Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog
A woman who hit a Chicago pedestrian and fled the scene has been located and cited by police. According to CBS 2, the driver was driving through the South Side at around 2 a.m. on Nov. 30 when a 71-year-old man emerged from between two parked cars. She hit him and fled the scene, but was found just an hour and a half later by police. The man died about a half hour later at the hospital. She was cited for multiple traffic violations, including failure to reduce speed, disregarding a traffic signal, driving without insurance and reckless driving, as well as failure to report an accident.
This accident is a good example of why it never, ever pays to hit and run. As you can see from the article, it took the police very little time to locate this woman, which suggests that there may have been a witness or a camera nearby.
Hitting and running can also make things much worse for drivers who are hit with a Chicago auto accident lawsuit. Leaving the scene of an accident doesn’t necessarily mean that a driver is responsible for the crash, but it looks bad in court. Juries are not sympathetic to defendants who seem to refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. If they are caught, hit-and-run drivers who have caused serious injuries are likely to be cited or criminally charged, which is also considered damaging in any related lawsuit. I can see how a person might panic in the heat of the moment and flee, but leaving the scene almost always makes things worse in the long run.
In my practice as an Illinois auto accident lawyer, I’ve discovered that very few drivers realize the risk they run from hit-and-run drivers. If the driver isn’t caught, his or her insurance (if there is any) can’t be used to cover the victim’s injuries and property damage. This sticks victims with the bills for injuries that were the irresponsible driver’s fault; essentially, victims are victimized twice. Uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance should cover a hit-and-run, if the victim has it, but not everyone does — and many of those who do find that their insurers aren’t interested in paying fairly, if they can find an excuse not to. Our office handles uninsured motorist & hit-and-run claims against insurance companies. If you’ve been hurt in an auto accident in Illinois and would like to learn more about your options, please contact us for a free consultation.