Three Bicyclists Hit By a Car and Injured in St. Augustine, Florida
A car ran into a group of bicyclists and injured three of the riders along Highway U.S. 1 in St. Augustine, Florida, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The three injured bicyclists were riding in a larger group when the car crashed into them, according to the article. The driver, Michael Nally, then kept driving and threw a beer bottle out of the window of the car. Michael Nally ultimately stopped and was arrested by St. Johns County police. Nally was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident with serious bodily injury, and DUI with serious bodily injury charges may be coming pending the results of blood alcohol tests.
In personal injury cases involving a vehicle against bicycle accident, there are always questions as to whether the driver was carefully watching out for others along the road. Some drivers do not seem to understand that they need to share the road equally with bicycles. When serious accidents like this occur because drivers do not take the proper precautions to accommodate bicycles on the roads, it is typically easy to attribute liability for the accident on the vehicle driver. When that same driver does not stop at the scene immediately and there is additional evidence that he/she is intoxicated, punitive damages can be assessed against that driver. Based on the information provided in the article, it appears that the vehicle driver may have been grossly negligent and even reckless if blood test results show alcohol and/or drugs in his system. If that turns out to to be the case, the driver will likely face punitive damages claims that are desired to punish and prevent this kind of crash from happening again.
