A hit-and-run accident refers to the accidents where someone hits your vehicle and leaves the scene without leaving contact information to the vehicle owner or the police. Hit and run is a serious crime that may result in time in prison and fines because it usually causes physical injury or property damages to the victim. However, in many cases, the hit and run driver gets away because of the lack of witness or video evidence. This may cause tremendous damage to the victim both financially and emotionally. If a hit and run accident happened to you, what should you do to lower your loss? Stay calm and follow the steps below to handle the aftermath of the accident.
Check for injury
Don’t try to chase after the hit and run driver. The first thing to do is to check if anybody is hurt in the incident. If someone is injured, call the police immediately and tell them that someone is injured and needs medical help. The police officer will help you call the paramedics.
Move to a safe place
If the hit and run incident happened while you are driving, move the vehicle out of traffic to a safer place. If you are on the freeway, move your vehicle to the shoulder, and don’t forget to turn on hazard lights and place orange cones behind your vehicle when it is safe.
Gather as much information as you can
In a hit and run accident, it may be hard to catch the hit and run driver’s license plate, but there is other information that you should collect to help your insurance claim:
- The makes and models of the hit and run vehicle
- The time and location of the accident
- Contact information of any witnesses
Call the police and the insurance company
Call the police first and the police may help you check whether there is a surveillance camera nearby that may catch the fled vehicle. After investigation, the police officer will provide you an identification number of your police report which contains all the necessary details of your accident. Provide the identification number to your insurance company that will save you time explaining the accident.
How to prevent loss from hit and run accidents?
Be aware of your surroundings
Be careful while you drive. A lot of hit and run accidents happen when the driver is drunk. Therefore, try to stay away from the cars if you identify strange driving behaviors, such as constantly drifting away off the road, driving too fast, or too slow on freeways. It would be supportive if you call the police if you identify these drivers. It will help prevent tragedies from happening to other innocent drivers too.
Park under surveillance
You can’t keep an eye on your vehicle 24/7. How to protect your car when you are away? The best solution is to park your vehicle within the reach of surveillance cameras. No matter if you go to work, to the supermarkets or go shopping, always try to park your vehicle where there are surveillance cameras. If you can’t find any surveillance cameras nearby, try to avoid less-traffic streets and poorly lit areas.
Install a dashcam that has parking mode.
If you still don’t feel safe about your vehicle, maybe you should invest in a dashcam that has the parking mode feature. The parking mode can provide 24/7 surveillance to your vehicle. Therefore, wherever you go, you can have peace of mind that the dashcam is keeping an eye on your property. In the worst scenarios, if something did happen, the footage can be used as trust-worthy evidence in your insurance claims, freeing you from the hassle of finding witnesses.
