Just before 8:45 a.m. on Friday LAPD was called to the intersection of Speedway and Galleon Street where a driver allegedly struck a mother and child. The traffic collision that happened in Venice was almost a hit-and-run after the driver tried to flee the scene. However, after hitting his two victims, the driver hit a pole, according to Los Angeles Police Department officer Jader Chaves.
From the crash scene images after colliding with a pole, a black sedan is shown to have suffered damages to the front passenger side. The driver, still unidentified, was taken to custody, according to officer Chaves.
While mother and child didn’t seem to suffer serious injuries, they were taken to a local hospital to be checked by a medical professional. Police are still investigating if there were any drugs or alcohol involved in a crash.
Los Angeles City is among the highest-ranking cities in the U.S. in hit-and-run accidents per year. In 2017 alone, as many as 8,275 traffic collisions were classified by the LAPD police reports as hit-and-runs. From 2914 to 2018 there were more than 100,000 hit-and-run car accidents in Los Angeles, and 23,698 out of those were in fact felony cases, meaning someone was injured in the crash. Fleeing a scene of the crash has become a routine in Los Angeles. The NBC investigation shows that almost 50 percent of all collisions in the county are hit-and-runs.
However, in a four-year span, out of 100,000 hit-and-run cases, only 16,000 drivers were brought to court. Out of those, only 715 were trialed on suspicion of felony crimes. The problem with these types of claims is that the culprits can be charged for a felony, but in most of these car accidents, those responsible are only charged for misdemeanor.
If you or your loved ones were injured in a hit-and-run, don’t hesitate to contact Los Angeles car accident attorneys at Megeredchian Law and seek expert legal counsel.
Our car accident attorneys specialize in handling all types of complex personal injury claims and will find the best solutions for your claim, even if the driver fled the scene. Recovering compensation is hard when the liable party is unidentified, but our personal injury attorneys can help you file a claim under the Untraced Drivers Scheme and ensure your rights to compensation are protected.