South Florida Injury Attorneys Blog
Earlier last month, a Miami-area teen was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while walking along NW 13th Avenue. According to a recent report by the local Miami CBS affiliate, the driver has still not been located although several weeks have passed since the tragic accident.
Evidently, the girl’s boyfriend was walking her home along NW 13th Avenue when the driver of a 2008 green Toyota Corolla struck the teen as she crossed NW 54th Street. The girl’s boyfriend watched in horror as his girlfriend was struck by the vehicle. The driver continued in the direction he was going when he hit the girl.
The teen was taken to the hospital with several broken bones and severe head trauma. She was unable to breath on her own and died after more than a week in the hospital. The family of the girl told reporters that she was a junior in high school and had already secured a scholarship for college.
Police have not yet located the hit-and-run driver, although they do know the type of car that struck the teen and have distributed thousands of fliers in the area. If found and convicted under the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act of 2014, the driver would face a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in prison.
Hit-and-Run Crashes on Florida Roads
Each year, there are approximately 70,000 to 80,000 hit-and-run crashes across the State of Florida. In fact, according to one Florida government source, one in four car accidents result in a hit-and-run. The even scarier part is that over the past three years, the number of hit-and-runs has grown, not just in the absolute, but even as a percentage of total accidents. Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties are among the tope three for hit-and-run accidents.
The police are an accident victim’s best bet to locate a hit-and-run driver, and police are often quite motivated to do so, because a leaving the scene of an accident can be a second-degree felony, even if fault in the original accident was undetermined. Once a driver is located by police, an accident victim is able to file a lawsuit against the driver seeking compensation for what they have been put through as a result of the driver’s negligent and reckless behavior. To learn more about hit-and-run lawsuits, speak to a dedicated South Florida personal injury attorney.
Have You Been Injured in a Hit-and-Run Accident?
If you or a loved one has recently been involved in a hit-and-run accident, you may be entitled to monetary damages. The way the law is set up in Florida, once a hit-and-run driver is located, proving that they were negligent is not always that difficult, assuming that there is proof they fled the scene. With that said, there are myriad other procedural and substantive rules that a Florida accident victim must comply with in order to successfully file a case. To learn more, call 800-753-5529 to set up a free initial consultation with a dedicated South Florida accident attorney today.
See More Blog Posts:
Two Hospitalized in Three-Vehicle Miami-Dade Accident, Cecere Santana Injury Lawyers Blog, published February 23, 2015.
Fatal Left-Turn Accident in Coral Springs Claims One Man’s Life, Injures Two Others, Cecere Santana Injury Lawyers Blog, published March 16, 2015.