What to do after a car accident in Rhode Island

If anyone is hurt, call 911. Rhode Island requires every driver in a crash that injures someone, or damages a vehicle someone was driving or attending, to stop at the scene, or as close to it as possible, without blocking traffic more than necessary. You must stay until you have given your information and helped anyone who is injured.

Leaving is a crime. Failing to stop after a vehicle-damage crash is a misdemeanor that can bring a $500 to $1,000 fine, up to 6 months in jail, and a license suspension. Knowingly leaving when someone was injured can bring up to 5 years in prison and a mandatory license loss of 1 to 5 years.

When asked, you must give your name, address, and vehicle registration number and show your license to the other driver or the person struck. You must give reasonable help to anyone injured and notify the local or state police right away by the quickest means available.

If you hit a parked car with no one in it, find the owner or leave a note with your name and address, the name and address of your vehicle's owner, and what happened. You must also notify the police.

Photograph every vehicle from several angles, the damage up close, the road, skid marks, traffic signals, and any visible injuries. Write down the time, weather, and what each driver said while it is fresh. Keep towing, rental, and repair receipts.

See a doctor promptly, even if you feel fine. Some injuries take hours or days to show up. Medical records made soon after the crash are often the clearest link between the accident and your injuries, so follow the treatment plan and keep every bill.

Within 21 days, you must send a written accident report to the Division of Motor Vehicles on its forms if the crash injured or killed anyone, or if any one person, including you, had more than $1,000 in property damage. The DMV can require a supplemental report. This duty is separate from the police report.

Tell your own insurance company about the accident promptly, and read your policy for its notice and cooperation terms. Stick to the facts and do not guess about fault or injuries.

The other driver's insurer may call quickly and ask for a recorded statement. You do not have a policy with that company. Talk with a lawyer before you give a statement, sign a medical authorization, or sign a release. Once a claim is settled, the payer generally must pay within 30 days after you or your lawyer send the signed release.

You choose the repair shop. Rhode Island law bars insurers from requiring repairs at a particular auto body shop or interfering with your choice. If you and the insurer cannot agree on the amount of the loss, you have the right to use the state's independent appraisal process.

Your property claim is more than the repair bill. The Rhode Island Supreme Court has allowed recovery for loss of use, such as the cost of a rental car while yours is in the shop. It measures damage to a car by the drop in its fair market value from just before the crash to just after. A repaired car with an accident history may be worth less than before, and that loss is called diminished value.

If your insurer pays under your collision coverage and later recovers from the at-fault driver, it must first repay your deductible, less a prorated share of its collection costs.

Rhode Island follows pure comparative negligence. Being partly at fault does not bar you from recovering. Instead, your damages are reduced by your share of the fault. If you are found 20 percent at fault, your award is reduced by 20 percent. The rule applies to injury and property damage claims.

Rhode Island auto policies must include uninsured motorist coverage equal to your bodily injury liability limits, unless you chose lower limits in writing. It can be reduced to zero only on a minimum-coverage policy after you sign an advisory notice. It covers underinsured and hit-and-run drivers too, and you do not have to sue the at-fault driver first.

If you paid separate uninsured motorist premiums for more than one vehicle with the same company, you can collect up to the combined coverage. Uninsured motorist property damage coverage can be rejected in writing, and it carries a $200 deductible unless otherwise agreed.

A lawsuit for personal injuries generally must be filed within three years after the claim arises. A tort claim against the state or a city or town also has a three-year limit. Claims for damage to your car alone fall under a different, longer deadline, explained in our diminished value article.

Do not wait for the deadline. Witnesses move, video is erased, and a claim documented from the start is harder to dispute.