Hit by a semi who ran

[bubbly602]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

Last night I was stopped at a red light when I was rear-ended by a semi-truck. I began to get out of my car to see what was going on when the light turned green. The semi then proceeded to push my car into the intersection and drive off. I called 911 and a witness drove off after him to get a license plate number. The witness returned with a Nebraska plate number but when the police ran the number there was no record of the plate. the witness did also get the name of the trucking company that was on the trailer. My passenger and I both went to the hospital to get checked out. She had some hip pain and I had neck pain and my ankle was hurting. Today, so are my knees and lower back. I fully intend to press charges if they find the guy, and also possibly sue for punitive damages. My question is this. Should I wait until the police have found the guy and determined who is liable for this before I see a lawyer, or should I go now? I have already turned in what info the police gave me to the insurance company as well as made a follow up appointment with my doctor. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[JETX]

At this time, unless you can find out the driver/owner, the attorney would likely not have much to do.....
I would suggest you contact YOUR insurance company in the interim.

 

[bubbly602]

update, a few questions...

After playing phone tag with the investigating officer for a week and a half, I now have the other driver's information. I have an appointment with an attorney on Feb. 2. But I have some questions about how certain things might affect the case.

This is the information that the officer gave me:
--The driver of the truck is 66 years old
--The truck is owned by the driver. He is an independent contractor.
--At the time of the collision, he was under contract to a trucking co. I won't give the name, but I do have it.
--The officer gave me the name of his insurance company but told me that there was no policy number since the driver is self insured.
--The driver claims that someone's trying to frame him, he wasn't in any accident.
--The officer told me that there is a ticket for him, but that he won't get the ticket unless he comes back into Colorado(that one makes no sense to me since they have his address)
--She also told me that since he denies having been in an accident, he was only ticketed for careless driving, not hit-and-run.

That's all the information I have right now, and I will be giving it to the attorney. But I have a few questions...

1) Since the driver is an independent contractor, who would be liable in this case? The driver or the company that contracted him?
2) I don't understand what the cop said about no policy number cause he's self-insured. Doesn't there have to be a policy number somewhere?
3) I also don't understand why he was not charged with hit and run. Since he did run, of course he's gonna deny everything. The fact is, I was hit, he ran, and there are witnesses to this. Anybody have any idea as to the reasoning behind this?

More than anything, I just want to get this guy off the road because if he knew he hit me and drove off, he's dangerous; if he didn't know he hit me, he's even more dangerous. Again, any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. I've never been in this situation before and I don't want to go to the lawyer without any idea of my options. Thanks,

Melissa

 

[bubbly602]

One more question

Would it be considered a conflict of interest for the attorney if he were to represent both my passenger and myself?

Thanks,
Melissa

 

[JETX]

As long as there is not a potential claim by the passenger against you, no.
But since there could ALWAYS be a case where that could happen, I would not recommend that you both 'share' an attorney.

 

[bubbly602]

update, a few questions

okay, since the accident occurred, the insurance company of the trucking company contacted me. The sent someone out to look at my car, and sent someone out to interview me, as well as my passenger and the witnesses. The claims investigator the insurance company contracted out to said that since the guy who inspected my vehicle could not find any damage(there was minor damage to the bumper and rear end of the car), my claim was basically for emotional damages. Not sure if this is important, but the car has since been sold. The claims investigator also stated that while the trucking company is not denying that one of their trucks hit me, the driver is still refusing to admit his involvement in the accident. How long is a reasonable period of time (from the time the investigator interviewed the final witness) for me to expect to hear from them regarding this accident? The investigator interviewed my passenger(whom he told he had already interviewed all of the witnesses) over a month ago. I would think that I would hear something pretty soon now. Should I go ahead and try to contact them and see what's going on?

Thanks