Someone hit me and drove off: what to do in the first 24 hours

Get safe, call 911, and get medical help for anyone hurt. Do not chase the car. Write down everything you saw about it while it is fresh, get a police report number, and then go after video the same day, because much camera footage is recorded over automatically. Call your insurer last, with the report number in hand.

If your car was parked and empty when it was hit, the steps are different: see someone hit my parked car and drove off. This guide is for when you were in the car, or on foot or a bike.

Right now: get safe and call 911

1. Check yourself and anyone with you. If anyone might be hurt, call 911 now. FLHSMV’s advice after a crash is to make sure you are okay, check on others, and call 911 if anyone might be injured or a vehicle cannot be driven.
2. Get out of traffic if you can. FLHSMV says to move to the side of the road if possible, remove your keys if you get out, and stand out of the roadway in a safe area.
3. Tell the dispatcher it was a hit-and-run and give the direction the car went and anything you saw about it. The Texas Department of Insurance says to call the police if you were hit by a driver who left the scene.
4. Get checked if you are hurt or not sure. Accept a check from paramedics if they come, and keep every record of treatment. The Texas Department of Insurance tells drivers to tell their insurer if they were injured.

Do not chase the other car

It is natural to want to follow. For your own safety, do not. The Lititz Borough Police Department’s hit-and-run advice, written for witnesses, says: “Do not chase or follow the hit-and-run vehicle.” It tells people to report what they saw to police by calling 911 instead. FLHSMV’s advice to drivers after a crash ends: “Most importantly, stay calm and always stay at the scene.”

Some state laws point the same way. These are examples of what the statutes’ text says, not a ruling on your crash:

• Texas. Transportation Code 550.021 says the operator of a vehicle involved in a collision that results or is reasonably likely to result in injury or death must stop at or as close as possible to the scene and remain there until they have given their information and checked whether anyone needs aid. Section 550.022 says the same for a crash that damages only a vehicle someone is driving or attending. Both are written for “the operator of a vehicle involved in a collision” and make no exception for the driver who was hit.
• New York. Vehicle and Traffic Law 600 is worded differently: its duty to stop falls on a driver who knows, or has cause to know, that damage was caused to another person’s property or that another person was injured.

The wording and the duty vary by state.

Capture the fleeing car before you forget it

Record what you saw within the first few minutes, while it is fresh. Speak it into your phone’s voice recorder if your hands are shaking. The Lititz police list asks witnesses to record as much as they can remember about the vehicle, including make, model, color and distinctive details, and to photograph the vehicle or plate only if they can do so safely.

Write down:

• The plate, even part of it. A few letters or numbers, the state, and the plate’s color or design.
• Make, model and color. If you only know the type (pickup, SUV, sedan, van) or the brand badge, write that.
• Damage and details. Which side was damaged, a missing mirror, a broken light, a roof rack, stickers, a loud exhaust.
• The driver and passengers, if you saw them.
• Direction and time. Which way it went, onto which street, and the exact time.
• Where you were. The street and nearest cross street or address.
• Debris it left. Photograph pieces of plastic, glass or paint on the road before traffic scatters them.

Then photograph your own car’s damage, the road, and the area around you, including any cameras you can see on buildings and poles.

Ask anyone who stopped what they saw. The Texas Department of Insurance tells drivers to get the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses. If no one stayed, see how to find witnesses after a car accident, including days later.

Report it to police and get the report number

If police come to the scene, ask the officer for the report number and their name before they leave. If no one came, call the non-emergency line, or the agency that covers the road, and file a report.

Some state reporting rules are written for every driver in a crash, with no exception for the one who was hit. The rule varies by state; these are examples, not your local law:

State (example)	The duty, in the statute’s terms
Texas, Transp. Code 550.026	A driver in a collision with an injury or death, or damage that leaves a vehicle unable to be normally and safely driven, must immediately, by the quickest means, notify the local police in a city, the police or sheriff within 100 feet outside one, and otherwise the sheriff or the nearest Department of Public Safety office.
Florida, Stat. 316.065(1)	A driver in a crash with an injury or death, or apparent damage of at least $2,000, must immediately give notice to the local police, or outside a city to the county sheriff or nearest Florida Highway Patrol station. A violation is a noncriminal traffic infraction.
New York, VTL 605(a)(1)	Every driver in a crash where anyone is hurt or killed, or damage to any one person’s property, including their own, is over $1,000, must report it in writing to the DMV commissioner within ten days. Failing to report is a misdemeanor.

