How long does it take for the police to find you after a hit and run?

How Long After a Hit And Run Will Police Contact You?

A hit and run is an offense a driver commits by illegally leaving an accident scene he/she was involved in. Yearly, the USA experiences more than 7 million car accidents, of which approximately more than 700,000 crashes are hit-and-run accidents.

Leaving the car accident scene is a serious crime and you could be prosecuted in either criminal or civil courts of law depending on the circumstances of the accident and the effect of the accident upon the victims. 

It does not matter if you caused the accident or not, you may not have caused the accident but still, be charged with a hit and run if you chose to leave the accident scene without exchanging contact information or rendering the required help. 

If you were involved in a hit and run accident, what you should be worried about is how long before police contact and charge you. what are the possible penalties of hit and run accident, what if you committed a minor hit and run? 

well, There is no definitive answer to this question, as it depends on various factors such as the severity of the hit and run accident, the availability of evidence, and the workload of law enforcement (police).

Alright, this article answers the questions above and also goes the extra mile to give you answers for the following queries listed in the article contents below. Sit tight and get this valuable information now.

Do the police usually find the people behind hit and run accidents?

Whether police find the people behind hit and run accidents or not depends on many factors. Below are some of the factors.

1. Gravity of the hit-and-run accident. Though police is supposed to handle any case brought up to them, this is not always the case. On the contrary, police only concentrate on severe forms of hit and run offenses. 

The police expect insurance companies to deal with minor cases of hit and run and therefore reserve their efforts and resources in solving major cases of hit and runs.

If you committed a hit and run accident in which a person died, expect the police to hunt you forever. Your crime will forever stay open till police find and charge you.

2. Pieces of evidence available. According to statistics, only 5% of hit-and-run cases are investigated and solved by police. The reason behind it is the lack of concrete evidence and leads.

If you are involved in any car crash, make sure you gather as much evidence as possible to increase the likelihood of having your case investigated by police. 

Make sure you took accident photos, eyewitness statements, and accident footage, and do not forget to invite the police to the car accident scene to compile a car accident police report.

3. Did you report the accident? As I already mentioned, the police only investigate hit and run car accidents that are reported to them. You are also required to report the accident to your insurance company to kick-start your claim settlement process.

4. Available resources. Police usually handle so many cases at ago. If the police have limited resources like personnel, fuel, time, money, etc, to them, it may not be worth pursuing your minor hit-and-run offense.

How to find out if a hit and run was reported?

Drivers that are party to the accident are required by law to report the crash to the police as soon as possible. On the same note, hit and runs too should be reported. 

To find out if a hit and run was reported or not, you will need to contact the police department in your area of jurisdiction. Simply call the police and provide them with details of the accident like location, time, number plates, and names of drivers involved.

Since one or more drivers usually leave the accident scene without sharing their information, you can call and ask if any eyewitness reported the hit and run, or if the police has the hit and run footage or any car photos of the accident.

Will police investigate a minor hit and run?

I almost already answered this however I can elaborate more. In case you were wondering, here is an explanation of a minor hit-and-run. 

A minor hit and run is a crime where the driver fled the accident scene in which there are only minor personal injuries or only property damages. Yes, police are mandated to investigate all cases of hit and runs but this is not how it happens.

From various sources, only 5-10% of hit and run drivers are caught, and the cases are investigated and solved. If you had a minor hit-and-run accident, most likely your case will not be investigated by police unless you provided a clear-cut piece of evidence.

Can you get arrested for a minor hit-and-run accident?

Hit and runs are both prosecuted under criminal and civil courts of law. If the hit and run accident victim wants to get compensated for the damages he/she suffered, he/she will file the hit and run lawsuit as a civil case.

I already said that a minor hit and run case is an offense where there were only property damages and or minor bodily injuries. If the victim’s car was severely damaged as a result of a hit and run accident, he/she might need to get reimbursed with repair costs or get a replacement if the car is totaled.

Should the victim file a minor hit and run accident lawsuit against you, yes, police will launch an investigation and you could be arrested for the hit and run crime/offense.

Chances of getting away with hit and run

To be frank, the majority of hit and run cases are not solved implying chances of getting away with a hit and run are very high. From my own research, more than 90-95% of drivers get away with a hit and run.

Though chances of getting away with a hit and run exceed 90%, the penalties you will face if the police caught you are so severe. Remember, you can still be convicted of hit and run even if you are not at-fault for the accident. 

If the hit and run you committed resulted in the death of someone, or severe injuries, you could be in for charges of hit and run felony. Minor hit and runs only lead to charges of a misdemeanor.

Depending on the state you come from (if you are from the USA), the penalties of a hit and run felony involve jail time or prison time of up to 15 years, fines of up to $20,000, and or revocation or suspension of your driving permit.

