No one likes to get into trouble, but sometimes bad accidents do happen. You hit a pedestrian with your car, but there weren't any witnesses. You may wonder, “Am I still liable?” Whether or not there were any witnesses, you are still liable for hitting a pedestrian with your car. Leaving the scene only makes your situation worse. If you leave the scene of the accident, criminal charges could be brought against you for hit and run. If you remain at the scene of the accident, you won't be charged with hit and run. Your liability would be limited to general civil damages.
Your first concern should be avoiding criminal liability. Many people leave the scene, thinking or hoping there were no witnesses… only to be surprised with a criminal warrant later for hit-and-run. If you stay, your criminal exposure is generally limited to traffic citations. The police might cite you for a traffic violation such as failure to yield the right of way or depending on the facts. Depending on the facts of your case, the police may not cite you for any violation. For example, if the pedestrian stepped directly in front of your vehicle and you were unable to stop. If the police report doesn't cite you for a traffic violation and/or says that you were not at fault in the accident, you may be able to use that police report as a defense if you are later sued by the pedestrian.
Your next concern is your civil liability for any injuries to the pedestrian. When the pedestrian completes medical treatment and is released by the doctor or reaches a point of being declared permanent and stationary which means that no further improvement in the pedestrian's medical condition is anticipated, that would be the appropriate time for the pedestrian to file a lawsuit for negligence against you. Negligence is based on the concept of due care, which is that degree of care that the reasonable person (here the reasonable driver) would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent the injury to the pedestrian. The pedestrian (plaintiff) in a negligence lawsuit would have to prove that you failed to exercise due care and that breached a duty to the pedestrian which caused the pedestrian's injury. The pedestrian's claim for monetary damages would be based on the total medical bills, any wage loss due to the injuries, and compensation for pain and suffering. Compensation for pain and suffering is an amount beyond the medical bills. The more serious the injury, the more compensation for pain and suffering they could seek. For example, fracture, scars, burns, etc. would be more serious injuries than just a sprain and would warrant more compensation. Another factor is whether or not future treatment will be necessary and the estimated cost of that treatment. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of the injuries and will be a factor in determining the amount of compensation the pedestrian is seeking for pain and suffering.
Your liability may be limited by your state’s personal injury laws. If your state follows comparative negligence, you may not be liable for 100% of the pedestrian's damages (the amount of monetary compensation the lawsuit is seeking). Comparative negligence assesses a percentage of the fault to each party. For example, if a court determines that the pedestrian was 20% liable for his or her injuries, then you, the driver, would only be 80% liable. Thus, if the pedestrian is awarded $10,000, then you would only be responsible for $8,000.00.
The bottom line is that no one likes to get into trouble. Sometimes a bad thing happens and you get scared. Avoiding the scene by committing the offense of hit-and-run only makes your personal and financial situation worse. Your best approach is to contact an attorney that specializes in personal injury defense to learn how best to resolve your liability issues.