When someone hits you with their car, you can be dealing with extensive injuries, property damage and emotional distress. Holding the appropriate party responsible for this experience can be a top priority.
However, negligent or reckless parties typically are not eager to admit wrongdoing or accept blame – particularly when it means legal and financial consequences. They often use some of the following tactics to avoid taking responsibility.
Lying about their behaviors
After a serious car accident, the parties involved must provide their account of the incident to police, insurance companies and possibly attorneys.
In their accounts, parties may lie or fail to give all the pertinent details to make it seem like they were not at fault. For instance, they might claim they were focused on the road when really they were typing out a text. Thus, investigating an accident will help you distinguish truth from lies.
Blaming others
Car crashes can be chaotic scenes, especially when multiple vehicles are involved. A person who knows or suspects they are to blame for the accident may try to point the finger elsewhere to shift blame onto someone else.
But, even if someone else is to blame, multiple people can be liable for an accident. However, one critical distinction is that Maryland laws prohibit parties from financial recovery if they contributed to their own injuries. Thus, it can be crucial to defend yourself if the other parties attempt to blame you for the accident.
Leaving the scene or giving bad information
People may try to avoid liability after a crash by leaving the scene or giving false information to other parties.
Should this happen, a thorough investigation will be crucial in helping victims pursue the damages they deserve from the responsible party. Again, working with police and attorneys can be a vital part of this.
Defending against these tactics
These attempts to avoid responsibility after an accident are not uncommon, but they can be frustrating for people who just want to hold parties accountable for their injuries.
Understanding and anticipating these tactics can help victims prepare for obstacles that may arise after a crash, making it easier to overcome them.
Most important for when someone is involved in an accident is that they should contact the police for a report to be written and obtain any contact information from any witnesses or good Samaritans who were not involved in the accident, but were present at the time of the accident.
