Unreported Car Accidents in Tucson
As it is the law in most places, any driver involved in a car accident must notify the local authorities. It is vital to report car accidents resulting in death, injury, or severe damage to the vehicles involved.
Unreported car accidents can have significant implications, especially when it comes to filing a claim. Regardless, there have been numerous cases where drivers involved in a car crash have neglected the responsibility and tried to cover up the occurrence by failing to report.
Why Should You Report a Car Accident?
There are many different reasons why drivers choose not to report a car crash. One of the most common reasons is the lack of pain or signs of injury. There are also instances where offending drivers talk you into accepting settlement without dragging the local authorities and insurance companies into the matter.
However, unreported car accidents come with many risks, and here are some of them:
Legal Obligations
In some cases, you are required by the law to report a car accident. The most common scenarios where you must report a car accident include where an accident results in bodily harm, death, or damages to property meeting a specific monetary threshold. If you fail to report a car accident to the police, you have a short window of several days to complete and submit a driver’s crash report failure to which you could:
- Get jail time
- Pay a fine
- Both
If the accident does not cause any injuries or property damage meeting the set threshold, you have no legal obligation to report it.
Subsequent Injuries
After an accident, the adrenaline rush and shock you experience may impair your judgment, making it difficult for you to feel any pain or notice injuries. A few hours, even days may pass before you notice and symptoms of injuries; hence you may not see the need to report the accident.
If you start noticing the injuries later, you may have difficulty filing a compensation claim if you left the accident unreported.
The liable driver could claim that the injuries are from a separate event unrelated to the accident since you did not file any report. As a result, you may have a hard time establishing your causality.
Filing a Claim
It is possible to file an insurance claim without a police report. However, it makes the process unnecessarily longer and more challenging. The insurance company will take a longer time to process the claim. In some cases, they may deny it due to a lack of evidence.
With a police report, you have official documentation of all the circumstances surrounding the accident. It may include insurance details, available evidence, contact details, and witness information.
Find a Tucson Car Accident Attorney
The liable driver has valid reasons to leave a car accident unreported. However, you can impact the chances of getting compensated for the damages and injuries if you fail to report as the victim. You may have to cover the expenses out of pocket. A Tucson Car Accident Attorney can help you build a robust case. However, you first need to play your role by reporting the crash.