Swerving Your Car to Avoid Hitting a Pedestrian or Animal

In Virginia, if I swerve or maneuver my car to avoid hitting a pedestrian or animal and cause an accident, what are the possible outcomes?

Suppose you swerve or maneuver your car to avoid hitting a pedestrian or animal and cause an accident in Virginia. In that case, the possible legal outcomes depend on several factors, including the circumstances of the incident and who or what was in the roadway.

Swerving to Avoid a Pedestrian

Driver’s Liability: If you swerve to avoid a pedestrian and cause an accident, you could be held liable for damages, particularly if it is found that you acted unreasonably or violated traffic laws, and if you end up getting injured in the accident, negligence on your part could result in your personal injury claim failing. Virginia applies the doctrine of contributory negligence, which means if you are found even 1% at fault, you may be barred from recovering damages from others.
Pedestrian’s Duty: Pedestrians must use ordinary care—for example, not crossing an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic. Suppose a pedestrian acts negligently (e.g., jaywalking, ignoring signals). In that case, that person could be liable if the pedestrian’s conduct caused you to swerve and have an accident.
Accident Investigation: Ultimately, fault is determined by the facts of the case—police, insurance companies, and courts look at evidence such as signals, positions, statements, and violations of traffic laws.

Swerving to Avoid an Animal

Liability for Swerving: If you swerve to avoid an animal (wild or domestic) and cause an accident, you are generally held responsible for any resulting damages.
Safer Action: Most safety experts advise that, unless a human life is at clear risk, it is generally safer to hit the animal rather than swerve into traffic, off the road, or into fixed objects, as swerving puts human lives at greater risk.

Other Possible Outcomes

Reckless Driving Charges: If your maneuver is considered dangerous or violates traffic laws (loss of control, improper lane change, excessive speed), you could face reckless driving charges, which are criminal offenses in Virginia.
Insurance Claims: If you are at fault for swerving and causing an accident, your insurance rates could increase, and you might be liable for property damage or injury to others.
Injury to Yourself: If you are injured while trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian or animal, your ability to make a claim for compensation may depend on proving you were not negligent yourself. As explained above, Virginia applies the contributory negligence doctrine, which bars a person from recovery in a personal injury case if that person’s negligence contributed to the accident.

Important Notes

The facts of each situation—visibility, speed, road conditions, actions of other road users or animals, and other evidence—dictates legal outcomes.
If you experience an injury due to the negligence of another driver, it is essential to seek advice from a personal injury lawyer regarding your particular circumstances.

In Conclusion

In Virginia, swerving to avoid a pedestrian or animal and causing an accident can lead to legal liability or even criminal charges, especially if your actions are deemed unsafe. While you must try to avoid harm, it is generally expected that you should not risk greater harm to human life. Both pedestrian and animal-related swerving incidents are judged based on the reasonableness of your actions and the circumstances.

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Swerving to Avoid Hitting a Pedestrian