Miami, Florida Hit and Run Lawyer

Have you been the victim of a hit and run driver in Miami, Florida-whether you were driving in your own car or were walking along the road as a pedestrian? Attorneys Jo Ann Hoffman and Associates, P.A. can help you in your personal injury claim, even if the hit and run driver is never found. In these situations, the personal injury protection (PIP) and any uninsured motorist coverage on your own car insurance policy might be able to pay for your injuries. Our lawyers have over 95 years of combined experience helping drivers, passengers and pedestrians hurt by hit and run drivers. Even if you live in a different state or country, Attorneys Jo Ann Hoffman and Associates, P.A. can still help you. Our knowledgeable team of lawyers handles hit and run accident cases that take place anywhere in the State of Florida.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that about 40% of all accidents in the United States where cars hit pedestrians happen at or near intersections. On average, 17% of those pedestrian accidents are hit and run accidents. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has also shown statistics about car accidents involving pedestrians. The latest statistics show that 7,290 pedestrians were hurt in Florida in 2010, and 499 pedestrians were unfortunately killed that same year.

If you accidentally hit another car or a pedestrian with your own car, call 911 right away and stay at the scene of the accident until the police arrive. If you leave the scene of the accident, you can be criminally charged for a hit and run. In Florida, a criminal conviction for a hit and run is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. If you have been hit by a hit and run driver, call 911 right away to get medical attention and to let the police know about the accident. A police report is very important in a hit and run accident because there may be no other official documentation to prove that the accident happened, especially if the hit and run driver is never found. If the police do not write a report at the scene, go to the police station yourself as soon as possible. You can write your own report about the accident on the forms given to you by the police station.

If you have been hurt in a hit and run accident, you may be asking yourself why the driver left the scene of the accident. A lot of the time, a driver may choose to leave the scene of an accident for different reasons, such as:

• The driver doesn’t have a valid driver’s license.
• The driver doesn’t have car insurance.
• The driver was driving an unregistered vehicle.
• The driver was drunk or on drugs.
• The driver was driving a stolen vehicle.

By leaving the scene of the accident, the driver hopes to dodge criminal or civil charges. Of course, as written above, if the hit and run driver is ever caught, the driver may get even worse criminal charges than if the driver had stayed at the scene until the police got there. If you have been hurt in a hit and run accident and the hit and run driver is never found, do not give up; you may still have a valid case for your personal injuries. Just as long as you have uninsured motorist coverage as part of your own car insurance policy, that coverage might be able to pay for your medical bills. Please visit our Miami, Florida Uninsured Motorist Lawyer page for more information about uninsured motorist coverage.

If you or a family member have been hurt in a hit and run accident or a pedestrian knock down, please call Attorneys Jo Ann Hoffman and Associates, P.A. today. Our Miami, Florida telephone number is 954-772-2644. We do our very best to answer your questions quickly and to talk with you about your legal rights and options. Besides calling us, you can also fill out and submit our online CONTACT US form, and we will follow up with you. We accept all of our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that we never charge you any fees or costs unless we get monies from the defendants or their insurance companies. Also, our consultations are always free. We look forward to your call and to helping you.

For more hit and run accident and pedestrian knock down injury information, please visit our Florida Car Accident Lawyers Blog.