If you have been hurt in a hit-and-run in Nevada, you need to remain at the scene, call 911, check on injuries, collect evidence, speak with a Las Vegas hit and run accident lawyer, and more.
Fleeing the scene of an accident is against the law in Nevada and can lead to criminal charges.
Hit-and-Run Accidents in Nevada
No matter what circumstances lead up to the accident, a hit-and-run is a criminal act. If the driver causes property damage and flees, they can be charged with a misdemeanor in Nevada. Consequences include up to six months in jail or a maximum of $1,000 in monetary fines.
If the hit-and-run results in the injury to a person or the death of another, the crime is a Class B felony. Punishment can include up to 20 years in prison and thousands of dollars in monetary fines.
For victims of hit-and-run accidents, the losses are far greater. It is very common for victims to suffer ongoing financial, emotional, and physical limitations that can impact every aspect of their lives. Because of the impact on you, we strongly encourage you to take every step you can at the time of the accident to protect yourself. Speak with a Las Vegas car accident lawyer today.
Steps to Take if You are a Hit-and-Run Victim
Victims of a Nevada hit-and-run accident should do the following to protect their legal right to pursue monetary compensation:
- Stay at the scene: As discussed above, leaving an accident scene is a criminal offense. Even if the other driver fled, it is critical that you call local law enforcement or immediately dial 9-1-1 if any serious injuries or property damage have occurred. Take photos and video footage of the scene, after first seeking appropriate medical care, as this will help you in any personal injury lawsuit that may later arise.
- Assess any damage: If you can, try to assess the damage done to your vehicle and any other property and file a police report. Try to get your car to a safe place (if it is movable) and take photos of any damage left by the other driver. Be sure to get a copy of the police report. This is not only critical in any potential lawsuit, but insurance carriers also require one, even for minor accidents, to process a claim for the vehicle’s repairs or replacement. Your car insurance may pay for some damages even if the other driver cannot be identified.
- Provide Information to Law Enforcement: If you have any identifiable information on the driver who fled, share this with law enforcement. This can include the vehicle’s make, model, and color, as well as license plate details, if you caught them. Other specific details, including the direction the driver fled, bumper stickers, or the driver’s physical characteristics, can all be valuable in helping law enforcement catch the hit-and-run driver.
- Get Witness Information: This includes any statements regarding what witnesses to the accident saw, as well as their contact information. If the accident occurred near a business area or in a neighborhood, find out if business or home security cameras caught any footage of the accident or the hit-and-run vehicle.
Always put your safety first in these accidents. You need the guidance of an attorney and the resources available to you to recover from the losses you have suffered. The sooner you contact our Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, the faster we can support your long-term well-being.
Legal Duties After a Hit-and-Run Accident
If you are in a car accident, even if there are no obvious injuries, you must stop and move to the side of the road. The law (NRS Chapter 484E) requires that all parties involved stop whenever there is any incident in which a collision occurs. You have several legal obligations after a car accident, including:
- Provide the other driver with your name and contact information. This is typically easiest to do by taking a photo of your license. You have the right to their information as well.
- Exchange vehicle insurance and registration information. Typically, just sharing insurance coverage information will include these details.
- Call for law enforcement. If there are any injuries involved in the accident, you must call the police and wait for them to arrive. This is also important if there is more than $1,000 in damage to the vehicle.
By taking these steps, you protect yourself. You meet your legal obligation to protect your case, and you ensure that you get critical information that is necessary for proving your right to compensation later. Remember that it is illegal to leave the scene of an accident without sharing this information.
When the Other Party Flees
In situations like this, you may pull over and do what you are supposed to, but the other party leaves. In these cases, stay at the scene and call the police, even in a minor accident. Allow law enforcement to arrive, document what occurred, and gather your information. Many times, they find the hit-and-run driver, and that means they will seek legal action against them, and you can do so as well.
Collecting Evidence and the Investigation Process
You may feel helpless when someone causes serious injury and loss to you and then flees the scene. However, if you can, the steps you take now, in the immediate aftermath, can be critical to achieving a better outcome for your financial recovery. When possible, take these steps:
- Remember everything you can about the driver and the other car. If you cannot snap a photo of them, record yourself on your phone immediately afterward, describing what you saw in detail. Tell the dispatcher on the phone what you saw immediately.
- Take photos of everything around the accident. You are collecting evidence as well as information that can help your attorney reconstruct the accident and use resources to further investigate it.
