A good friend of mine stopped at an accident on a major highway.The police had not arrived yet and he saw others were tending to the injured so he decided to offer assistance by directing traffic around the accident scene. During this time traffic backed up as cars slowly passed the accident scene. Several cars back he hears a crash and the sound of twisting metal. A mother with a baby onboard slammed into the slow moving traffic. She was hurt bad along with the baby. Now there are 2 accidents. The injured from both accidents were transported to the hospital.My friend went on his way.
Several months later, my friend receives a letter from a law firm representing the mother and infant baby He is being sued for $800,000.00. The basis of their lawsuit was, when he decided to direct traffic around the accident scene and not wait for the police to arrive, he assumed responsibility for the scene therefore liable for any damages incurred. He was shocked and pi$$ed at the same time.
His insurancecompany basically told him he was on his own. He did eventually get a lawyer and was able to win the case but it cost him many thousands of dollars to defend himself.
It is stories like this that discourage people from stopping at accident scenes.