especially if you're on Foot or Bike
especially when they've fled the scene
After being hit, you must be very deliberate in your actions if you hope to recover damages and medical expenses from the driver, or if you think they need to be served with a criminal complaint.
You must be prepared to work. Nothing is going to happen if you just wait for the authorities to make a case for you. The police are not excited to do the full paperwork to build a case, you must focus them. The county prosecutors are not excited about litigating questionable cases, you must follow the procedure described below to make it an open-and-shut case. The actions you take from point-of-contact to 30 minutes after will determine the outcome.
Remember to be cool as a cucumber. Nobody ever truly "wins" arguments, and that goes triple at the site of traffic accidents. You're going to need the goodwill of everyone envolved (especially the other accident participant), and people trust rational, thoughtful strangers much more than they trust angry zealous strangers.
Follow these simple steps after an accident:
The most important thing is to memorise the license plate number of the car that hit you. Start saying it aloud, over and over, and don't talk to anyone until you can get a pen & paper and safely write it down.
If you have just a description of the vehicle, with no license plate number, you're Super Out of Luck. The police have no way of mapping vehicle descriptions back to their owners.
If the motorist should stop, copy their information about insurance and get their driver's license number. (If they don't have insurance, don't remark that they're in trouble, they'll find out in due time, and in the meantime stressing them out is counter-productive). To put youself in the shoes of the driver for a moment, think how hard it will be to deal with someone you've just run over. Human nature dictates that it is much easier to pick a fight or drive away than to admit a mistake and help. By being approachable and calm, you make it easier for them to do the Right Thing.
Witnesses disappear from a crime scene. You don't have much time to get as many as possible. Write down their name, address, and phone number. Then persuade them to stay around until the police arrive.
Have someone call 911 and bring police to the scene. Unless you're bleeding to death, only do this after the previous two steps, since those steps are time-sensitive - witnesses melt away into the night.
This can seem like a loooong 15 minutes. What better time than now to review the LMPD's FAQ entry on the topic?:
... If both parties agree on what happened in a non-injury accident, you may move the vehicles to the side of the roadway in order to expedite the flow of traffic. If the parties do not agree, do not move the vehicles in any case. Never move the vehicles if there are injuries to any of the parties. Never let anyone talk you out of having an accident report made. If you are unsure as to the proper procedures, call the Louisville Metro Police Department and wait until an officer arrives on the scene to assist you. Keep all parties and witnesses at the scene until the proper authorities arrive.
Note that the police won't do an accident diagram if stuff (possibly including yourself!?) has moved around too much after the collision.
If all you got from the perpetrating vehicle was a license plate number, they'll start the process of looking up the owner, and from there you'll probably be able to find the driver without too much trouble - they're almost always the same person anyway.
Finally, ask the police how to proceed. If they feel you have a case, and the driver fled, they'll probably tell you to go to the county prosecutor's office and swear out a warrant, either that day or the next day.
If you are hurt, go the doctor or hospital. There is no way to prove your injury without medical backup. You will need records to prove your injury eventually. Also the notations made in medical charts further prove the facts of the accident (or at least further record the bare bones of it) and can come in handy in lots of cases.
You *WILL* forget details of the accident. When you get to a safe, calm location, write down your account of the accident and all the details, including what happened afterwards. Start a folder or something to keep everything in one place. Write down contact info for everyone you meet - police, doctors, prosecutors, mediators, everyone.
Remember, after an accident you will be frazzled. It is a good idea to print this guide out and carry it in your purse or bike-bag, so that you don't forget a step. Judges don't accept "there were witnesses but I was too frazzled to get their contact information". There are million ways for prosecution to fail, but only one way for it to succeed. Keep in mind that, to the best of our knowledge, Louisville Metro has never successfully criminally prosecuted a car-ped or car-bike collision. Good luck! And if your case gets derailed because of something overlooked in this guide, please tell us.