Before you get the time to get to an attorney for legal advise, there are things which you must know in order to get the best out of the not very good situation, for that you should know some basic hit and run law. After the accident you are required to stop your vehicle and observe certain things which if you not can harm you in getting the proper compensation of your claim. If you do not stop and think that it is a minor touching and decide to move on without stopping your car, there can be chances that you get charged with hit and run and that is a crime, leaving the scene of the accident. So, if you think the accident is minor, does not matter stop as close to the scene of the accident as possible, of course without disturbing the flow of traffic. Why stopping is so important as you may be in some hurry to reach at some place ad do not want to waste your time in something you think is so minor. Hit and run has been made a bigger problem since the term has been used so much. Who are the drivers who hit and run?
In the eyes of law, the ones who run from the scene of the accident are ones who have something to hide, those who are under some drug or alcohol influence, impaired by it, DUI (driving under the influence) or DWI (driving while influenced) is a crime in itself whether you make an accident or not. The worst a drunken person can do is drunken drive and make an accident.
The runaway drivers also include ones who are not in possession of a valid or no license at all. Their license was either suspended due to some earlier violations or simply they never bothered to get one.
The list of runaway drivers also includes those who were driving without the insurance and since they have made an accident and are not able to pay the damages all by themselves. Although it is a law in every state that vehicles on the road all must have liability insurance, but still there are so many vehicles out there on the roads that run without it. If you can afford a little extra, get the uninsured drivers coverage added in your plan, you will be so much benefitted with this little investment.
Then there is another kind of drivers who just do not want to stop as they have been committing a crime while they got into a car hit and run, most of the times the car they stole get into an accident due to the rush they were in. there could be many other reasons for the hit and run accidents including simple irresponsibility.
Action by you when you see a Hit and Run:
As a good citizen, you need to report any hit and run incident to police with the vehicle number of that car who made the crime. You can be a little detective and make a picture of the car who made the hit, only if you can do it safely (you need to make a focus of the license plate of that car).
Hit and Run Penalties:
The circumstances of a hit and run are the resulting factor for penalties; it also depends on the state you are in, because felony for hit and run vary from state to state. Penalties will be higher if you leave the scene of accident and there was an injured person in that accident if there wasn’t and you only damaged the property, obviously you are going to be charged with less repercussions.
In all states of the United States it will be considered felony if you have been in a vehicle accident and you left the scene which resulted in a death or fatality, except for 3. You may ask what the heck felony is and why it is not a felony in 3 of the states. Let me tell you what is felony: Felony is a categorization of crimes and that includes but not limited to: aggravated assault and/or battery, arson, burglary, illegal drug abuse/sales, embezzlement, grand theft, tax evasion, treason, espionage, racketeering, robbery, murder, rape, kidnapping and fraud. These types of crimes can be violent or otherwise but in case of a hit and run incident it will be taken a felony of serious type because you could have saved that injured person’s life by staying at the scene and calling for help.
Why it is not a felony in the sates of Montana, Kentucky and Utah? Ask them.
Damaging unattended property:
When the owner of the property i.e. a car or any other vehicle, even a mailbox, is not there and you accidentally damaged it, it will be your responsibility to find its owner and negotiate with them. You need to wait for the owner to return as if the car was parked in front of some building there is a good chance that the owner has gone into that building. Call and inform the police if the owner cannot be located. The police will not come if the damage was little, in big metropolis police has more important work to do so they don’t come until there is an injury or a serious damage. You can wait a little for the police and if they do not turn up you can leave note for the owner of the vehicle indicating your name and telephone number. The rest of the things can be discussed on phone i.e. your insurance company and policy number etc. in addition to all this you may want to report this incident to you insurance company too.
If you are hit and run Victim:
The same scenario can happen with you for example you parked your car at some place may be just side of the road or a public parking lot and upon your return you find a big dent on your car side, now that is something which will cost a lot in repairs. You do not know who made this damage to your car so whom to held responsible for damages… does that mean you have to pay for somebody’s mistake? Let’s see what you can do to counter this. You can have UMPD which is uninsured motorists’ property damage insurance. You might want to check if you have a deductible on your coverage some states do have that and that means that the first part of the insurance covering will be paid from your pocket, which is not what you want in the scenario we discussed, so better check for the deductible clause for your UMPD. Okay so let’s assume that you have the deductible clause now what? You may want to report the matter to police so they can check from their surveillance cameras for the hit and run video. I f they get the accused who made the hit, this can actually make you eligible for the monitory compensation not only for the repairs of your car but for the mental disturbance that has created you for that you may want to contact a vehicle accident attorney or lawyer, they can help you in the right professional manner which you require in order to get you the best compensation for your damages.
to your safety
Tonja Rose
