Facts
X. (civil claimant) was walking on the right side of A. Street towards B. on December 17, 2000, when he was hit and seriously injured by Y. (accused) driving his passenger vehicle coming from E. and traveling on A. Street towards B. The District Court of Aarau found the accused guilty of negligent serious bodily injury, negligent failure to stop after an accident with injuries, and driving a passenger vehicle in an unsafe condition. The High Court of the Canton of Aargau modified the first instance judgment, ruling that the accused is only liable to the civil claimant for 90% of the caused damage, as the civil claimant was walking on the approximately 30 cm wide gravel strip to the right of the road shortly before the collision and was thus not on, but immediately next to the roadway and therefore at the edge of the road.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upholds the civil claimant's appeal. It finds that the civil claimant cannot be accused of violating any traffic rules or disregarding basic precautionary measures. While the civil claimant should have maintained a greater distance from the roadway…