Florida recorded 104,273 hit and run crashes in 2023, a number that has remained above 100,000 every single year for the past several years. That is roughly one in four of all crashes in the state. Those crashes killed 271 people and seriously injured 871 others. Pedestrians and cyclists accounted for 76 percent of the fatalities, and more than 80 percent of fatal hit and run crashes occurred in low-visibility conditions at dawn, dusk, or night.
In Seminole County alone, 1,579 hit and run crashes were recorded in 2023, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. For residents of Lake Mary, Sanford, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, and the surrounding communities, these are not abstract statewide figures. They describe a real and persistent problem on the roads that connect these neighborhoods every day.
If a driver hit you and fled the scene, you are in a situation that is frightening, infuriating, and legally complex all at once. You may be wondering whether you can still recover compensation if the driver is never found, whether your own insurance covers this, and what you should be doing right now to protect your claim. If you were involved in a hit a run accident, it’s important to contact a car accident attorney quickly to preserve any evidence. We offer free consultations for hit and run accidents. This guide gives an overview of the legal basis behind hit and run accidents.
What Florida Law Requires of Drivers Involved in a Crash
Florida law imposes specific legal obligations on every driver involved in a crash, regardless of who was at fault.
Under Florida Statute 316.027, any driver involved in a crash resulting in injury, serious bodily injury, or death must immediately stop at the scene or as close to the scene as possible without obstructing traffic, remain at the scene until all legal obligations are fulfilled, provide their name, address, vehicle registration number, and driver’s license to the injured person or to a police officer, and render reasonable assistance to any injured person, including calling for emergency medical care when it is apparent that care is needed.
Under Florida Statute 316.061, a driver involved in a crash that results only in property damage must stop and either provide the required information to the other party or, if the property owner cannot be located, leave that information in a conspicuous place and report the crash to the nearest law enforcement agency.
A driver who flees the scene without meeting these obligations commits a criminal offense. The severity of that offense depends on what the crash caused.
Criminal Penalties for Hit and Run in Florida
Florida’s criminal penalties for leaving the scene of an accident are significant and were strengthened when House Bill 113 took effect on October 1, 2025, raising felony levels and adding mandatory prison terms for certain categories of fleeing and eluding offenses under Florida Statute 316.027 and 316.1935.
| Offense | Classification | Maximum Penalty | License Consequence |
| Property damage only | Second-degree misdemeanor (Fla. Stat. 316.061) | 60 days in jail, $500 fine | Possible suspension |
| Injury (non-serious) | Third-degree felony (Fla. Stat. 316.027(2)(a)) | 5 years prison, $5,000 fine | Revocation minimum 3 years |
| Serious bodily injury | Second-degree felony (Fla. Stat. 316.027(2)(b)) | 15 years prison, $10,000 fine | Revocation minimum 3 years |
| Death | First-degree felony (Fla. Stat. 316.027(2)(c)) | 30 years prison, $10,000 fine | Revocation minimum 3 years |
| Injury or death while DUI | Enhanced felony with mandatory minimum | Mandatory 2-year minimum prison term | Revocation minimum 3 years |
These penalties apply if the fleeing driver is ever identified and charged. The uncomfortable reality is that many hit and run drivers are never found. In 2023, Florida saw over 104,000 hit and run crashes but only a small fraction resulted in arrests. Solved cases are more common when the crash caused serious injuries or death, which draws greater investigative resources and media attention, but even in those cases many drivers escape accountability through the criminal system.
This is exactly why understanding your civil legal options, including the insurance avenues available to you even when the driver is never identified, is critical.
Your Primary Recovery Option: Uninsured Motorist Coverage
If the driver who hit you fled and was never identified, the most important question from a compensation standpoint is whether you have Uninsured Motorist coverage on your own auto insurance policy.
Florida Statute 627.727 governs uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in Florida. Under this statute, every auto insurer in Florida must offer UM coverage to every policyholder. The policyholder can reject it, but only by signing a written rejection form. If your insurer cannot produce a signed rejection, Florida law presumes the coverage exists at the same limits as your bodily injury liability coverage.
UM coverage exists precisely for hit and run situations. When the at-fault driver cannot be identified, your own UM policy treats that driver as uninsured and steps in to pay your damages up to the policy limit. This means that even when the driver who hit you is never caught, you may still be entitled to compensation for medical expenses beyond what PIP covers, lost wages beyond the 60 percent PIP provides, pain and suffering, permanent impairment, and other losses, all from your own insurer.
Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance. The state minimum requires only $10,000 in PIP and $10,000 in property damage liability. This means a large number of Florida drivers carry zero bodily injury coverage. Your UM policy is the primary safety net when you are hit by an uninsured driver or a driver who flees and is never found.
Stacked vs. Non-Stacked UM Coverage
Florida allows two forms of UM coverage. Stacked coverage allows you to combine the UM limits across multiple vehicles on your policy. For example, if you have two vehicles each with $25,000 in UM coverage and your policy is stacked, you have $50,000 in total UM coverage available for a single accident. Non-stacked coverage limits your recovery to the per-vehicle amount on the vehicle involved in the crash.
