The first thing to do after any accident is to see if anyone is hurt or needs medical attention. After any medical issues have been addressed, you can deal with the accident report and insurance claim.
What information can you gather at the scene of the car accident?
Do not chase after the other vehicle. This could be dangerous, and it’s better to let the professionals take care of the situation. If you are able to secure the vehicle’s license plate information (even just a part of it), you can add it to the accident report. You should also add as detailed of a description as possible of the vehicle that drove away from the scene of the accident.
If there are witnesses to the scene, or if there were other people in your car at the time of the accident, ask if they remember more of the license plate or can provide a better description than you can. You may be more upset than the witnesses or bystanders, and they may be able to provide more accurate information to the authorities. The more information you can give to the police, the better.
Steps to take in an accident when the other driver has disappeared
- File a police report. The police need to have all the information on record to assist in finding the guilty party in the car accident. It’s sad, but there is so much fraud in our society that the insurance company must take every precaution to determine if the claim is legitimate. A police report is a sworn statement that the insurance company will take very seriously.
- Report the incident to your insurance company and to your agent.
Bear in mind that the definition of a hit-and-run accident and the coinciding penalty differ by state read here for Utah’s.