All responsible drivers understand the legal and moral necessity of stopping, rendering necessary aid, and swapping insurance information after a collision. However, hit-and-run accidents remain surprisingly common. In a recent year, 579 hit-and-run crashes occurred across Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office. Many of these collisions resulted in injury or death. What should you do when the other driver fails to follow the proper protocol? Here are the steps to take after a hit-and-run car accident.
Get to Safety
Anytime you are involved in a collision, regardless of whether the other driver speeds away, you should pull over to a safe location out of the flow of traffic. When you are out of harm’s way, check yourself and your passengers for injuries.
Make notes about the driver’s appearance, their vehicle, or their license plate information. Use your smartphone to take photographs of the license plate of the hit and run driver. Look for witnesses and see if they obtained tag information or a description of the vehicle or driver. Additionally, look for business or traffic cameras that may have captured the hit and run vehicle on camera.
Taking these steps can help the authorities locate the at-fault motorist. However, you should never attempt to chase the other driver.
Call the Police
While alerting law enforcement is essential after any crash, doing so is particularly important after a hit-and-run collision. They will file an official police report detailing the time, location, and other details about the crash. This document will serve as vital evidence when you file a hit-and-run claim for compensation. You should request a copy of the report from the agency that created it as soon as possible to review it and correct any errors.
Aggravated Liability
Drivers may flee the scene of an accident for various reasons, including:
- They caused serious injuries.
- They have outstanding warrants.
- They are young drivers who get scared.
- They are undocumented.
One of the main reasons why people flee crash scenes is because they were drinking and driving and want to avoid criminal penalties. Oklahoma has a separate criminal charge of aggravated DUI, which applies when a driver has a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 percent or more and subjects convicted drivers to harsher penalties and the requirement to install an ignition interlock device on every vehicle they own.
The experienced hit and run attorneys at Cain Law can enhance and maximize the value of your claim in hit and run injury crashes.
Seek Medical Attention
Seeking attention from a qualified medical professional is one of the most vital steps to take after being in a collision. Even if you do not believe you have suffered any harm, some injuries may take several days to appear. A doctor can examine you to identify hidden injuries before symptoms begin to show, which can optimize your path to recovery as well as establish a direct link between your injuries and the crash.
Document the Accident Scene
If you are well enough to do so after the crash, try to take photos and videos of the accident scene. Visual documentation can offer significant insights into the collision, even if they are only apparent to your hit-and-run accident attorney or an accident reconstruction specialist.
Contact Your Insurance Company
You should inform your auto insurer about the collision as soon as possible. If you have uninsured motorist coverage, you may be able to recover compensation for some of your accident-related losses even if the authorities never locate the at-fault driver.
What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage?
Uninsured Motorist (UM) covers accident-related expenses when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage pays for damages that exceed the at-fault driver’s liability insurance policy limits. If you’re unable to locate the hit and run driver, your UM/UIM policy can cover damages you incur as a result of your injuries.
What Is Med Pay?
Med Pay is optional insurance coverage that pays your and your passengers’ medical expenses if you’re injured in a car crash. It pays regardless of fault. Common Med Pay limits consumers purchase are $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000. Our car crash lawyers can review your insurance policy to see if you have this insurance and if it can help ease some of the financial burden the hit and run driver caused.
In Oklahoma, UM/UIM and Med Pay will apply in a hit and run crash even if there was no witness or contact between you and the hit and run driver.
Contact an Experienced Hit and Run Attorney
While being involved in a hit-and-run is stressful, remember that you may still have several options to receive the compensation you need for your medical expenses, lost income, and other losses. Cain Law has won over $100 million on behalf of injured Oklahomans in their time of need, and we are ready to put our experience and skills to work for you. Call us today or contact us online for a free consultation with a hit-and-run accident lawyer in Oklahoma City.
In Pain – Call Cain.
