(Photo credit: Richard Masoner/Flickr)
Motor vehicle collisions can be harrowing incidents for everyone involved.
If you suspect you caused an accident, you may be afraid to deal with the consequences, but you are legally and morally obligated to remain at the scene of a crash. If you don’t, you’re putting yourself in a far more serious situation with the possibility of criminal charges being laid against you.
Whether or not there’s property damage, you must stay and check the other party is uninjured or assist them, if needed, and exchange contact information then remain on the scene until the authorities arrive for further investigation.
If you don’t, you could be charged with a failure to stop at the scene of an accident, which could lead to a maximum jail term of five years. If the driver has fled the scene of the accident caused bodily harm, you could be sentenced to the maximum punishment of ten years in jail. If the accident involves bodily harm or death and the other driver is aware the other party is hurt or dead, you could be sentenced to a jail for life.
In a recent accident in early August, OPP are searching for a vehicle that struck an 82-year-old woman as she was walking along Hwy. 400. The elderly woman had been reported by missing by her family a few hours earlier and police were called to the area after they received a call about a woman walking on the highway. By the time police arrived, the woman had been hit and was found on the ground. Police found evidence of the vehicle, which includes damage from its passenger side and its mirror.
Also, this past June, a man was handed a five-year prison sentence, two years of probation and 100 hours of community service for a hit-and-run collision that killed a Western University student in May 2012. The driver pled guilty to leaving the scene of the accident causing death after he struck the 22-year-old who was jogging home after spending time with his friends, according to CTV News.
Two men were also convicted for a hit-and-run collision outside of Brockville, Ont., where upon discovering the body in their truck, they dumped it in a skateboard park. The driver was charged with failing to remain at the scene of the accident and indignity to a dead body and he was sentenced to a two-year jail sentence, less a day, according to CBC News. The passenger was charged with impaired driving and indignity to a dead body and he was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment.
Accident benefits are available to anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident regardless of their role in the accident. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been dealing with all accident related issues throughout Ontario for over 45 years. We know how to get you the compensation that you deserve and get your life back in order after being in a car accident. Call us at 416-920-4242, set up a free consultation, and come speak with us.
Greg Neinstein
Latest posts by Greg Neinstein (see all)
- Do I have a personal injury case? - April 23, 2019
- Are your insurance premiums high? Check your postal code - April 17, 2019
- This was an unusually harsh winter for slip-and-falls - April 11, 2019