What Can Be Done When New Jersey Hit And Run Motorist Flees Country?

Question

Say motorist Smith hit a pedestrian in the state of New Jersey and then fled the scene of the crime.

If by the time the 'victim' was discharged from the hospital and able to file the complaint against Smith (a New York state resident) he left the country. It checks out that he will not be returning anytime soon.

So there is nothing that can be done, correct? The uninsured victim pays out of pocket for the injuries incurred to self...and the motorist gets off.

I want a second opinion, but this is what I heard.
Please be specific.

Answer 1

You could pursue them with an extradition order, but that would involve a lot of lawyer action and I'm guessin' would be very expensive. Your scenario is most likely. But hey, it's Jersey. Know any of the Sopranos? You could hire a PI to track and see when he returns to town and have the police waiting with a warrant, buts that's not cheap either. If the person can't afford insurance, also a violation of the law in our state, It' unlikely they can afford any of the above. Hope they can put it behind them and get on with their life. peace

Answer 2

That is way too vague to get a detailed response.

Assume Smith is hit by a car. Who and how many people saw the driver of the car? Are they willing to identify both the driver and the car? Are they credible? Do they have any connection to the driver or the victim? Do they have any political connections to the country the driver is in? Are they of majority status (21 or over)? Can the vehicle be connected to the driver? Is the vehicle in impound as evidence? Is there any video evidence of the accident? The list goes on and on depending on what country the driver fled to.

The U.S. does not have extradition treaties with all counties, but depending on the country it may be able to extradite the driver in question provided that the victime in question does not die.

From what I can tell New Jersey still has the death penalty, and countries in general tend not to allow extradition of people they assume are going to be executed.

They also will fight extradition on ground of jurisdiction and statute of limitation.

With that in mind it is not likely that District Attorneys are going to go to the expense and trouble to try and extradite a person for a crime where the evidence is not rock solid and the public outcry is not significant.

On the other hand, that does not free the driver from civil court and a claim for damages related to the accident. The victim can and should file criminal charges against the driver and claims and civil charges against the driver and or his/her insurance company. That should at least help to pay for the hospital bills and rehabilitation, possibly even lost wages and mental anguish, pain and suffering.

But, you are right about the out of pocket expense. That is an agreement between the patient and the hospital. If the patient is uninsured then he /she owes the whole amount to the hospital. A personal injury lawyer may get the bills postponed based on the pending court case but ultimately the debt belongs to the patient.

Assuming the driver had insurance then the hospital bills should be paid by the insurance company, and again a personal injury lawyer will help in getting as much as possible from the insurance company and the insured.

So no, you don't get away scott free.

If you really want to get justice, there are bounty hunters and private investigators who are willing to do things not necessarily legal to get a person back in the country so that they can be legally arrested by the police, and lawyers will be more that willing to get the driver's assets frozen indefinitely to give added inducement for the driver to return.

Anything is possible.

Answer 3

I take it "Smith" was an illegal alien? Not that it matters, but things like this are getting more and more common.

Sorry, but you heard right, not much can be done unless the person re-enters the United States.

Answer 4

worries of the World are descending on me.. it seems I will not have time left to breathe and attend to my life .. but go on answering and who will use those answers .. Is Police, Judiciary and Executives gone to sleep... or my fingers are slipping to write this answer...

Answer 5

So happy that I found this topic already answered! its like you read my thoughts!