What To Do After An Accident With A Non-Resident Driver
Brian O Sutter
Accident Lawyers
It is no surprise why Florida is called “the sunshine state” with its wonderfully mild and mostly pleasant weather. However, this means that throughout the year from summer vacation to the winter holidays, there are an abundance of visitors and tourists that are enjoying the weather with us.While there is certainly plenty of ‘sunshine’ to go around, the increase of visitors also means an increase of drivers on the road and accidents.
At times it may just be a little fender bender with someone visiting out of state, but other times it can be a much more drastic change like when a British tourist forgets to switch sides while driving and accidentally crashes into another driver. In most car accidents, there are a lot of factors that will need to be looked into before deciding whether or not to go to court.
However, what do you do if the other driver isn’t from Florida or even from America for that matter?
Much like with any normal accident, the first thing you must do is check the condition of passengers and any others that may have been involved in the accident. Any injuries spotted will require you to call an ambulance immediately in addition to contacting the police to examine and process the accident scene.
Next, if you are able, you should try to exchange contact details between yourself and all other party members involved in the car accident. This is when you are likely to find out what kind of situation you are in. Typically, the car of a non-resident will have an out-of-state license plate, which will already alert you to the fact that the driver is not from Florida. However, if the car used was a rental, then you will not know until talking to the other driver.
Still, in a few cases, you may even find that the person you have gotten in an accident with is not even from America to begin with. Even then, this can be pretty straight forward depending on exactly where the driver is from. For example, if the driver is Canadian, then you have little to worry about since Canadian businesses and insurance companies work with American ones all the time.
However, if the tourist is from Europe or Asia, you are likely to have a more complicated situation. Firstly, the person may not have a good grasp on a language you or the police involved can understand. Also this person may be on their way back to their country of origin, meaning they are hoping to go home rather soon which will make the accident more difficult to reach an agreement. Lastly, trying to get an insurance company from their country to communicate with an American establishment is likely to be complicated and have a different set of standards.
So then what are your legal options in this situation?
Resident or non-resident, your need for a personal injury lawyer after an auto accident does not change. You should still seek out the help of an experienced auto accident lawyer to ensure you get the full legal protection and representation you deserve. From here, they will help guide you through the procedure and help you navigate through any complications that may occur from an accident with a non-resident driver.