Unlike baseball this hit and run isn’t cool

BY ANDREW STEWART

Imagine you’re driving, following all the rules of the road, and then suddenly a truck takes a corner too wide. You don’t have enough time to stop and swerving out of the way is not an option. The truck tries to avoid you but swipes the side of your car, tearing off the mirror, scratching the front and back doors, and tearing off the back bumper. You stop the car, your heart is pounding, and express almost every swear word known to a human being. You nervously look around and get out of the car expecting the truck to have stopped but to only notice it speeding away.

While car accidents are common, many Ontarians do not know the rules and regulations that dictate how a driver should proceed after being involved in a crash.

One of the most scariest and frustrating types of accidents is a hit-and-run. What is a hit-and-run accident? Simply put – a hit and run accident is when one vehicle, strikes another vehicle or a person, and then he/she does not remain at the scene of the accident.

There are many reasons why a driver who has been involved in an accident may not stop at the scene of the crash. The driver may have been impaired at the time of the accident and might want to avoid the police until he has had time to minimize the chance of testing positive on any chemical test. The driver may have been texting and driving or was engaged in some other activity that led to the crash. In addition, the driver may not have had a license or the right insurance. For a commercial truck driver, his or her livelihood rests on having a clean driving record, and the motivation to flee the accident site may be even greater.

What should you do after being involved in a hit and run accident?

Here’s what you should do if you’re involved in a one-sided accident and the other driver doesn’t stick around. The very first thing you should do is try your hardest to record any information about the vehicle that you can see. Try to write down the make, model, and company of the vehicle, the colour, and any description you can get of the driver. The most important piece of information you can get is the license plate number (even just half of it helps), if possible.

Do not leave the scene to try confronting the driver, either. Pull over so that you’re not obstructing traffic. Do your very best to talk to anyone and everyone who may have witnessed the accident. The more people who saw the accident will mean the more information and more details you will be able to provide to the police, insurance company, and personal injury lawyer. Be sure to collect all of the witnesses’ contact information, like phone number and address because later their testimony will become very useful.

Since only one driver is named in the claim, reporting car damages will have to be taken care of under your insurance policy. Your insurance company will require that you submit the police report before they start handling your claim as a hit-and-run car accident. Insurance companies are very cautious when it comes to hit and run cases due to the number of fraudulent reports they receive in a year. Hit-and-run incidents are the only type of car accident in which you’re not at fault but must pay your collision deductible. This is because there’s no other insurance provider to pay the damages under their driver’s liability.

If you don’t have collision coverage in Ontario, you won’t have insurance benefits to help with the damages to the vehicle itself. By thinking quickly and following the steps above, you can cover all of your bases without worry. Gathering information and making a report to the police are the best things you can do to protect yourself.