A Van Hits Three People in DeKalb County

A van struck three pedestrians this Thursday evening around 6:30 p.m. in DeKalb County, near the intersection of Chamblee Tucker Road and Henderson Mill Road.

All three pedestrians were transported to a hospital. DeKalb County fire department spokesman Capt. Eric Jackson reports that the victims' conditions range from moderate to critical.

The potential charges the driver could receive will depend on the victims' recovery and whether the driver was impaired by alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident.  Another factor will be whether the driver stopped and rendered aid as prescribed by Georgia law.

In Georgia, Vehicular Homicide occurs when a driver commits a traffic offense that proximately causes another person's death. This charge is very serious. It carries a minimum of three years imprisonment if charged as a felony.

Alternatively, the driver could be charged with Serious Injury By Vehicle if he or she was impaired at the time of the incident and no person died. Anyone convicted of Serious Injury By Vehicle faces up to 15 years in prison.

Both Vehicular Homicide and Serious Injury By Vehicle are very serious offenses. The driver that caused this incident will certainly need a top-notch DeKalb County DUI Lawyer.

We hope that all of the injured parties recover completely.  We also hope that as this story develops we learn that the driver who hit the pedestrians was not impaired and stayed on the scene of the collision to render aid as required both by law and common decency.