The Law Blog

Photo Courtesy of jso888 via Flickr

To many road users, hit-and-run drivers are the scourge of modern society. Although any motorist can make a mistake, fleeing the scene of an accident is an offence for good reason. Not only can the actions of hit-and-run drivers cost lives, they also complicate the process of claiming compensation for accident victims. Fleeing the scene of an accident, however necessary it may seem to the offending driver at the time, is rarely the most sensible option – especially where the hit-and-run driver has pranged a pick-up truck whose owner desperately – really desperately – wants to exchange insurance details.

Recently, a hit-and-run driver crashed into a red pick-up truck at the junction of Garth and Sexton streets in Columbia, Missouri, USA. Rather than stop for a friendly chat about vehicle insurance, the offending motorist decided it would be prudent to rapidly depart from the scene. So the hit-and-run driver slammed on the accelerator, presumably in hope of leaving the stricken pick-up truck in a cloud of exhaust fumes and tyre rubber. Unfortunately for the hit-and-run motorist, the driver of the pick-up truck had no intention of letting him ride off into the sunset so easily. Consequently, the drivers embarked on a race through the streets of Columbia.

As the hit-and-run motorist, who was driving a blue Chrysler Sebring, ran a stop sign at the intersection of McBaine Avenue and Worley Street, the driver of the red pick-up truck followed closely. Speeding past the stop sign in hot pursuit of the hit-and-run driver, the owner of the red pick-up truck smashed into the side of a black Dodge Dakota, causing extensive damage to both vehicles. As if to complete the comedy of errors, the hit-and-run driver subsequently careered his Sebring into a plumbing truck that had stopped at the intersection. Two people were injured as a result of the collisions.

The circumstances of the present case may seem unusual but, in fact, hit-and-run drivers often cause additional incidents while fleeing the scene of the original accident. Within the same week, a hit-and-run motorist in New York City collided head-on with an ambulance as he attempted to flee an earlier smash.