Hello,
Late at night, Mr. A was on his way home from work when he suddenly got rear-ended by the car behind him while waiting at a traffic light. Due to the severe pain in his back, he didn’t realize the accident had happened until later. As he checked the rear of his car through the rearview mirror, he saw the car that rear-ended him reversing and then driving away. While A was still in shock and hesitating, the offending vehicle disappeared into the night, and he couldn’t even see the license plate since it was dark and the black box was only in front, so he ended up being a hit-and-run victim.
Every year, more than 10% of all accidents in the United States involve hit-and-run cases. In such cases, it is easy to panic and not know what to do since judgments cannot be made quickly. In the event of a hit-and-run, a police report must be filed within 24 hours. If you hesitate to report the accident for 24 hours after the accident, the insurance company may suspect insurance fraud and may not cover your medical expenses. Sometimes, if you leave the accident scene and report it later, the police may refuse to write a report, so it is recommended to report the accident to the police as soon as possible. In states like New Jersey or New York, which operate under a no-fault system, you can receive medical expenses from your own auto insurance company regardless of fault. In states that do not legally mandate Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage, you may find it difficult to receive medical expenses without separate coverage.
Therefore, the most crucial aspect of a hit-and-run case is identifying the perpetrator. In cases like the example above, where there were no other vehicles around, and it was dark, making it difficult to identify the offending vehicle, it is not an easy task to identify the offending vehicle. The most effective response is to remember or record as much information as possible at the accident scene before the perpetrator flees. Even if you are unable to verify it due to the shock of the accident, you may be able to find a solution by consulting with a personal injury lawyer. For example, in one case, a request was made to the local police station for CCTV footage of the accident scene to identify the license plate of the offending vehicle, and the owner of the car was identified through a search of the transportation department via their auto insurance company. If the owner and the actual driver at the time of the accident were different, a lawyer can summon the owner to court to secure testimony about who the driver was. Since this testimony is given under oath and not allowed to lie, you may be charged with perjury if you lie. Perjury is a criminal offense in all 50 states across the United States, so it is not difficult to find the driver at the time of the accident.
However, even if you follow these steps, sometimes the offending vehicle may not be found, and in such cases, you may have to rely on uninsured motorist coverage. A hit-and-run is a criminal offence that is punishable by law in most states in the United States. If you have an accident, don’t run away in panic, exchange contact information with the victim, call the police, and write an accident report. The instant escape may be subject to criminal punishment such as imprisonment and fines in the future, and compensation for damages may be higher than that of ordinary traffic accident perpetrators. Also, in the case of the United States, there is a system called punitive damages. If the perpetrator’s actions are intentional, malicious, or anti-ethical, it is a system that imposes much more compensation than this, along with actual compensation for damages. You should be careful because the cost can be up to 10 times more than the actual compensation. Activities caused by hit-and-runs should not be done because they can be subject to punitive damages.
In order to obtain maximum compensation or compensation to reduce the damage caused by an accident, you must consult an experienced and reliable accident injury lawyer and a recognized accident injury lawyer as soon as possible after the accident. If you have any questions about accidental injury laws, please feel free to contact us at mail@songlawfirm.com.
