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When Negligent Drivers Flee, Injury Victims Suffer
Being involved in a car accident is always a stressful endeavor. Unfortunately, these situations are sometimes made even worse when at-fault drivers flee the scene. Victims already dealing with complex issues will face additional challenges when filing a personal injury lawsuit in Houston hit-and-run accidents. Fortunately, there are ways to simplify things.
However, every strategy for dealing with hit-and-run car accidents depends on overcoming the challenges you’ll face. This is rarely an easy ordeal, and those who attempt to navigate these issues without legal help often struggle legally and financially. This is why you must understand the problems you’ll encounter, and this will give you a fighting chance.
Identifying the At-Fault Driver
One of the biggest challenges in filing a Houston personal injury lawsuit after a hit-and-run accident — and certainly the most obvious — is identifying the driver who fled the scene. Holding anyone liable can be extremely difficult if you cannot identify the driver responsible for your collision. After all, there has to be a target in your lawsuit.
In these situations, evidence will always prove crucial. Surveillance footage, witness statements, and police investigations will always be critical. However, this evidence might not yield results. While it’s sometimes possible to identify other parties who are indirectly at fault, injured victims are more likely to be left dealing with other challenges.
Insurance Complications
After involvement in a hit-and-run accident, it’s impossible to file a claim against the negligent driver if you can’t identify them. Still, you may be able to file a claim with your insurer if you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in your policy. Unfortunately, disputes can arise with your insurance company regarding coverage limits or the value of your claim.
This will create a unique situation where you may have to file a lawsuit against your policy provider rather than another party’s. If you don’t have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, the challenges of filing a personal injury lawsuit after a Houston hit-and-run accident become even more daunting. Such challenges could include tracking down other parties who could be liable.
The Search for Negligence
A person involved in a hit-and-run accident may believe that finding the other driver is the only way to hold someone responsible. In many instances, this is true — but it’s not the case in every situation. Many personal injury incidents have circumstances where multiple parties share some measure of liability. It may be possible to track down others who engaged in negligence.
For instance, imagine a driver striking a vehicle that pulled out of a bar parking lot without yielding. The motorist leaving the bar flees, and no one can identify him. However, surveillance footage from the bar shows the bartender serving the patron when he’s already intoxicated. The establishment could be liable under Texas Dram shop laws in this situation.
Drunk driving injuries aren’t the only time when unexpected negligence might exist. That’s why it’s critical to have a legal professional review your case.
Meeting the Burden of Proof
One of the primary challenges of filing hit-and-run lawsuits for Houston car accidents is meeting the burden of proof. This difficulty exists in all personal injury cases. Unfortunately, the challenge is much more difficult when the liable party isn’t identifiable. That’s because any insurance company you might be able to secure compensation from will fight to avoid paying you fairly.
Even if you’re seeking compensation from your own insurer’s uninsured motorist policy, you’ll need to prove the other driver was at fault. It might seem obvious that the other driver would not have fled if they weren’t responsible, but insurance companies don’t see it this way. Unfortunately, proving another driver was liable for your damages is much harder without that driver present.
Statute of Limitations
When someone gets injured in a personal injury accident, there’s usually a deadline for filing a lawsuit. If you miss this deadline, you cannot file a claim in court. Because of this, insurance companies will have little incentive to pay you a fair settlement. Unfortunately, expiring statutes of limitations are incredibly common in hit-and-run accidents.
In Texas, the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit is two years in most cases. If you’re unable to identify the negligent driver in that timeframe, you may never be able to recover compensation from their insurer. The fleeing motorist may still be able to face criminal charges — and it’s possible they may have to pay restitution — but this is a difficult hurdle to clear.
This is why it’s in your best interest to act quickly instead of hoping the police will find the hit-and-run driver in your Houston car accident. Identifying other potentially liable parties can make all the difference, and having an attorney investigate your case could uncover the liable driver and other negligent parties. Put simply, there’s no time to waste in these cases.
Complicated Legal Process
It’s sad, but the personal injury claims process is complicated regardless of situational variances. Dealing with the complexities of Texas personal injury law, negotiating with insurance companies, and filing litigation can cause even the most level-headed injury victim to want to throw their hands in the air and just give up.
Unfortunately, the legal process becomes even more difficult when the other motorist is unidentified. Among all the challenges of filing a Houston personal injury lawsuit after a hit-and-run accident, dealing with sometimes arbitrary legal requirements is what results in many victims deciding to deal with their damages and losses on their own.
Luckily, there is another way. An experienced personal injury attorney can assist with everything from filing an uninsured motorist coverage claim to investigating accidents in order to identify unknown liable parties. At The Alfred Firm, We Do the Work — which means you can focus on recovery. Contact us at 713-489-1875 to schedule your free consultation.
