Florida has a fun reputation. You might visit there and check out some of the gorgeous beaches. You might decide you’ll live there and spend your Golden Years playing golf on some of the fabulous courses. However, Florida sees many car wrecks each year as well, and many fall into the hit-and-run category.
Florida sees 103,191 hit-and-run accidents yearly, on average. That means, on any given day, many drivers in the state who cause a collision feel like taking off before the cops arrive sounds like a good idea. It’s not, as they can get in quite a bit of trouble this way. We’ll talk about ways that hit-and-run car accidents in Florida differ from the normal kind in the following article.
The Person Who Flees the Scene Faces Criminal Charges
First, you should know that when someone flees the scene after a Florida car accident, they immediately face criminal charges.
Fleeing the scene after a car wreck constitutes a felony. No matter the reason, you must always wait and speak to police and other officials if you cause a car accident.
The police don’t like it when a driver leaves an accident scene without speaking to them. It means they’re flouting the law. Often, you can see the police become visibly upset if they arrive at an accident scene and find only one driver there.
If you’re the driver who remains behind, the police will ask you about the other vehicle and driver. They’ll want a description. They might also look at traffic camera footage and any other video evidence they can find. This isn’t a standard procedure in a regular accident when both drivers stay behind and cooperate.
When a Driver Flees the Scene, They Often Have a Reason
You should also understand that many times, when a driver in Florida flees an accident scene, they have a reason for doing so. They might feel it’s a good reason, but it never ends up in their favor when they make this foolish decision.
When a driver flees, often, they do so because they’re either drunk or under some other drug’s influence.
Florida has a prescription pain pill misuse epidemic, and methamphetamine remains a problem there as well.
A driver might also flee because they don’t have insurance. Maybe they have a policy, but it’s not as much as state law demands.
You might also have a driver who drove recklessly and caused a wreck because they exceeded the speed limit. Sometimes, street racing causes accidents, and the other driver flees for that reason. You might even have a young or inexperienced driver who simply panics and makes a poor decision.
None of this resembles a regular car accident. Normally, both drivers will try to get their vehicles off the road and safely out of traffic if they’re not damaged too badly. Then, they will wait for the police to arrive.
You Should Have No Trouble Finding a Lawyer Who Can Represent You
If you’re in a wreck where the driver flees the scene, you should strongly consider suing them. If they cause some injuries and damage your car, you might very well need their insurance to pay for your medical bills and car repairs.
It’s true that Florida has no-fault status, meaning every driver must carry PIP, or personal injury protection insurance. That means you can turn to your policy to cover your car repair costs and medical bills first. However, your policy might not cover all those bills, and that’s when you should sue the other driver, assuming the cops can find them.
If you need a lawyer in these circumstances, you can usually locate one with no issues. You can often find personal injury lawyers without much trouble, but most will jump at the chance to represent you in a case where the other driver fled. That’s because the other driver fleeing practically guarantees their guilt.
You’re Liable to Win Your Lawsuit if You Bring One Against the Driver Who Fled
This leads to the next point. If you hire a lawyer and bring a lawsuit against a motorist who fled the scene following a Florida car wreck, it’s likely you’ll win that case. In situations where the other driver didn’t flee, it’s not guaranteed you’ll win the lawsuit. You must establish the other driver’s guilt. You need proof they caused the accident rather than yourself.
There’s no guarantee your lawyer can win a case where the other driver fled the scene either, but the other driver enters such a lawsuit at an automatic disadvantage. If the jury hears they fled because they didn’t have insurance, they consumed alcohol, or they didn’t want to face the mistake they just made, they will often look at you as the party who did nothing wrong. You can usually force the other driver into giving you a settlement offer, and you’ll probably win if they’re foolish enough to go to a jury’s verdict.
You Must Report What Happened to Your Insurance Company
You must report any car wreck to your insurance company after you’ve given a police report and picked up the pieces. However, that process will look and feel a little different if the other driver fled the scene.
You can tell your insurance company what happened in detail, but when it’s time for you to give the other driver’s name, their car’s make and model, and the other driver’s insurance information, you can’t do that. That might complicate matters somewhat.
Still, all you can reasonably do is give any crash details you can and hope the police investigation eventually reveals the other driver’s identity. At least with Florida a no-fault car accident state, you’ll know you can use your PIP to cover some of your medical bills and the cost of vehicle repair.
Remember, you should never flee from a car wreck in Florida or any other state. It’s a poor decision and never one that helps you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Olivia Poglianich
Content Strategist
Olivia Poglianich is a nomadic brand strategist and copywriter in the wooden crafts and 3D product design space who has worked with brands such as Visa, Disney and Grey Goose. Her writing has taken her all over the world, from a Serbian music festival to a Malaysian art and culture event. Olivia is a graduate of Cornell University and is often writing or reading about travel, hospitality, the start-up ecosystem or career coaching. Her latest interests are at the intersection of web3 and communal living, both on and offline.