On the same note, the penalties of hit and run misdemeanor involve up to 5 years of jail time or prison time, up to $5,000 in fines, and suspension of your driver’s license.

What you should remember is that, your penalties of hit and run will be harsher if you caused the accident and at the same time fled the car accident scene without sharing your contact information, nor rendering help to the injured.

I committed a hit and run how long will it take for the police to find me?

There is no specific time within which police will find you if you committed a hit and run. The police could find you within hours, days, months, or years depending on the amount of information and evidence they have against you.

For example. John committed a hit and run in June 2012 and lived a free life for close to 10 years. After a simple fight in a club in which John was involved in, the police discovered he was the very ‘John” police has been looking for since 10 years ago. 

“I was charged with both a hit and run I committed 10 years ago, and at the same time charged with assault”, John told me.

If the police have sufficient evidence and clear leads, expect the police to find you in a few hours or days. I strongly recommend you to turn yourself in before the police wasted their resources in finding you.

According to Steven, an accident attorney, the penalties for a hit and run offender that turned himself in, are less compared to when authorities spend their resources in finding you.

How long after a hit and run accident can you be charged?

How long after a hit and run accident can you be charged depends largely on the laws in your area of jurisdiction. 

In some states, the statute of limitations dictates a time limit beyond which no charge will be held against you, but in other states, such a statute of limitation does not exist.

For example, the statute of limitations for personal injuries in New York is 3 years. This implies that, the hit-and-run car accident victim who suffered personal injuries has up to 3 years to file a hit and run lawsuit. 

You will not face charges if the person sued you after 3 years, for hit and-run-related injuries in New York.

In a related example, the personal injury statute of limitations in California is only 2 years. Beyond 2 years after the hit and run car accident, the victim loses his right to file charges against you for the hit-and-run accident you committed. 

But, remember what I already said earlier. in most states, charges of a felony hit and run remain open forever. This implies that, you could be still charged for a hit and run even after 100 years as long as someone died out of your negligence.

In short, how long after the hit and run accident can you be charged depends on many factors like the circumstances of the accident, the gravity of the hit and run, and laws in your state. 

If you committed a hit-and-run, I strongly recommend turning yourself into the authorities as soon as possible and seeking legal representation right away. Hiring an experienced car accident attorney could save you from paying hefty fines, and many years of jail time.

What happens to hit and run drivers who are later found by their license plate?

I already stressed enough how important it is to gather enough pieces of evidence to help police and car insurance companies in investigating not only hit and runs, but also any other auto accident, right?

Whether police pursue your hit and run or not largely depends on the information they have, and the pieces of evidence you provide them with play an important role. 

Speaking to an eyewitness is very important in any car accident as there is a chance someone noted the car color, make, and most importantly, license plate information. 

In fact, identifying the license plate number is very crucial in hunting down the hit-and-run offender. The information from the license plate will help in identifying the owner of the car and later the person that was driving it as far as a hit and run are concerned.

According to my interview, I had with a car accident attorney, Hit and run drivers who are later found by their license plate may face criminal charges, fines, license suspension or revocation, and potential civil lawsuits for damages and injuries caused.

How do insurance companies handle hit and run?

The best thing is that yes, insurance companies compensate hit-and-run victims but up to their insurance coverage policy limits. 

If you are a hit and run victim, your collision insurance coverage or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages should help you recover your losses. 

However, in many instances, the insurance company may want to deny your claim just because they have no way of getting back their money since you do have not enough evidence about the driver that fled the scene of the accident. 

How long does an arrest take on a hit and run driver if the police have identified the driver already?

Well, this also depends. How long it takes to arrest the hit and run driver if police have identified him already depends on many factors like the circumstances of the accident, availability of the suspect, and resources available.

In certain situations, the arrest of the hit and run driver could occur in hours, days, weeks, or months depending on the factors above. You are advised to provide police with all the information you know and continue cooperating with them till the offender is brought to book.

Conclusion.

Depending on the circumstances of the occurrence, it may take some time for police to get in touch with you following your hit-and-run case. The police may be able to get in touch with you rather quickly if the victim gives them specific information about your hit and run vehicle.

However, it might take longer for the police to get in touch with you and, in certain situations, they might not be able to at all if they don’t have enough information to identify you as the hit and run offender.

In case you were a victim of a hit-and-run, In that situation, it’s crucial to call the police as soon as you can to report the accident, provide them with any relevant details you may have, and then check in with them later to see how the investigation is going-on.

Very crucial if you were hurt in the hit-and-run, ensure getting medical care and get in touch with your insurance provider to start the claims procedure.