Do I Need a Lawyer After a Hit-and-Run Accident in Tampa?

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Tampa, Florida, has a major problem with hit-and-run accidents. According to Florida’s Crash Dashboard, Hillsborough County, home to the Tampa metropolitan area, had 28,020 car accidents in 2021. Of these, 7,319 were classified as hit-and-run crashes.

These crashes cause a variety of injuries. Worse yet, there is no clear path to recovering compensation after a hit-and-run accident. Instead, you may need to look to various sources for injury compensation.

Read on to learn whether you need a lawyer after a hit-and-run accident in Tampa and how you can recover compensation for any injuries.

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How Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After a Tampa Hit-and-Run Accident

Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers was founded in 1996, making it one of Tampa’s oldest injury law firms. Over the past 26 years, the firm has recovered more than $100 million in injury compensation for accident victims.

The firm’s Tampa car accident attorneys have over five decades of combined experience. Some of the many awards and honors the attorneys have earned include:

Board certification in civil trial law by the Florida Board of Legal Specialization
AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell
Silver Client Champion award from Martindale-Hubbell

When you hire the firm to take on your case, you’ll have a legal team to help:

Take care of all the paperwork, negotiations, and correspondence with the other party on your behalf
Hire experts to testify if your case makes it to trial or otherwise analyze and strengthen your claim for compensation
Protect you from unfounded allegations that the accident was actually your fault

A hit-and-run accident in Tampa, Florida, can leave you in a difficult financial situation. Contact Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation to discuss your options for compensation.

How Common Are Hit-and-Run Accidents in Tampa?

According to the Florida Crash Dashboard statistics, over 26% of Hillsborough County’s crashes involved hit-and-run incidents. And a 2018 study by the AAA found that the national hit-and-run rate fluctuated between 11.3% and 12.7%, which is less than half of Tampa’s rate.

This problem extends beyond Tampa — the AAA study shows Florida was one of the three worst states for hit-and-run accidents.

These accidents cause many injuries and deaths. In Hillsborough County, hit-and-run accidents led to 23 deaths and 1,927 injuries. Again, the numbers are shockingly high, with 8.5% of traffic deaths and 10.3% of traffic injuries in the county coming from hit-and-run accidents.

Overview of Whether You Need a Lawyer After a Hit-and-Run Accident

In an accident with an insured motorist, an injury lawyer pursues compensation from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. If the policy limits are too low to cover all of the injured person’s losses, the at-fault driver becomes liable for the uncompensated losses.

When an uninsured motorist causes an accident, the injury lawyer can pursue a claim against the driver directly. The victim might never recover compensation for all their losses, but their lawyer will have the tools to collect some much-needed compensation.

The lawyer’s options following a hit-and-run accident largely depend on whether the police solve the case.

Captured Driver

If the police identify the perpetrator, they’ll work with prosecutors to put the driver in jail.

Florida takes hit-and-run accidents seriously. Punishment can include:

Incarceration
Fines
Driver’s license suspension

The sentence depends on how badly the victim is injured.

On the civil side of the court system, the victim can hire a car accident lawyer to file an injury claim against the hit-and-run driver. In this situation, the lawyer will have the same options outlined previously.

If the driver had insurance, the lawyer can file a claim with their insurer. They can even pursue a claim if the driver’s policy has expired by the time the police solve the case, as the insurer still bears liability for any accidents caused by its policyholder during the policy term.

If the driver lacked insurance, the lawyer can file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. After a win, the lawyer can execute against the driver’s assets.

Unsolved Case

If the police never solve the case, a lawyer can help you identify all possible sources of injury compensation. Some of these include:

Personal Injury Protection Coverage

Florida requires automobile owners to buy a no-fault insurance policy with personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. This coverage pays the policyholder for any injuries they suffer in a car accident regardless of fault, meaning you can take advantage of your PIP benefits even if the police never find the hit-and-run driver.

To receive your PIP benefits, you must persuade your insurer that you were in an accident and that it directly caused your injuries. If you called the police after your accident, you should have the accident report to support your claim. Otherwise, you may need a lawyer’s help to win your claim.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Insurance companies consider hit-and-run drivers to be uninsured motorists. If you have uninsured motorist coverage in your policy, you can file a claim after a hit-and-run accident.

Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Tampa Hit-and-Run Accident Lawyers

In the worst-case scenario, a hit-and-run accident can leave you without any at-fault driver to hold liable. Contact our Tampa attorneys in Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers at (813) 686-7588 to discuss your options for pursuing compensation after your hit-and-run accident.