What should you do if you have been the victim of a hit-and-run incident, and you are unable to obtain contact information from the responsible driver?
Actions to take at scene of accident
Try to get a description of the responsible driver’s vehicle:
—What make was it?
—What color was it?
—Did you catch any of the letters or numbers on the license plate?
—Did it have any distinguishing features, such as the appearance of a hatch back?
Speak with any witnesses.
Seek medical attention.
Actions to take when reaching home
Report the incident to the police. Supply them with the known information about the car that had sped away from the crash site, the one that was handled by the responsible driver. Be sure to give them the date and time of the accident.
Report the accident to your insurance company. Again, share the known details about the responsible driver’s vehicle. Also share the information on the date and time of the reported incident.
Next, check your insurance policy. See if you have purchased the uninsured motorist option. That option applies to a situation in which the responsible driver has abandoned the scene of the accident.
Speak with a personal injury lawyer in Bedford. The lawyer should be able to help you to work with the police. In that way, the chances for locating the responsible driver ought to increase. Victims of a hit-and-run incident are supposed to help the police during the search for the liable motorist.
Other ways that retention of an attorney’s services could prove useful
An attorney could speak with witnesses, and try to learn about anyone else that could have contributed to the incident’s occurrence. Maybe the responsible driver had been trying to avoid a collision with another vehicle.
Perhaps a pedestrian had stepped over the curb and had caused the allegedly liable motorist to alter the direction of his or her automobile. Maybe some child’s ball had rolled onto the street. An attorney’s efforts could help to uncover the existence of such situations.
Of course, none of those situations would serve as a reason for the liable motorist to drive away from the location of the injury-causing incident. Hence, the injured party would have a right to seek punitive damages. Lawyers understand how to go about advocating for punitive damages.
By the same token, a lawyer could assist a victim that was struggling to convince an insurance company that he or she had sustained a serious injury. A lawyer’s review of the victim’s medical records should facilitate the successful completion of that effort. After all, an insurance adjuster might have missed or misunderstood some of the information that doctors had added to that same medical record.