Personal injury Lawyer Matt Arnold answers the question: “If I am injured in a car accident or at work what should I do?”
A car accident, in addition to being dangerous, can easily ruin your day. However, if you are involved in a hit-and-run accident, you will most likely feel overwhelmed about the whole experience. After one of these unfortunate and scary events, it is important to know what you should and what you should not do. Any mistake may jeopardize your ability to pursue compensation through a personal injury claim.
A car accident is considered hit-and-run when one of the drivers involved flees the scene after the crash, even if the accident is a mere bump to the fender without any considerable damage. Some of the reasons why an at-fault driver might leave the scene of an accident include the following:
- The car is stolen
- The driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- The driver lacks car insurance
What to Do After a Hit-and-Run Accident
If you are involved in an accident of this nature, you must be careful about what you do immediately afterward. This is important because should you do something wrong, you may run the risk of your insurance company minimizing the compensation for your case, or even ruling it out completely.
The first thing to do is check if there are any injuries either to you or someone else in the car. If so, you must call 911 immediately. Then, it is important that you collect as much evidence of the accident as possible. You can start with the other vehicle’s data, if possible. Gathering information such as model, year, color, and license plate number may be useful when presenting your case to the authorities. If you can catch a glimpse of the car before it leaves the scene, write down everything you can remember.
Similarly, you can take photos of the scene and damage to the car(s), write down the exact date and time of the accident, and other relevant details. Witnesses are also a key factor in these accidents. look for witnesses who will cooperate with the case by providing their statements.
What NOT to Do After a Hit-and-Run Accident
You must not leave the scene by any means. Attempting to follow the fleeing driver can be compromising, since you lose the opportunity to even identify eyewitnesses to your accident. You should not delay filling out an accident report, since the faster the report is made, the better it will likely be when presenting it in the insurance claim.
In the state of North Carolina, you can be charged with different crimes for fleeing the scene of an accident, and these can be minor or major. The severity of the accusation depends on the damage caused by the accident, both to a person and to another’s property. For example, if an accident leaves only minimal property damage and/or injuries, the hit-and-run driver may be faced with lesser charges. On the other hand, if the harm to another person is considerable, the crime will be considered a higher charge that may result in jail and suspension of the driving license.
Have You Been in a Hit-and-Run Accident?
If you have been the victim of a hit-and-run accident, it is important that you remain on the scene until the authorities arrive. When it comes to needing an attorney, however, we here at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, are ready to help. Call (704) 370-2828 to receive a video, phone or in-person consultation with our lawyers to explore your legal options or fill out our contact form. Now taking cases throughout North Carolina with offices in Uptown Charlotte, Mooresville and Monroe.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://www.sog.unc.edu/blogs/nc-criminal-law/hit-and-run
https://www.idrivesafely.com/defensive-driving/
https://www.idrivesafely.com/dmv/north-carolina/insurance/points/
Image Credit:
https://www.freeimages.com/photo/car-accident-5-1426862
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