers are in the classroom.

 

[Boxerman]

Thankfully most kids are very good at learning for themselves from experience so the lesson has probably already been learned and if it hasn't then it will probably be very hard to teach! For many kids, practical lessons like that are essential hence you will always have to be careful when driving outside a school however good its teachers are in the classroom.

I noticed that you avoided the question at the start of my reply. How many kids have you got Nigel?
Frank

 

[Nigel]

I noticed that you avoided the question at the start of my reply. How many kids have you got Nigel?
Frank

That should be irrelevant, however it does illustrate my point that dashcam footage that you use to show your innocence may well be taken by the jury to show your guilt. It is likely that a significant number of the jury and maybe the judge too will have children in school.

 

[Boxerman]

That should be irrelevant, however it does illustrate my point that dashcam footage that you use to show your innocence may well be taken by the jury to show your guilt. It is likely that a significant number of the jury and maybe the judge too will have children in school.

I take it that the answer is NONE then?
Nuff said!

Frank

 

[roadbug]

Outside of crosswalks everyone is fair game and the younger they are the more points you get as they are harder to hit when younger. If you had hit the kid you could have put one of those stickers under your wing mirror of the outline of a kid to show you got a young fast one! All the stickers under my wing mirror are of old people as that is all I have been able to hit so far........

 

[Boxerman]

Outside of crosswalks everyone is fair game and the younger they are the more points you get as they are harder to hit when younger. If you had hit the kid you could have put one of those stickers under your wing mirror of the outline of a kid to show you got a young fast one! All the stickers under my wing mirror are of old people as that is all I have been able to hit so far........

Actually, you spell Roadhog with an 'HO' not a 'BU'

Frank

 

[winter4w]

If you hit someone at 15mph driving a car with reasonable pedestrian safety scores then you don't really need to worry as there should be little damage, if they decide to sue you anyway then the camera may help but as I suggested above, different people will view the footage in different ways and it may give negative help.

If you are driving passed a school bus then you should expect children to pop out, away from a school it is different matter and a camera may show that you were driving normally when someone ran into the road leaving you no time to avoid an accident, in that case the camera will be useful in showing that you are not to blame, your last post may be good guidance but it doesn't cover situations where you could do nothing and were doing nothing wrong beforehand.

As for reporting the kid, it wont help much, you can't change the fact that kids don't always think before acting which is why it is up to you to be careful outside schools. Much better to avoid the accident than to record it for everyone concerned.

Ok thanks yea sorry I said bus it was like a big van something like a Suburban. But if it was a school bus that has stopped and was dropping kids off I can't pass the bus no matter what. I will have to wait until it is done unloading then move. But ya that answers my question for what you said. I have heard people do jump in front of cars for insurance fraud.

 

[Scruit]

School bus in the UK is different from school bus in the US. In the US there is a stop sign and lights on the bus that can be activated and prohibits any passing. If the amber lights only are flashing then the bus is offloading passenger at school and can be passed. no lights = can be passed. Still need to pass carefully, as always. School buses in the UK when I lived there were always just regular buses or private hire coaches and there were no special laws as far as stopping for them during loading/offloading.

To me... If the pedestrian steps out suddenly from behind a vehicle and if you are traveling within the speed limit (may be a restricted speed due to the school) and your reaction time was that of a non-distracted driver then you should be good. If the video shows that you were over the speed limit, or your reactions were too slow, then that dashcam will make things worse for you. So drive slowly enough through the school zone that you can stop if someone pops out. 15mph might be ok in some areas, not in others. If the video shows other people also crossing the road then you'd be expected to have anticipated another person crossing.

 

[sludgeguts]

In the UK, the judge will always come down on the side of the soft & squishy over the big metal box.
My lad was in slow-moving traffic approaching a set of traffic lights. He was indicating left to make a turning approx. 50 yards before the lights. A cyclist decided to come up his nearside just as he was making the turn. The insurance paid up without hesitation. They said that if the guy took it to court, it'd come down on the side of the cyclist (even though he was completely at fault) & end up costing the insurance even more.
They also cited a few cases - cyclist went through a red light at a crossroads & was hit side on by a car going through green. Even had cctv covering the junction. Judge awarded compo at a slightly reduced rate.
It seems that the motorist is royally screwed these days. You always have to be on the lookout for the unexpected idiot.