What you’ll learn reading this article:

• In the last few years, an average of 14 hit-and-run accidents occur on Marion County roads per day.
• A hit-and-run accident that results in a fatality is a Level 5 felony, with steeper, serious penalties for drivers who leave the scene of the crash.
• In 2007, four hit-and-run auto accidents claim a person’s life, a number that jumps to 20 by 2016 and continues to rise.

We’re seeing a noticeable spike in the total number of hit-and-run incidents in Indianapolis and the surrounding area, and it’s becoming a trend.

Analyzing data records for Marion County, where Indianapolis is located, law officials report a total of 5,315 hit-and-run accidents in 2007. That number jumps to 7,038 in 2017 -an increase of 117% in the total number of accidents from 2014-2015 and a 126% increase from 2015-2016. A recent Fox 59 investigation finds by October of 2018, the Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD) had already written up 4,236 hit-and-run reports with 398 incidents involving injuries.

What do all these numbers mean? Here in our neighborhoods, we are seeing an average of 14 hit-and-run accidents each day.

Why would someone leave the scene of an accident? It’s unlawful and irresponsible. Nevertheless, the most common reasons include:

• The driver is simply afraid or panicked
• The driver has no driver’s license
• The driver does not have current auto insurance
• A warrant is out for the driver’s arrest
• The driver is drunk, high or otherwise impaired
• The driver has legal problems unrelated to the crash that they don’t want the police to investigate
• The driver is experiencing an emergency

Steeper Penalties for Indiana Drivers Who Leave the Scene of a Crash

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb recently signed a bill into law that designates a hit-and-run accident that results in a fatality as a Level 5 felony, with steeper, more serious penalties for drivers who leave the scene of a crash.

Marion County has experienced a serious rise in the number of hit-and-run accidents resulting in death. In 2007, only four hit-and-run auto accidents claim a person’s life. By 2016, that number jumps to 20. In fact, of the 120 fatal hit-and-run accidents over the past 11 years, nearly half (45.83%) occurred in the last three years.

A rundown of just a few of the hit-and-run incidents in 2019 include:

• In January, an 11-year-old girl is injured when a truck hits her mother’s car from behind, pushing them into oncoming traffic where they are struck by a van. The truck drivers leaves the scene.
• In April, a hit-and-run accident causes serious bodily injury to three people on E. 38th Street and Arquette Drive. The driver drives away.
• In May, a man is killed on the near west side of Indianapolis when a car hits the pickup he was working on outside of his home on West Michigan Avenue. The diver leaves the scene on foot.

Even if a hit-and-run accident does not cause death, great cost associated with a hit-and-run, including personal injury, property damage and emotional distress.

Poynter & Bucheri Accident Recovery – Indianapolis Personal Injury Attorneys

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