- Provide only facts to the police, but do share what you know with them. They have the best resources for tracking down hit-and-run drivers. They want to do so because of the criminal aspect of the case.
- Work with an attorney immediately. Once your medical care is set, contact our Las Vegas hit-and-run accident lawyer. The sooner you involve us, the sooner we can begin building your case and gathering data.
- We keep up with the police. You can expect our hit-and-run accident lawyer to keep working with the police to identify those at fault. We will help share critical information as it becomes available.
- Gather additional information. Over the coming days, you will likely remember critical details, or you may think of information you did not share. Your attorney will also work to gather data from surveillance cameras and use accident reconstruction services to gather even more evidence.
Throughout this process, you can count on your attorney to continue to work to identify your legal rights. That includes seeking identification of the at-fault driver and pursuing financial compensation from other sources. Our goal is always to seek fair compensation in all possible forms.
Hire a Hit-and-Run Attorney as Soon as Possible
After any car accident, put your safety first by getting medical care and following your doctor’s instructions. If you have serious injuries, do not wait to contact our hit-and-run accident lawyer. There are many ways an attorney can help you throughout this case, including aiding in finding the at-fault party and maximizing your claim. When you contact our legal team, we will:
- Further investigate your case. We draw on our network of resources to gather the evidence necessary to hold those at fault accountable. Our over 60 years of experience give us the tools to aid you through this process.
- We start calculating your losses. Your losses begin immediately, and they build over time. We look at all of them, including physical injuries, emotional trauma, and financial impact. Expect us to be there to guide you through this process.
- We handle the insurance companies. That includes answering questions, verifying data, and accurately demonstrating financial losses.
By putting our lawyers to work for you, you do not have to sit and wait for the police to uncover who is at fault. Instead, you can expect us to start working on building your case and claim right away, protecting your financial future, and giving you a critical voice. When you have serious injuries, permanent disfigurement, or loss of peace of mind, you can expect us to fight for you.
What Compensation Victims of Hit-and-Run Accidents Can Recover
After a hit-and-run accident, victims can seek financial compensation for any of the losses they have suffered. It is very important that you document what these losses are, including all physical, emotional, and financial implications you have after being hurt in an accident. The following are some of the most common types of losses victims suffer in these accidents:
- Medical costs: This includes immediate and future medical expenses from your emergency care, rehabilitation, and future medical expenses expected
- Financial losses from being unable to work: This includes wages you did not receive, bonuses you missed, and changes to your benefits due to your missed time at work.
- Property damage: Recovery of losses related to damage to your car or other assets. This often includes repairing or replacing your vehicle.
- Ongoing healthcare needs: Care in your home, long-term stays at rehabilitation centers, and modifications to your home due to ongoing injuries or limitations.
- Disfigurement: Compensation for the losses you face due to disfiguring injuries resulting in scars, burns, and amputations.
- Emotional trauma: Many victims face serious injuries that cause depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or anxiety. You can receive compensation for those experiences, as well as the mental health support you need.
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for the losses you have related to the physical pain and suffering you experienced at the time of the accident and onward.
- Loss of quality of life: Impact on your ability to do things you enjoy, experience life as you would have, or be happy.
With the guidance of our hit-and-run attorney, we will help you determine all of your losses and build a claim that reflects everything you are experiencing and are likely to experience in the future. Your claim should include comprehensive support for your full recovery.
How You Can Recover Damages After a Hit and Run Accident
Many times, police identify the party that fled the scene, in which case you can follow the traditional process of filing a claim against that party’s liability insurance. If they cannot determine who is at fault, there may be other ways to recover the losses you have. Our hit-and-run accident lawyer will help you to do that.
If you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, you can file a claim for your losses through that policy. This is a policy you purchase that covers your losses in these cases. Our lawyers will help you seek maximum compensation in these cases, fighting for fair treatment up to the coverage applicable in your case.
In some cases, we may be able to determine that a third party is also to blame for your accident. For example, we may learn that the city held some fault in the matter or a third-party driver contributed to the incident. In those cases, we may be able to seek financial compensation for you against those parties as well, increasing the availability of covering your losses.
Choose H&P Law Accident Attorneys
The skilled personal injury attorneys at H&P Law are well-known for frequent and successful representation of car accident victims, both in and out of the courtroom.
We will fight for the best compensation available, based on the facts and applicable Nevada law. Contact us today for your initial case evaluation if you are hurt in a Nevada hit-and-run accident.
