By Neal B. Strom of Strom & Associates, Ltd. posted in Car Accidents on Monday, October 28, 2013.
The AAA said that in 13 of the 17 hit-and-run accidents, the victim died. About 11 percent of crashes nationwide involve a hit-and-run driver, according to data compiled by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported an increase of 20 percent between 2000 and 2005 in the number of fatal hit-and-run accidents involving pedestrians.
If involved in a hit-and-run accident, you potentially have an uninsured motorist claim against your insurance company even if you were not driving your car at the time of the accident. This information is not known to many people. There’s a mistaken belief that you must be in your car when you are hit in order to file a claim. That’s typically not true.
Our firm has seen a rise in uninsured motorist claims in the past 2 years. We’ve been successful in winning claims despite our clients not operating their vehicle at the time.