A car's hit him, and he's hit his head

[EngLearner]

John gets hit by a car and hits his head. He's not feeling well, and Peter is with him on the side of the road. Suddenly, Peter's phone rings. He picks up, and Rick starts talking to him. Peter interrupts Rick and says:

1. Look, Rick, I'm with John right now. A car hit him, and he hit his head. Let's talk later.
2. Look, Rick, I'm with John right now. A car's hit him, and he's hit his head. Let's talk later.

I made up the scenario and wrote the sentences. In American English, both versions are acceptable, but the first one is more common in this context. In British English, the second version is the one that should be used because the two events in bold are what Peter is currently dealing with. Am I right?

 

[jutfrank]

In American English, both versions are acceptable, but the first one is more common in this context.

I don't think that's right.

This is an ideal case for use of the present perfect. You've written the context specially as a situation that has present relevance, so use the present perfect.

Look, I can't talk right now. I'm with John. He's been hit by a car and (has) hurt his head.

 

[EngLearner]

He's been hit by a car

I see you've changed a little bit what I wrote. Is the way I wrote it using the active voice "A car has hit him..." possible?

 

[jutfrank]

Don't worry about what's possible. Think instead about why it might be better to place 'he' as the subject.

 

[EngLearner]

I've created a similar situation, but changed things slightly replacing the verb "hit" with the verb "push", and now it's not a car hitting John, but a person pushing him.

Bob pushes John, and he hits his head on a door. Peter comes up to John to help him. Suddenly, Peter's phone rings. Peter picks up, and Rick starts talking to him. Peter interrupts Rick by saying the following:

Look, I can't talk right now. I'm with John. He's been pushed by Bob and has hurt his head.

Is the formula suggested in post #2 still the most appropriate way to express this, or would you say it differently?

 

[emsr2d2]

We'd say that differently. This is the kind of difference that you eventually pick up through long-term exposure to the language.

"He's been hit by a car" is more natural than "A car hit him".
"Bob pushed him" is more natural than "He's been pushed by Bob".

 

[EngLearner]

If Peter starts with the simple past "Bob pushed him", should he continue with the simple past or the present perfect:

Look, I can't talk right now. I'm with John. Bob pushed him, and [he hurt]/[he's hurt] his head.

It seems logical to continue with the simple past.

 

[emsr2d2]

You're right.

 

[emsr2d2]

I should have added that although it's logical to use the simple past, it's equally possible to use the present perfect.

 

[EngLearner]

Bob pushes John, and he hits his head on a door. Peter comes up to John to help him. Suddenly, Peter's phone rings. Peter picks up, and Rick starts talking to him. Peter interrupts Rick by saying the following:

Look, I can't talk right now. I'm with John. He's been pushed by Bob and has hurt his head.

If I remove the words "by Bob" from the quoted sentence:

Look, I can't talk right now. I'm with John. He's been pushed and has hurt his head.

Does this improve the flow and make the sentence natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

If I remove the words "by Bob" from the quoted sentence:

Look, I can't talk right now. I'm with John. He's been pushed and has hurt his head.

Does this improve the flow and make the sentence natural?

Not really. It's still less natural than "Someone pushed him and he's hurt his head". Note that it would be even more natural as "pushed him over". If someone simply pushes you, you might just get knocked forwards/backwards/sideways but stay on your feet. I assume John hurt his head by banging it on the pavement/road/floor. If that's the case, he was "pushed over" - that contains the idea of the result being that you end up on the ground.