Hit-and-Run Accidents

Anthony Quackenbush represents clients who have been victims of hit-and-run accidents. He is a Fort Lauderdale Hit-and-Run Accident Lawyer and handles all types of Hit-and-Run Accident cases in Broward County and South Florida.

A hit-and-run accident is one in which the driver that caused the accident leaves the scene of the accident without intending to the return. A hit-and-run is actually a crime called “Leaving the Scene of an Accident.”

If you’ve been the victim of a hit-and-run accident and you were not able to determine the identity of the culprit, you will obviously not be able to obtain compensation from him/her or his/her insurance policy. In that case, your only option will be to obtain compensation from your own insurance policy. Specifically, you will need to attempt to gain compensation from your own uninsured motorist (UM) insurance policy.

Should you be hurt in a hit and run accident, contact Mr. Quackenbush at 954-448-7288 for a free, no obligation consultation. Should you retain Mr. Quackenbush, he won’t charge you until you’ve made a recovery in your case – so there is no risk to you.

In the State of Florida, there are three types of insurance you can purchase that will cover you for your injuries. The first, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) will cover you for up to $10,000 of your medical expenses and/or lost wages. PIP will pay up to eighty percent of your medical bills and/or lost wages. If you have automobile insurance in the State of Florida, then you automatically have Personal Injury Protection coverage. PIP is no-fault, which means that you can use it even if you are at fault for the accident.

The second type of insurance that will cover you for your injuries is Bodily Injury (BI) coverage. If another driver causes an accident and injures you, then the other driver’s BI policy will cover you for your injuries.

However, in the case of a hit-and-run crash, you don’t know the identity of the other driver. Therefore, you will be forced to rely on the third type of insurance policy that can cover your for your injuries – uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. UM will cover you if the driver that caused your accident either 1) didn’t have any BI coverage or 2) didn’t have enough BI coverage. Your UM will also cover you in the case of a hit-and-run wreck and you are not able to ascertain the identity of the other driver.

UM coverage is optional. That is, you don’t have to buy it when purchasing automobile insurance. Also, you have the option to purchase “stacked” UM coverage. Stacked coverage means that your policy limits are multiplied by the number of vehicles in your household. For example, if you purchase a stacked UM policy with $100,000 policy limits and you have two vehicles in your household, you will be able to receive $200,000 in compensation for your injuries should you be involved in an accident.

If you are the victim of a hit and run crash, you should attempt to obtain the license plate digits of the other driver if you can do so safely. It is useful even if you can only ascertain a couple digits on the license plate. Police today can oftentimes locate an owner/driver of a vehicle even using only a couple of digits from a license plate.

Likewise, if you’ve been the victim of a hit and run wreck, it is also important to try to obtain surveillance videotape from nearby intersections. Many intersections in Florida utilize red-light cameras. These cameras can record the identity of the vehicle involved in your accident.

However, it is important to try to locate these surveillance videos as soon as possible. Many surveillance tapes are on “loops.” This means that the tapes record over themselves after a certain number of days.

Once the police have located the culprit, they can often prove that the culprit’s vehicle was in fact involved in the accident by matching paint on the vehicle to your vehicle, etc. If the culprit had an insurance policy with bodily injury (BI coverage), you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries in this way.

If you are harmed in a hit and run wreck occurring anywhere in Florida, contact Mr. Quackenbush at 954-448-7288 for a free, no obligation consultation. Mr. Quackenbush can help you if you’ve been injured in a hit-and-run accident in Miami or West Palm Beach as well. If you decide to retain Mr. Quackenbush, you will not be charged until you’ve made a recovery – so there is no risk to you.