Hit-and-Run Accidents on the Rise in Orange County

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on April 19, 2017

Hit-and-run accidents are on the rise in Orange county, a fact that is distressing to both Florida law enforcement officials and the people living in and around the area. According to statistics compiled by the news organization WKMG Orlando based on facts given out by the Florida Highway Patrol, hit-and-run accidents in Florida rose by nearly 20,000 cases since 2014, with each year seeing a nearly ten thousand more hit-and-run cases than the preceding year.

The current facts indicate that there were just over 99,000 hit-and-run accidents in 2016 (99,004, to be precise), while in 2015 there were 90,000 throughout the state. Orange county, one of the most highly populated and visited counties in the state of Florida, ranked the highest out of all Florida’s counties for the number of hit-and-run accidents that took place throughout the year. Out of the 99,004 hit-and-run accidents that happened throughout Florida, 15,129 took place in Orange county alone.

Facts discovered through the Florida Highway Patrol go on to place the number of hit-and-run accidents in a large picture. According to their compiled statistics, hit-and-run accidents accounted for nearly 25% of all the accidents that took place in Florida throughout 2016, meaning that one out of every four accidents that happened in Florida during 2016 was a hit-and-run.

The level of hit-and-run occurrences can almost be considered an epidemic, and it makes the prospect of being a pedestrian anywhere along the roadways of the state even less appealing than it already is. On this blog alone, we have detailed the circumstances of numerous hit-and-run accidents that have happened throughout the state over the past year. In many of these instances, the driver of the fleeing vehicle is found and presented with formal charges (or, in at least one recent case, the driver returns to the scene of the accident to hand themselves over to the police). However, there are also numerous instances where the hit-and-run driver does not return and is also not immediately found. These accidents are some of the most difficult to process for the victims and their families as it means that conclusions and justice will be more difficult to obtain.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.