Rae Castillon on September 19, 2024 No Comments
Car accidents can happen in many situations. They occur on country roads and busy highways. They might involve new drivers or experienced ones. If you get in a car wreck, you should know what to do in the aftermath. You must follow the steps the law dictates you should take.
However, if a car hits your vehicle and then leaves the scene, that’s a little different than a situation where the driver stays and waits for the authorities. You have to handle it a bit differently. We’ll talk about that in detail right now.
Why Do Some Drivers Leave the Scene of Accidents?
As a driver, you should know about the options you have available after a car accident. For instance, understanding the two-year timeline for filing a lawsuit becomes imperative if you feel a driver acted negligently by hitting you. If they injured you severely, and you must pay off a lot of medical bills after the crash, you should at least consider this path toward restitution.
The possibility that you might sue a driver increases if they leave the scene after an accident. Why might a driver do it, though? You may not understand their motivation, since the law states they must remain there and talk to the police.
Sometimes, you might have an inexperienced driver who causes a wreck. Maybe a teenager hits your car who only got their license within the past few months. It’s possible that they could panic when they see what they did. They don’t want to think about the consequences, so they drive off, thinking they can get away with it.
You might also have a driver who drinks alcohol or does some other kind of drug before driving. If they hit your car, they may realize that they’re looking at possible jail time if they stick around and wait for the cops. They feel that if they leave the scene and sober up, then at least they won’t fail a breathalyzer test when the police catch up with them.
You may also have a driver who doesn’t have adequate car insurance or none at all. Maybe they’re driving a car that failed inspection, and they know they shouldn’t have it on the road.
Any of these might persuade a driver that fleeing the scene makes sense. When they do, though, they’re creating a lot more trouble for themselves.
A Driver Leaving the Scene Makes This a Criminal Matter
When a driver leaves a car crash scene, it means when the police arrive, they will instantly consider the situation to be a criminal matter. If you leave the scene of a car accident, that’s a felony. You face possible jail time or an equally harsh sentence if the police catch up with you.
Of course, in rare cases, the police can’t find the other driver. Maybe a driver hits your car on a deserted road with no one nearby. The police can’t find traffic or store camera footage of the other vehicle.
If so, the other driver got very lucky. In most instances, the authorities will catch up with the other driver eventually. No matter their reason for driving off, they will face severe criminal penalties when the police find them, as well as possible civil ones if you decide to sue them.
You Must Tell Your Insurance Company the Other Driver Left the Scene
Very little changes in a car accident’s immediate aftermath if the other driver fled the scene. You can tell the police when they arrive about what happened. You can also tell them anything you remember about the other car and driver. Maybe you at least saw their gender, race, or age, in addition to the color of the vehicle and its approximate make and model.
If you’re a car expert, that will help in these situations. Maybe you can tell the cops exactly the kind of vehicle that hit you, or at least pretty close. If you don’t know much about cars, hopefully, you can at least give them a few pertinent details.
Once you give the police your description and they say you can go, you can contact your insurance company and file a claim. In at-fault states, if you tell your insurance company that you caused the accident, that means your insurance must cover the damage to not just your vehicle, but also the other one involved in the crash.
However, if the other driver didn’t stop and drove off instead, you can pretty much count on your insurance company accepting that the other driver caused the accident since their actions dictate that. You might need to wait and see if the police catch the other driver so their insurance can pay for your vehicle repairs, assuming the other driver even has insurance. If the police can’t catch the other driver, convincing your insurance company to pay for the damages might become more difficult.
Hiring a Lawyer and Suing the Other Motorist Becomes Much More Likely
If the other driver leaves the scene following a car wreck, that makes it much more likely that you will hire a lawyer and sue them. It doesn’t happen 100% of the time in hit-and-run cases, but the other driver’s actions make the outcome of such a lawsuit almost a foregone conclusion.
If the police eventually find the other driver, they will prosecute them. That’s a criminal matter, though, and it’s not something with which you need to concern yourself. You must focus on hiring a competent personal injury lawyer and suing the driver. That’s a civil action, and it usually makes sense in such a scenario.
You will try to get damages from the other driver. You might seek monetary compensation for the money you had to pay to repair your vehicle, if any. If you missed some work and couldn’t collect a paycheck, you can get compensation for that as well, in addition to the cost of medical bills.
