From a criminal law standpoint, hit-and-run incidents can range from relatively minor misdemeanors to serious felony crimes, depending largely on the degree of injury or property damage. North Carolina law takes these crimes seriously for good reason. When people remain at the scene, they are available to render immediate assistance and help. Even when they cause an accident, they can still save lives after the fact.
Our Charlotte car accident lawyers are often called upon to help victims of hit-and-run accidents explore their legal options when they cannot turn to the liable party to seek compensation for their injuries and other damages. Unfortunately, their options are limited unless they can find the offender. In most cases, drivers flee the scene when it is in their best interest to do so. But sometimes, their consciences cause them to attempt to do the right thing.
An Unusual Conscience Attack Helps Get Police to the Scene of a Recent Hit-and-Run Accident
There are three primary reasons why drivers hit and run:
- Many hit-and-run drivers do not remain on the scene due to intoxication, or even when they fail to carry state-required auto insurance.
- Other drivers go into a degree of shock, with fear causing them to keep driving even when they know they should stop.
- Some drivers leave the scene simply because they are unaware that they caused an accident, as might be the case when they side-swipe a pedestrian on the passenger side of their vehicle.
While drivers in the last two categories often turn themselves in when they fully realize what has happened, drivers in the first category hope to remain unknown. However, according to an October 19th NBC News story, a driver attempted to make things right when, after too many drinks, he hit and injured four pedestrians, one critically. After hiding his vehicle, he returned to the scene and called 911, claiming to be a witness who saw the accident after leaving a bar. Later, after apparently giving two weeks’ notice to his employer, he filed an insurance claim and took his vehicle out of state to get it repaired.
Conscience Attacks Can Lead to Evidence
After giving notice at his job, the offender admitted fault to a co-worker and that co-worker called the highway patrol. In other words, police had enough evidence to locate and arrest the driver. Even without a statement, however, a skilled hit-and-run attorney can sometimes employ investigative resources to uncover the offender based on other information.
A police report might suggest that the witness’ statement had questionable aspects that bear additional investigation. In this case, an investigation of the witness could potentially reveal the insurance claim. An attorney might then connect the dots and establish liability for the hit-and-run incident.
Even though hit-and-run cases typically pose challenges for victims, it costs nothing to seek legal advice to find out if more can be done to hold violators accountable for the injuries they cause. To get started, call us at 800-948-0577 or use our convenient online contact form.