As experienced accident injury attorneys based in Virginia Beach, VA, my colleagues and I see far too many cases in which drivers flee the scene after causing injuries. But an incident at the Oceanfront on November 14, 2011, was unusual and shocking even for a hit-and-run because a driver appears to have deliberately hit three people before fleeing the scene.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, this road rage accident changed the lives of two of the victims — Jillian McGowan and Ryan Chaney. “Now, both are out of work, virtually bedridden and facing thousands of dollars in medical bills from injuries caused when an angry driver mowed them down,” the paper reported.
An argument appears to have preceded the alleged vehicular assault that caused McGowan a head injury that included bleeding in her skull, an injured leg and a collapsed lung. Chaney needed surgery to put a rod and pins in a fractured fibula, He also suffered a broken rib, and he told the Pilot that the incident dashed his hopes of becoming a Navy SEAL.
25th Street and Pacific Avenue, Virginia Beach
Police are investigation the incident as a felony malicious assault by vehicle. Clearly, the victims would also be entitled to compensation from this driver in a civil lawsuit.
Virginia Beach and surrounding cities such as Norfolk and Chesapeake, VA, see too many hit-and-run accidents. In February 2011, for instance, an 11-year-old girl was left severely injured and unconscious by a hit-and-run driver on South Lynnhaven Parkway in Virginia Beach.
According to the AAA Foundation, about 11 percent of all police-reported crashes involve a hit-and-run driver, and this problem is especially prevalent for pedestrians. “About 60 percent of the people killed in hit-and-run crashes are pedestrians,” Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger said in a press statement, adding that “1 in 5 pedestrian fatalities involve hit and run drivers.”
DM