Getting into a car accident is incredibly frustrating and the resulting injuries you may have can be painful and life-altering. What makes an accident even worse is when you are hit by an uninsured driver.
When you’re hit by an uninsured driver, you will have a much tougher time recovering your losses. This also increases the likelihood of a hit-and-run accident, which are especially difficult to find justice for. Navigating legal intricacies following a hit-and-run accident can make your already stressful situation a lot harder.
To protect yourself against uninsured drivers and hit-and-run accidents, you need to proactively ensure your safety. We’ve got some excellent tips below to get you started.
Understanding Your Local Risk
A strong starting point is to understand your local risks.
While uninsured drivers can be found all across the country, some states are particularly notorious for uncovered driving. In no particular order, these include Florida, Washington, Michigan, California, Mississippi, Tennessee, New Mexico, Alabama, and Arkansas.
These states are particularly dangerous because they feature uninsured driver rates of around 20%. This means that one in every five drivers you see on the road is potentially uninsured.
Should you live in a state with high uninsured driving rates, the need to avoid an accident becomes much more important.
Safe Driving Behaviors
You should also practice safe driving behaviors whenever you drive.
Because uninsured drivers are everywhere and you can’t easily identify who might be one, you need to prevent any accident from occurring. With good driving habits, you can greatly minimize your chances of getting into an accident and effectively avoid hazardous situations more often.
Specifically, you should focus on obeying all traffic laws and the speed limit, allow plenty of space between you and other drivers, keep your intentions obvious by using signals and respecting traffic signs, and closely observe other drivers to catch any dangerous behavior.
When you drive safely and defensively, uninsured motorists are far less likely to cause an accident with you, meaning greater protection against them.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Arguably the most important tip you can implement is to purchase uninsured motorist coverage.
Even if you are a safe driver, you can’t always avoid the bad habits of someone else. A clear example of this is being stopped at a red light and getting rear-ended by someone who was looking down at their phone.
The resulting accident isn’t your fault, but what happens if they don’t have insurance? For situations like these, you need to have coverage to protect yourself against losses.
You will want to get uninsured motorist coverage for bodily injuries and property damage. This can also be used to cover hit-and-run accidents in most states, although some will also require collision coverage to cover the damage to your car.
With uninsured motorist coverage, you can experience far less worry when an accident happens, knowing you’ll be financially set regardless of the other driver’s insurance situation.
Collect Extensive Evidence
Lastly, you’ll need to ensure that you collect extensive evidence of your accident.
This is important because you’ll still need to provide details of the incident to your insurance company to recover damages. The more documentation you have to show the circumstances of the accident and the extent of your injuries, the smoother the claims process will be.
In particular, you’ll want to gather accident photos, witness testimonies, dashcam footage, police reports, and any identifying information about the other car and driver. Additionally, you’ll need to be examined by a doctor and any proof detailing your time and money spent receiving medical services should be included.
It can be extremely frustrating to experience delays and extensive questioning when you’ve done nothing wrong and just want your damages covered. Remembering to collect any relevant documentation is your best way to ensure a quick and fair resolution.
Closing Thoughts
If you ever get into an accident with an uninsured driver, you may be on the hook for your medical bills and car repairs without the right protection. Uninsured drivers are incredibly common and you never know who might not have coverage.
To avoid the losses of an uninsured motorist accident, defensive actions must be taken before an accident ever happens. Specifically, you should understand and appreciate your local uninsured motorist risks, practice safe driving behaviors, and purchase uninsured motorist coverage for bodily injury and property damage.
Should you experience an accident with an uninsured driver, ensure you collect as much documentation as possible to prove what happened. You deserve fair treatment and total recovery of your losses when an accident isn’t your fault, but it’s up to you to ensure you receive it.