Hit and Run Accidents in California

Often a client is hit by a person who flees the auto accident, and they wonder what remedies they have.  You don’t know who hit you, you have little in the way of a description of the vehicle, and very little in the way of a description of the driver.
You are not out of luck. If you have uninsured motorist coverage, this allows you to file a claim with or against your own insurance company.  An unknown, or hit and run driver, is considered an uninsured motorist (UM) for these purposes.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage is not required, and is an option.  If it is declined, the client/insurer must sign a waiver, waiving this coverage, otherwise there is no waiver for this coverage.
When a UM claim is filed against your own insurance company, then the claim is handled outside of the traditional court system.  It is decided by an agreed upon arbitrator, without a judge or a jury.  In general there is no right to an appeal.  However, the process is much less expensive, and generally much faster.

What happens when you are involved with a “no contact” hit and run auto accident?

In the hit and run claim, when the other driver is unknown, it is vital, however, that there be contact made with the other vehicle.  If the other vehicle causes the accident, but does not make contact with your vehicle, then there is no right to pursue the UM claim, and you are out of luck.  The “no contact” accident can occur when the other driver swerves towards you, and you swerve to avoid the accident, and run into a tree, or off the road, or anything else.  If you are seriously hurt or injured, you will probably be out of luck. Even the smallest of contacts is enough.

Contact your auto accident attorney first.

Too often the client will contact our office, and advise that they were hit by the other vehicle, but they gave a statement to their insurance company, and told the adjuster that there was no contact, when in fact there was.  The insurance companies are taught to ask about this, whereas the general public is not.  They are uninformed of the California auto accident insurance process.

We also see, sometimes, where there is no contact with the other vehicle, but the client hit something that came off of the other vehicle, such as a tire, a box, etc.  In this context, the client is still able to pursue a UM claim.  However, in order to recover in this context, the object that they hit must be moving when they hit it, or the client is able to identify where the object came from.  Again, the client should consult with an attorney as early as possible, so as to avoid the pitfalls that prevent the recovery that the party is entitled to receive.