Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog
This past March, AAA issued a press release about its latest research into hit-and-run accidents. According to AAA, “15% of all police-reported crashes in 2023 involved a driver who fled the scene.” (2023 was the most recent year for which data was available.) AAA data tells us that hundreds of thousands of hit-and-run accidents occur each year, resulting in thousands of deaths. Many of those victims are pedestrians. Suffering a catastrophic injury (or losing a loved one) at the hands of a hit-and-run driver can present some serious challenges for you. A knowledgeable Oregon pedestrian accident lawyer can provide invaluable aid in pursuing the best avenues to help you get the recovery you need.
One of these hit-and-run incidents occurred here in Portland this week. Early Tuesday morning, police arrived at the eastbound side of Highway 26 near the Oregon Zoo, according to KATU. At the scene, the officers found a dead pedestrian. They found no driver. That person had already fled the scene.
So far, the police have made no arrests.
As noted above, suffering serious injury (or a loved one suffering a fatal injury) at the hands of a hit-and-run driver can be especially stressful. How, you may wonder, can you obtain the recovery you need if you do not know the identity of the at-fault driver? There actually are multiple possible options. In each case, having representation provided by an experienced Oregon accident attorney can go a long way in helping you get justice.
For one thing, your knowledgeable accident attorney can investigate the crash and collect all necessary evidence, including any available photographs, video footage, eyewitness statements, and police reports (just to name a few). If the at-fault driver ultimately is identified, your attorney can help you pursue a claim against the driver’s auto insurance, a civil lawsuit, or both, depending on relevant factors like the total extent of the damages and the amount of auto insurance coverage the driver had.
Insurance Claims
Additionally, your case may require you to file a claim with your own insurance company. Even though you were not driving when the driver hit you, you can still recover under your auto insurance policy if the hit-and-run driver is not identified. Additionally, even if the driver is identified, they may not have enough coverage to meet your needs. (Keep in mind that Oregon only requires drivers to maintain coverage, at a minimum, of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.) If the at-fault driver has only minimum coverage (or something close to it), they likely do not have enough coverage to compensate you for all the harm you suffered. In that scenario, you may need to pursue a claim under your policy’s uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage.
Receiving a fair outcome from these insurance claims can be problematic, even when the insurance company is your own. Insurance companies often have special reporting requirements and tight deadlines. Insurers may try to avoid paying at all or pay as little as possible. You need a powerful and experienced advocate who will work with the insurance company (or companies) to ensure all reporting demands and deadlines are met and then ensure that the insurer pays you what they truly owe.
As this information illustrates, completing this process requires diligence, keen attention to detail, knowledge, and experience. The skilled Oregon pedestrian accident lawyers at Kaplan Law LLC offer our clients all of that plus the personalized attention every client deserves. Call (503) 226-3844 today or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.
