When the other driver leaves · Fla. Stat. 316.027
Hit and Run in Florida: What Victims Can Do When the Driver Leaves
Florida Car Accident Settlement covers hit and run crashes statewide, starting from the fact that a driver who flees changes the criminal case against them enormously and your medical situation not at all. Your own PIP coverage pays first exactly as it would have anyway, and the deadlines in Florida law run whether or not anyone is ever caught.
- 4 yearsmandatory minimum prison for leaving a fatal crash
- 14 daysyour PIP window, driver caught or not
- $10,000available from your own policy either way
- Felonyleaving any crash involving injury
Independent informational site. Not a law firm, not medical advice.
What Florida law does to a driver who leaves
Florida grades leaving the scene by what the crash did, not by why the driver fled. Under Fla. Stat. 316.061, leaving a crash that involved only vehicle or property damage is a second degree misdemeanor. The moment anyone is injured, Fla. Stat. 316.027 takes over and every tier of it is a felony: third degree for injury, second degree for serious bodily injury, and first degree where someone died, with a mandatory minimum of four years in prison for the fatal tier.
Those numbers matter to a victim for one practical reason: they are why hit and run drivers get found more often than people expect. A felony investigation brings traffic cameras, paint transfer, parts left at the scene, body shop reporting, and witness canvassing into play.
Whether the driver is found changes who ultimately pays. It does not change what you need to do this week.
| What the crash involved | Offense for leaving | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle or property damage only | Second degree misdemeanor | Fla. Stat. 316.061 |
| Injury to any person | Third degree felony | Fla. Stat. 316.027(2)(a) |
| Serious bodily injury | Second degree felony | Fla. Stat. 316.027(2)(b) |
| Death | First degree felony, 4 year mandatory minimum | Fla. Stat. 316.027(2)(c) |
Your own coverage does not care that the driver left
Florida is a no fault state for the first layer of medical bills, and that design is exactly what protects a hit and run victim. Your own PIP coverage pays 80 percent of reasonable medical expenses and 60 percent of lost wages up to $10,000 under Fla. Stat. 627.736, and it pays without anyone establishing who caused the crash.
An unidentified driver is not a gap in that system. It is the case the system was built for.
The one condition attached to it
The condition attached to it is the same one that catches everyone else: initial medical care within 14 days of the crash, with no exception for how the crash happened or how long the police investigation takes. People wait because it feels premature to start treatment while the driver is still being looked for.
The statute does not hold your benefits open while anyone investigates anything. The PIP guide covers how the payment layers work, and the deadline tool will tell you where your window stands today.
Above the PIP layer: uninsured motorist coverage
Above the PIP layer, the coverage designed for exactly this situation is uninsured motorist coverage. Florida insurers must offer it and can only omit it from a policy by your written rejection under Fla. Stat. 627.727, and a driver who is never identified is treated as an uninsured driver for UM purposes. Two cautions belong next to that.
- UM only exists on your policy if it was purchased, so the answer starts with reading your declarations page.
- Where the fleeing vehicle never touched yours, insurers frequently dispute the claim, which makes independent evidence such as witnesses and camera footage disproportionately valuable in a hit and run.
The UM coverage guide goes through stacking, limits, and how these claims are evaluated.
The first hour: what actually helps later
Do not follow the other car
Chasing a fleeing driver produces a second crash often enough that police departments tell people not to do it, and the license plate is not worth it. What a plate reader or an intersection camera can reconstruct later, a phone photo of a receding bumper usually cannot.
Call 911 from the scene
A hit and run involving injury is a crime in progress, and the report it generates is also the document your own insurer will ask for. Fla. Stat. 316.065 requires immediate notice to law enforcement for crashes involving injury or apparent damage of $500 or more, a threshold nearly every real collision meets.
While you wait, write down everything volatile
Color, make, direction of travel, any fragment of the plate, damage you saw on the other vehicle, and the names and numbers of anyone who stopped. Photograph your car, the debris field, and paint transfer before anything gets moved.
Then look for cameras
Gas stations, storefronts, doorbells, and traffic infrastructure overwrite their footage on short cycles, sometimes within days, and a downtown Miami or Tampa intersection may have a dozen of them where a rural stretch of I-75 has none. Noting which cameras face the scene, and asking owners to preserve that hour, is the single most time sensitive thing a victim or a family member can do.