Under Florida Statute 627.727(9), insurers must offer stacked coverage. If you elected non-stacked coverage, that election must be documented on an approved form. If your insurer cannot produce the signed non-stacking election form, Florida courts have held the policy defaults to stacked coverage. An attorney can review your policy and any election forms to determine exactly what coverage is available.
The Physical Contact Requirement
Florida’s UM statute requires that in a hit and run case where the driver is never identified, there must generally be physical contact between the fleeing vehicle and the insured vehicle or the insured person in order for the UM claim to be valid. This physical contact requirement exists to prevent fraudulent hit and run claims where no other vehicle was actually involved.
If a driver ran you off the road, caused you to crash through an evasive maneuver, or forced a collision without making direct physical contact, the UM claim may be more complicated. These cases often turn on whether the contact element can be established through witness testimony, surveillance footage, or other corroborating evidence. An attorney can evaluate the specific facts of your situation and advise on the best path forward.
What If the Driver Is Identified Later?
Sometimes a hit and run driver is identified hours, days, or even weeks after the crash. Surveillance camera footage, witness descriptions, debris left at the scene, automated license plate readers, body shop tip lines, and community tipsters all contribute to the identification of fleeing drivers after the fact.
If the driver is later identified, your options expand significantly. In addition to any UM claim you may have already pursued against your own insurer, you may have a direct civil claim against the at-fault driver and their insurer if they carry bodily injury liability coverage. In cases involving DUI, road rage, or other particularly egregious conduct, punitive damages may also be available against the at-fault driver.
The fact that you have already pursued a UM claim does not necessarily bar a subsequent claim against an identified at-fault driver. However, your UM insurer may have a right of subrogation, meaning they may seek reimbursement from any recovery you obtain from the at-fault driver for amounts they already paid under your UM policy. An attorney can manage the coordination between these two claims and ensure you are not inadvertently forfeiting rights under one claim while pursuing the other.
What About Your PIP Coverage?
Regardless of whether the at-fault driver is identified or whether you have UM coverage, your own Personal Injury Protection coverage is available for your initial medical treatment after a hit and run crash in Florida. PIP pays 80 percent of reasonable and necessary medical expenses and 60 percent of lost wages up to your policy limit, without regard to fault.
However, Florida law requires that you seek initial medical treatment within 14 days of the crash to access your PIP benefits. This deadline is strict and is not extended by the circumstances of a hit and run. A person who is hit by a fleeing driver and delays medical care because they feel relatively okay at the scene, or because they are dealing with the shock and logistics of the crash, can find themselves outside the 14-day window and lose access to their PIP benefits entirely.
Florida’s 14-day PIP treatment rule applies to hit and run crashes just as it does to any other accident. If you were involved in a hit and run and did not seek medical treatment within 14 days of the crash, you may have forfeited your PIP benefits. This deadline cannot be extended and should not be missed.
PIP covers economic losses only. It does not compensate for pain and suffering, mental anguish, or non-economic losses. For those categories of damages, assuming your injuries meet Florida’s serious injury threshold under Florida Statute 627.737, your UM policy is the primary avenue when the at-fault driver is unidentified or uninsured.
Property Damage in a Hit and Run
Compensation for damage to your vehicle in a hit and run situation depends on whether you carry collision coverage on your auto policy. Collision coverage pays to repair or replace your vehicle when it is damaged in a collision, regardless of fault and regardless of whether the other driver is identified or insured. If you carry collision coverage, you can file a claim with your own insurer for the property damage, subject to your deductible.
If you do not carry collision coverage and the at-fault driver is never identified, recovering property damage compensation is significantly more difficult. Your property damage liability coverage, which is required by Florida law under Florida Statute 627.733, covers damage you cause to others, not damage to your own vehicle. Without collision coverage, an unidentified hit and run driver who damages your vehicle leaves you bearing the cost of repair yourself unless the driver is later identified and pursued.
This is one of the strongest practical arguments for carrying both collision coverage and UM coverage, even though neither is required by Florida law.
Gathering Evidence After a Hit and Run
Evidence gathered at and immediately after the scene of a hit and run crash can be the difference between a strong UM claim and a disputed one, and between identifying the fleeing driver and never finding them. The steps you take in the minutes after the crash matter more than most people realize.
Stay at the Scene and Call 911
Florida law requires you to remain at the scene of a crash you are involved in, even if the other driver has fled. Call 911 immediately and request both law enforcement and medical assistance. A law enforcement crash report documenting the hit and run is essential evidence in any subsequent insurance claim or civil lawsuit.
Document the Fleeing Vehicle
If it is safe to do so, photograph or video the fleeing vehicle before it disappears from sight. Even a partial license plate number, the vehicle’s color, make, model, and any distinctive features, damage, decals, or modifications, can be enough for investigators to identify the driver. Write down everything you can recall about the vehicle immediately after the crash while the details are fresh.
