What To Do After Hit and Run Accident as a Pedestrian
Leaving the scene of an accident is both a criminal and a provincial offence. But it continues to happen. Every year in Canada more than 300 pedestrians are killed by motor vehicles. Thousands more are injured. Coroners and medical examiners report that in about 8% of pedestrian fatalities the driver leaves the scene. This means that about 25 people are killed in Canada every year in pedestrian hit and run crashes. The number is even larger for injury cases.
The victims of hit and run accidents have important legal rights in our civil justice system. Just because the culprit has fled the scene does not mean that the innocent pedestrian goes without compensation. There are two very important sets of rights that pedestrians injured or killed in hit and run accidents have.
First, in any accident involving a motor vehicle the injured victim has important benefits through our no-fault system of insurance in Ontario. These no-fault benefits are available in every case. If you have your own auto insurance your insurance company is obliged to pay you important benefits for income replacement and care costs. We pay insurance premiums for these benefits. We get them in every accident involving a motor vehicle whether we are at fault or not.
But what if the pedestrian injured or killed did not have their own auto insurance? There is still a claim for these benefits. The same benefits will be paid by the insurer of the vehicle involved (if it is identified) or by a government fund.
Second, the victim of a hit and run crash can bring a lawsuit for compensation not available in the no-fault benefits system. This includes damages for pain and suffering, income loss that goes beyond what is available from the no-fault system and all other economic losses not covered by the no-fault system. If the perpetrator of the hit and run is ultimately caught, the claim is against his or her insurance company. If the perpetrator of the hit and run is not caught, the claim is either against your own auto insurance company or the government fund.
Obviously, the first thing you should do if you are the victim of a hit and run is to seek out medical attention. But if you are seriously injured or the family member of someone killed in a hit and run crash it is also important to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer. And in these cases, there is some urgency to do this. Because timely investigation is often important to establish that the injuries were, indeed, caused by a motor vehicle and to find the perpetrator. Evidence, like broken headlight glass, that can disappear from a scene can be crucial to your rights. While the police do their best to investigate hit and run crashes, firms like ours have access to resources and experts that the police do not have that can be important in pursuing a claim for a life-changing injury of the kind that can happen in a hit and run crash.
If you have been injured in a hit and run car accident, get in touch with us today for a free consultation. We may be able to help.
Written By
Troy Lehman joined Oatley Vigmond in 2006 and became a partner in 2010. As a personal injury lawyer, his greatest satisfaction comes from helping people through to the other side of a difficult time in their lives. “We’re here to help and relieve stress,” Troy says. “When I walk into a first meeting with a client, people are often scared and anxious. And for me, the best thing that can happen at the end of the meeting is that they say, ‘I feel so much better.’