New York’s written DMV report is separate from the police report; the New York accident report page explains the MV-104 form. The Florida accident report page also covers Florida’s written self-report for crashes police did not write up, and both it and the Texas accident report page explain how to get the police report later.

In Florida, FLHSMV also takes hit-and-run tips at *FHP (*347), or anonymously through Florida Crime Stoppers at **TIPS (**8477).

Save the video in the first hours

Much camera footage is recorded over on its own, so start the same day, in this order.

1. Your own dashcam. Lock the clip and stop the camera from recording over it before you do anything else. Step by step for each brand: how to save dashcam footage after a crash.
2. Businesses and doorbells near the spot. Many business recorders write over the oldest video automatically. Go in person, ask for the manager, and ask them to save the clip. Scripts and a letter: how to get security camera footage from a business after a crash.
3. Police and traffic cameras. Do not assume a traffic camera recorded. TxDOT says its traffic camera footage is not recorded, and New York City DOT says its traffic cameras only provide live feeds and do not record. Cameras run by a city or another agency may differ, so ask the agency that runs the camera right away. Police body camera and dashcam video is requested from the agency; see Texas, Florida and New York accident video pages for how and how fast.
4. Give every camera lead to the officer. If a business will only release video to police, ask it to save the clip anyway and pass the business name and camera location to the officer handling your report.

Post a footage request on the board

Another driver may have recorded the whole thing without stopping. Post a free footage request with the place, date, time window, direction of travel, and the fleeing car’s description. Requests are reviewed by hand, published without your contact details, and sent to registered dashcam owners near you. You can offer a reward if you want to; it is an agreement between you and the responder, and the site never holds or pays it.

You can browse open footage requests first, and see crash evidence by state for the crash report and police and traffic camera video.

Call your insurer, and ask about uninsured motorist coverage

If the driver is never found, there is no other driver’s insurer to claim against, so look at your own coverage. What applies depends on your state and your policy.

• Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. The Texas Department of Insurance says UM coverage pays if you are hit by an uninsured driver and also pays in a hit-and-run, but that it will not pay for a hit-and-run you did not report to police. It says UM claims carry a deductible, and that insurers must offer UM coverage but you can reject it in writing, so check whether yours was rejected.
• Medical payments and PIP. TDI says medical payments coverage pays your and your passengers’ medical bills, and also pays if you are hurt while walking or biking. It says all Texas auto policies include personal injury protection unless you rejected it in writing.
• New York. The Department of Financial Services says to report an accident promptly to your insurer and to the local police, and that a written No-Fault notice of claim is due no later than 30 calendar days after the accident unless you can justify the delay. If neither you nor a relative you live with has an auto policy and you were injured by a hit-and-run driver, the DFS says to file your No-Fault claim with MVAIC, and in that passage it says it is important that the accident be reported to the proper authority within 24 hours. The page does not name that authority, so report to police at once.

TDI also tells drivers to tell their company about the accident as soon as possible and to send copies of the police report. When you call, ask: “Which coverage on my policy applies to a driver who was never identified, what is my deductible, and is there a deadline for reporting?” A lawyer can advise on a specific claim if you were hurt or the claim is disputed.

Your first-24-hours checklist

Copy this into your phone’s notes and fill it in as you go.

Hit-and-run: first 24 hours

• Safe, 911 called, medical help for anyone hurt
• Time of crash: ______ Place: ______
• Fleeing car: plate (any part) ______ state ______ make/model ______ color ______
• Its damage and details: ______
• Direction it went: ______
• Photos: my damage, the road, debris, cameras I can see
• Did not follow the car
• Police report number: ______ Officer and agency: ______
• My state’s own reporting duty checked (DMV or police)
• Dashcam clip locked and copied
• Businesses and doorbells asked to save video (names and times): ______
• Camera leads given to the officer
• Footage request posted on the board
• Insurer called, claim number: ______ Deductible: ______
• Medical records and receipts in one folder

Keep the report number, claim number and every file in the same place. Your insurer, the police and anyone else handling your claim are likely to ask for them.