Identify Witnesses
Other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, or business patrons in the area may have seen the crash or the fleeing vehicle. Get their names and contact information before they leave the scene. A witness who captured the fleeing vehicle’s license plate on their dashcam or phone can be the key to identifying the driver.
Look for Surveillance Cameras
Traffic cameras, business security cameras, doorbell cameras, and parking lot cameras in the surrounding area may have captured the crash or the fleeing vehicle. Note the locations of any cameras you observe near the scene. Law enforcement will request this footage as part of the investigation, but footage is often overwritten within days, so prompt reporting is essential.
Photograph the Scene and Your Vehicle
Photograph your vehicle’s damage, the point of impact, any debris left by the fleeing vehicle including paint transfer, broken glass, or vehicle parts, and your own injuries. Debris from the at-fault vehicle can sometimes be traced to a specific make, model, and year, aiding in identification. Paint transfer may provide color information for a vehicle search.
Report to FHP or Local Law Enforcement
Make sure the crash is formally reported to law enforcement and that a crash report is filed under Florida Statute 316.066. The crash report is a required document for your UM insurance claim and for any subsequent civil action. In Seminole County, Florida Highway Patrol handles crashes on state roads and interstates, while local police departments handle crashes within incorporated city limits.
Notify Your Own Insurance Company Promptly
Your insurer must be notified of the crash promptly. Most policies require notification within a reasonable time and some impose specific deadlines. Failing to notify your insurer promptly can give them grounds to complicate or deny your UM claim. You do not need to have all the facts sorted out before you notify them. Simply report the crash and let the investigation process begin.
The UM Claims Process: What to Expect
Filing a UM claim after a hit and run is different from a standard third-party claim in several important ways.
You are filing against your own insurer, not the at-fault driver’s. Despite the fact that you are the policyholder, the insurer’s interests are adverse to yours in the UM claims process. They are evaluating the claim to determine what they have to pay, not to maximize your recovery. The insurer will assign an adjuster, request your medical records and bills, evaluate the nature and extent of your injuries, and may require you to submit to an independent medical examination by a physician of their choosing.
Your insurer may also investigate the circumstances of the hit and run itself, including requesting the crash report, reviewing any available surveillance footage, and potentially taking a recorded statement from you. You are generally required to cooperate with your own insurer’s investigation under the terms of your policy, but cooperation does not mean surrendering your rights. An attorney can advise you on how to navigate your insurer’s investigation without inadvertently harming your claim.
Because UM claims are filed against your own insurer, Florida’s bad faith insurance laws under Florida Statute 624.155 apply. If your insurer unreasonably denies or delays payment of a valid UM claim, a bad faith action may be available, though the standards for bad faith were tightened by Florida’s 2023 tort reform legislation, House Bill 837.
When There Is No UM Coverage
Not every driver has UM coverage. Florida law requires insurers to offer it but does not require motorists to carry it, and many people reject it when purchasing a policy to reduce their premium without fully understanding what they are giving up.
If you were hit by an unidentified driver and you do not have UM coverage, your options are significantly more limited. PIP covers your initial medical expenses up to the policy limit. Beyond that, you may need to rely on health insurance for medical treatment costs. Property damage to your vehicle requires collision coverage to be compensable through your own insurer.
If the driver is later identified and carries bodily injury liability insurance, a direct claim against their insurer becomes available. If the driver is identified and carries no bodily injury insurance, a civil lawsuit against them personally is theoretically available, but the practical value depends entirely on whether the at-fault driver has assets or income from which a judgment can be collected.
This is why an attorney’s first task in a hit and run case is a thorough insurance coverage investigation, identifying every possible source of compensation available given the specific facts of the crash.
Seminole County and the Local Hit and Run Problem
With 1,579 hit and run crashes in Seminole County in 2023 alone, hit and run is not a rare or unusual event in the communities Graves Law serves. The high-traffic corridors that run through Seminole county, including Interstate 4, US Highway 17-92, Lake Mary Boulevard, and State Road 436, generate the conditions where hit and run crashes most commonly occur: high speeds, multiple lanes, frequent on and off ramps, and enough traffic volume that a fleeing driver can quickly disappear into the flow of surrounding vehicles.
The concentration of residential neighborhoods, retail development, and major employers along these corridors also means that surveillance camera coverage, while improving, is uneven. A hit and run on a residential side street off US-17/92 may have no camera coverage at all, while the same crash on a commercial stretch of the same road might be captured by six different business cameras. Understanding how to locate and preserve that footage in the immediate aftermath of the crash is one of the most time-sensitive aspects of a hit and run investigation.
Graves Law Represents Hit and Run Victims in Seminole County and Throughout Florida
If you were injured in a hit and run crash in Lake Mary, Sanford, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, or anywhere in Seminole County or Central Florida, Graves Law is ready to help. We handle the full investigation, including locating surveillance footage, coordinating with law enforcement on the identification investigation, reviewing your insurance coverage, and pursuing every available avenue of compensation.
We know how UM claims work, how to push back when your own insurer undervalues a valid claim, and how to pursue a direct claim against an identified at-fault driver when one becomes available. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Call or text: (407) 308-0327