Caring, Personal Help After
A Serious Personal Injury

What if I get hurt in a hit-and-run accident?

| Mar 9, 2018 | Motor Vehicle Accidents

One of the most frustrating types of motor vehicle accidents are so called hit-and-runs, in which the driver of one of the vehicles, oftentimes the driver who is responsible for the accident, takes off from the scene of the crash, leaving the accident victims to fend for themselves.

This is not only a cruel thing to do if someone has been hurt, it also means that an injured victim will have a much harder time getting compensation for his or her losses. After all, if the driver who caused the accident is never located, then the victim will not be able to sue that driver in a personal injury lawsuit for things like medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.

Should this sort of thing happen to a Georgia resident, the first thing he or she can do is help the police locate the driver as quickly as possible. It is always ideal when the responsible party gets found so that they can face both the criminal and civil consequences of their actions.

However, a victim may only be able to help police so much, and it is possible that the driver who fled will get away with his or her actions. In these sorts of situations, a victim may want to consider pursuing compensation from his or her own insurance company for compensation, assuming that the victim purchased uninsured motorist coverage for this purpose.

While filing this type of claim can be an alternative avenue to compensation for a victim, the victim’s insurance company may not always be willing to pay this type of claim or may conclude that the victim does not have as extensive of damages as he or she is claiming. In these sorts of cases, the assistance of a Georgia personal injury attorney with experience handling hit-and-run claims can be invaluable.