Compensation After a Hit-and-Run DUI Rear-End Crash

Attorney Answer

You are likely to have more than one source of compensation, and with several vehicles struck by the same driver you should not assume that driver's insurance will stretch far enough to cover everyone. That is the practical problem to get ahead of, and your own policy may turn out to be the part that matters most.

The fault side is straightforward. Cal. Veh. Code § 21703 provides: "The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicle and the traffic upon, and the condition of, the roadway." Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a) makes a driver responsible for an injury occasioned to another by a want of ordinary care in the management of his or her property or person. A driver stopped at a light and struck from behind leaves a defense very little to work with. California is also a pure comparative fault state, so even a partial share of blame would reduce a recovery in proportion rather than end it; the California Supreme Court reaffirmed and applied that system in Daly v. General Motors Corp., 20 Cal. 3d 725 (1978).

Leaving matters separately. Cal. Veh. Code § 20001(a) requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to another person, or in death, to stop immediately at the scene. Under subdivision (b), a violation is punishable by up to a year in county jail, a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, or both, and where the crash caused death or permanent, serious injury, by two to four years in state prison or by ninety days to a year in county jail. That is the criminal case. It is run by the district attorney, not by you, and your civil claim is separate and does not wait for it.

On coverage, if the at-fault driver's policy will not go around, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is the next place to look. Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(a)(1) requires bodily injury liability policies issued or delivered in California to carry uninsured motorist coverage unless it has been deleted by written agreement on the forms the statute prescribes, so many drivers carry it without knowing. What you can be paid is measured by Cal. Civ. Code § 3333: the amount which will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused, whether it could have been anticipated or not.

If the semi was being driven for a business, there may also be a commercial policy and a separate claim against that business. Whether there is turns on the driver's relationship with it, which is worth a lawyer's look early rather than late.

What you can do

1. Get medical care now and keep every record and bill, including anything from the scene or an emergency room.

2. Get the traffic collision report number, and the case number for the criminal matter if you have it.

3. Write down what you remember while it is fresh: where you were stopped, what you saw and heard, and which vehicles were hit.

4. Notify your own insurer promptly and ask in writing for your declarations page and for confirmation of whether you carry uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage and medical payments coverage.

5. Ask a local personal injury attorney about the competing claims to the at-fault driver's limits. When one driver injures people in several vehicles, the order and timing of claims can matter, and that is not a do-it-yourself problem.

6. Ask the prosecutor's victim services office about restitution in the criminal case. It is a separate route and does not replace the civil claim.

7. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A claim for injury to a person runs under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, which allows two years, and a claim for damage to your truck under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1), which allows three. An uninsured or underinsured motorist claim also carries notice and demand deadlines set by the policy itself, which can be far shorter than either. When each began depends on your facts, so have a local attorney check the dates against your own file now.