QuestionMy wife was involved in an accident.
Our car was one of two cars which were making a left hand turn. She was in the left hand turn lane. The other car,
which should have been behind her waiting for her to finish, came around her from behind and attempted to turn also.
She began the turn when the road was clear. She was hit by a motorcyclist in a skid.
The other driver making a left turn ran over the motorcyclist and disappeared - it was a hit and run.
The police came, one of them said it was being investigated as a criminal case, a hit and run, and we got a call from an Inspector a week or so ago, to ask questions. The police report is not ready. There were witnesses. At the scene, the witnesses were upset with the driver who did the hit and run and said he caused the whole thing.
The motorcyclist survived with some serious injuries. We have gotten a letter from an attorney saying they are going to go after our assets. We have insurance with a 100K limit on injury. The insurance company told us that they are going to address this with their lawyers but we are going to need an attorney to protect our assets. We have a house. We are the party to this accident that has assets, the hit and run driver is employed in a low level job but does not have a house.
My question is, what is our liability for these injuries, if the serious injuries were caused by the hit and run?
AnswerHi Megan,
Liability can only be determined with the full details of all of the facts of the situation. There will be statements taken from all of the drivers, passengers and witnessess. Then the determinations of liability can be assessed.
Based on your story, It sounds like you have no liability at all unless you turned left in front of the motorcycle causing him to lay the bike down. It could be said that although the hit & run driver actually ran over the motorcycle, it was you that caused the crash by making the left turn in the first place that cause the motorcycle to lay down and slide.
As you can see, there are many more facts that are needed. Your insurance company will provide you with a defence attorney. If you receive any papers of phone calls from the other side you should not speak to then but simply refer them to your insurance company. After the insurance company attorney has had time to review the entire matter and has spoken with the attorney for the other side, The attorney should be able to tell you if you will need your own attorney to represent you for any claims above the amount of your insurance. If that does become necessary, ask several people for referrals. Do not hire an attorney that you see advertise on TV or one with a full page ad in the yellow pages.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
