It can be tempting to leave the scene of a pickup truck accident, particularly if it doesn’t seem like anyone got hurt. Unfortunately, leaving the scene before the police arrive can prove dangerous to your long-term financial and mental well-being. If you don’t stay on the scene until the police arrive, there’s a chance that you might face hit and run charges.
What’s worse, leaving the scene allows a liable party to misconstrue the reality of your accident. If you don’t stay nearby and communicate your losses with local law enforcement, there’s a chance that the liable party may attempt to blame you for the collision. You, in turn, may find yourself trying to contest a settlement demand from the person who caused your accident.
How can you protect yourself from this kind of treatment? When in doubt, call on the Indiana truck accident lawyers with Vaughan & Vaughan.
The Dangers of Leaving a Truck Accident Scene
Leaving the scene of a truck accident before the police can speak with you puts you at legal risk on two fronts:
Indiana’s Hit and Run Charges
First and foremost, there’s a chance that officers may see you leaving the scene of the accident and subsequently accuse you of a hit and run accident. Those accusations are long-lasting, as they force you to undergo a criminal trial. If you don’t challenge accusations of a hit and run, you may face felony charges.
Even if no one is injured at the scene, you are obligated to report truck accidents that generate more than $1,000 in losses. Failure to do so can see you face Class B misdemeanor charges.
In other words, staying at the scene of a truck accident protects you from having to go to criminal court.
Muddying the Waters Regarding Accident Liability
If you discount the risk of criminal accusations, leaving a pickup truck accident scene still puts your right to civil action into question. If you don’t tell your side of the story to the police, then the other party involved in your wreck might paint you as the party liable for their losses. You, in turn, may have to defend yourself against a civil claim.
Should you stay on the scene, though, you can retain some control over the narrative of your case. At the least, police officers can compare your story against another party’s. You can then reach out to our attorneys and prepare to take your case to court should the need to do so arise.
What to Do While Waiting for the Police to Arrive
The good news is that so long as you or a bystander calls 911 within a few seconds of your accident, police officers tend to respond quickly to news of a crash. In other words, you won’t have to wait long to discuss the incident with a law enforcement representative. What can you do in the meanwhile to protect yourself from harm?
When in doubt, move away from the vehicles involved in the crash. Stay within sight of those vehicles, but get away from any dangerous leaks or hazardous materials. Exchange insurance information with a liable party, and check yourself and your passengers over for injuries.
If someone gets severely injured in a pickup truck accident, work with emergency responders to get them the care they need as soon as possible. In the meanwhile, you can also:
Call a Truck Accident Lawyer
You can call a pickup truck accident lawyer from the scene of an accident if you want to secure professional representation. Alternatively, you can contact a representative after you’ve gone to the hospital or spoken with police officers. The sooner you have an attorney on hand, the more effectively you can protect yourself from intimidation or willful misunderstandings.
That said, you have until your case’s statute of limitations expires to contact an attorney and discuss your right to action in civil court. According to Indiana Code section 34-11-2-4, this means you have two years to schedule an initial case consultation and file your claim. Fail to act within those two years, though, and you may waive your right to civil action.
Document Evidence of the Other Party’s Negligence
Provided that your phone isn’t broken after a pickup truck accident, it’s important that you take pictures of the accident scene. The more information about the accident you can document, the easier it may prove to hold a liable party accountable for their misconduct.
You can also use your phone to take statements from bystanders who witnessed your accident. These statements can contribute to your fight for compensation. If nothing else, you can use your phone’s Notes app to record bystanders’ contact information so that you can call them for future statements.
Note that you should never put yourself in harm’s way to document the nature of a pickup truck accident. If you or a loved one are injured, or if the scene is particularly dangerous, stand to the side and let law enforcement do its job. Our Indiana pickup truck accident lawyers can return to the scene at a later date to initiate an investigation into your losses.
Let an Attorney Help You Address the Complexities of a Truck Accident
It’s not in your best interest to leave the scene of a pickup truck accident before the police arrive. Doing so can, unfortunately, misconstrue your circumstances. If you leave, police officers may accuse you of causing a hit and run accident. The party liable for your losses may even try to put the blame for their misconduct onto your shoulders.
With that in mind, stay at the scene until the police arrive, even if the other parties involved in your crash leave. The more diligent you are in your effort to cooperate with local law enforcement representatives, the more likely it is that you can leave the scene with your right to civil action secured.
For more information about how to protect yourself in the face of a pickup truck accident, contact Vaughan & Vaughan. You can meet with our truck accident attorneys in Indiana to discuss what rights you have in the wake of a negligence-based crash.