The crash report guide covers how the official report gets filed and retrieved once the investigation exists.
The two mistakes that cost hit and run victims the most
The first: waiting for the criminal case
The first is waiting for the criminal case before starting the medical one. The 14 day PIP window and the two year lawsuit deadline under Fla. Stat. 95.11 both run from the crash date, not from an arrest.
Investigations can take months. Your benefits will not.
The second: assuming no identified driver means no claim
The second is assuming that no identified driver means no claim. Between PIP and UM coverage, a Florida driver with a typical policy often has more recoverable coverage in a hit and run than people assume, and what determines whether it gets paid is documentation: the police report, the 14 day exam, the treatment record, the preserved footage.
Every one of those is built in the first two weeks, which is precisely the period people spend waiting to see if the driver turns up. If your crash was serious enough that you are weighing a claim above the PIP layer, the lawsuit guide explains how the threshold under Fla. Stat. 627.737 works.
Hit and run questions
What should I do if I was the victim of a hit and run in Florida?
Stay at the scene, call 911, and document everything volatile: vehicle description, direction of travel, plate fragments, witnesses, and photographs of the damage and debris. Identify nearby cameras and ask that footage be preserved. Then get examined within 14 days of the crash, because your PIP benefits under Fla. Stat. 627.736 depend on it whether or not the driver is ever found.
Is a hit and run a felony in Florida?
If anyone was injured, yes. Fla. Stat. 316.027 makes leaving a crash with injury a third degree felony, serious bodily injury a second degree felony, and death a first degree felony carrying a four year mandatory minimum prison term. Leaving a crash involving only property damage is a second degree misdemeanor under Fla. Stat. 316.061.
Who pays my medical bills if the driver is never caught?
Your own PIP coverage pays first, exactly as it would in any Florida crash: 80 percent of medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages up to $10,000, without regard to fault. Above that, uninsured motorist coverage applies if your policy includes it, because an unidentified driver is treated as an uninsured one. What forfeits the PIP layer is missing the 14 day care window, not the driver's escape.
Does uninsured motorist coverage apply if the other car never touched mine?
These are the most disputed UM claims. Where a phantom vehicle runs you off the road without contact, insurers commonly contest whether the vehicle existed, so witness statements, camera footage, and a same day police report carry unusual weight. Whether your policy covers it at all depends on its terms, which is a reason to read the declarations page rather than assume either way.
Should I chase the driver or follow them to get the plate?
No. Following a fleeing driver produces second collisions and turns a documented scene into a moving one, and it can put you at fault for whatever happens next. Note the description and direction of travel, and let the felony investigation do what it has tools for: cameras, paint transfer, parts identification, and body shop reporting.
How long do I have to make a claim after a hit and run?
The medical clock is 14 days for initial care under Fla. Stat. 627.736. The lawsuit deadline for negligence claims is two years from the crash for crashes on or after March 24, 2023 under Fla. Stat. 95.11, and UM claims are governed by your policy's notice provisions, which reward prompt reporting. None of these deadlines pauses while police look for the driver.
Still not sure how this applies to you?
Every crash is different, and the answer usually turns on your dates. Tell us what happened and we will tell you where you stand. Free, no obligation, and we are not a law firm.
Call (518) 538-3140 nowPrimary sources: Fla. Stat. 316.027 (leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death, felony tiers, and the four year mandatory minimum for fatal crashes), Fla. Stat. 316.061 (leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage), Fla. Stat. 316.065 (immediate notice to law enforcement), Fla. Stat. 627.736 (PIP benefits and the 14 day initial care requirement), Fla. Stat. 627.727 (uninsured motorist coverage and the written rejection requirement), Fla. Stat. 95.11 (the two year filing deadline for crashes on or after March 24, 2023). Statute text at Online Sunshine. General information, not legal or medical advice. Last reviewed August 22, 2026.
About this guide
- Florida Car Accident Settlement is an independent informational guide to hit and run crashes in Florida.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement covers the state of Florida.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement explains that a driver who flees a Florida crash changes the criminal case against them and does not change the victim's own PIP coverage, which pays first either way.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement cites Fla. Stat. 316.027, Fla. Stat. 316.061 and Fla. Stat. 627.736 as the primary sources for this page.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement is not a law firm and gives no legal advice.