A Pittsburgh driver who caused an accident without striking anything can be convicted of criminal charges. The Pennsylvania Superior Court so ruled in a recent case involving a car accident that caused a fatality. The case involved arguments that the driver recklessly turned his car in front of other vehicles, causing a fatal crash.
The driver's vehicle did not strike anything, including other crash vehicles. Was he "involved" in the accident? That was the question of fact facing the Pennsylvania court. Using case law from California and Illinois, the court ruled that "physical contact" with another vehicle was not necessary to judge a driver guilty when involved in an accident.
Section 3742 of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code was the primary fulcrum of the court's decision criteria. The ruling confirmed that an at-fault driver need not make physical contact with other vehicles to be found guilty of criminal conduct.
The defendant allegedly pulled out of a gas station and made a left turn across two lanes of traffic, while crossing into oncoming vehicles. Crossing into the path of an oncoming SUV, that driver apparently hit the brakes, which locked, causing the SUV to fishtail. The SUV then hit a car traveling in the opposite direction.
Tragically, the driver coming in the opposite direction was killed in the crash. The legal question surrounded the liability of the driver who, while making a turn, went into the oncoming traffic, without striking another vehicle. The court determined the callous driver was responsible for the accident, death resulting, even though his vehicle did not make physical impact with the other cars involved in the tragic accident.
Do you agree with the court's opinion that a driver need not physically crash into another vehicle to be liable for criminal negligence in an accident? Should callous drivers be subject to criminal negligence for careless driving even if they do not impact with other accident vehicles?
Source: The Legal Intelligencer, "Pennsylvania Superior Court: Physical impact not required to be 'involved' in car accident," Gina Passarella, Nov. 5, 2012