If I Was Involved in a Hit and Run Accident, Can I Receive Compensation?

For a pedestrian walking along a road or even on a sidewalk, nothing could be more terrifying and devastating than being hit by a motor vehicle.

As you lay on the ground, hurt and startled, the driver flees from the accident; the at-fault driver that hit you has fled. You have no idea who the driver was, or how injured you truly are. Maybe there are witnesses nearby to help you up and who could call for an ambulance. Maybe they saw some sort of identifying information about the car that hit you. Maybe you were alone when it happened. Regardless, you have just become the victim of a hit and run accident.

Being the victim of a hit and run accident, it is likely that you have no clue as to the identity of the person who hit you. Despite this lack of information, you might still be able to seek monetary compensation for your injuries and damages from your own automobile insurance provider by filing an uninsured motorist claim with your own insurance company. By doing this, you are effectively seeking compensation from the hit and run accident from your own insurance provider.

What To Do After You Have Been Struck in a Hit and Run Accident

It is very important that you or a witness call the police immediately after the accident occurs. By cooperating with the police, and filing a police report about the incident, you can preserve evidence about the accident and may even be able to get an ATB out across the police force if you have any information about the driver of the vehicle that hit you. It is best to file a report when the accident is still fresh in your mind, and still fresh in the minds of any witnesses as well.

If you require medical attention, or even if you think that you do not require medical attention, you should at least visit a hospital and get checked out by trained medical professionals. There are many instances of brain injuries that resulted from vehicle accidents that went undetected because the accident victim didn’t “feel injured” after an accident and therefore never sought medical treatment or evaluation. These injuries silently fester, and grow gradually worse until the damage from the injury is quite significant, irreparable, or so severe that it causes permanent damage or even death.