01
Vehicle Debris
Broken lights, mirrors, trim, paint transfer, body fragments, and other components may provide information about the fleeing vehicle.
Dallas–Fort Worth Hit-and-Run Accident Lawyer
The other driver left.
Your injuries did not.
A driver fleeing the scene can leave an injured person facing medical bills, vehicle damage, unanswered questions, and uncertainty about available insurance.
The Piri Law Firm represents people throughout Dallas–Fort Worth after serious hit-and-run collisions involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians.
ScenePreserve evidence
DriverSearch for identity
CoverageReview insurance
LossDocument damages
DFWNorth Texas representation
Direct Answer
Can I recover compensation if the driver who hit me cannot be found?
Potentially. Identifying the fleeing driver is important, but a hit-and-run claim may also require reviewing the injured person's own automobile insurance and any potentially applicable uninsured-motorist coverage. The available options depend on the facts of the collision and the insurance policies involved.
After The Driver Leaves
The investigation begins with the evidence left behind.
Even when the responsible vehicle is gone, the crash scene may contain information that helps identify the vehicle, locate witnesses, reconstruct the collision, or establish an insurance claim.
02
Witnesses
Other motorists, pedestrians, nearby residents, employees, or passengers may have seen the vehicle, driver, license plate, or direction of travel.
03
Surveillance Video
Businesses, residences, traffic systems, parking facilities, and other nearby cameras may have captured the crash or fleeing vehicle.
04
Dashcam Footage
Your vehicle or another nearby motorist may have recorded the collision, vehicle description, license plate, or escape route.
05
Police Investigation
Prompt reporting creates a record of the collision and may allow law enforcement to investigate the fleeing vehicle and driver.
06
Insurance Coverage
When the responsible driver remains unknown or lacks coverage, applicable uninsured-motorist insurance may become important.
Time-Sensitive Evidence
The vehicle may disappear. Other evidence can disappear too.
Surveillance footage may be overwritten, witnesses may become difficult to locate, debris can be removed, and physical evidence can change quickly. Early documentation can preserve information that might otherwise be lost.
Photograph the vehicle and crash scene
Preserve debris and identifying fragments
Identify nearby cameras and witnesses
Report the collision and document injuries
Building The Case
Four questions shape a hit-and-run investigation.
Can the vehicle be identified?
License-plate information, vehicle descriptions, debris, paint transfer, surveillance footage, dashcams, and witnesses may provide identifying evidence.
Can the driver be located?
Identifying a vehicle does not always establish who was driving. Additional records and evidence may be necessary to connect a person to the collision.
What insurance applies?
The investigation should consider available coverage from an identified driver as well as potentially applicable coverage under the injured person's own policy.
What injuries resulted?
Emergency treatment, diagnostic testing, surgery, rehabilitation, lost income, impairment, and future medical needs should be documented.
Insurance Issues
An unidentified driver does not automatically mean there is no potential source of recovery.
Hit-and-run cases can involve complicated insurance questions. Policy language, coverage, notice requirements, proof of the collision, and the circumstances surrounding the unidentified driver can all matter.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Depending on the policy and circumstances, uninsured-motorist coverage may become relevant when the responsible driver cannot be identified or insured.
Medical Documentation
Medical records connect the collision to injuries, treatment, restrictions, prognosis, and future care needs.
Vehicle Damage
Impact location, paint transfer, broken components, and damage patterns may help reconstruct how the collision occurred.
Independent Evidence
Witnesses, video, photographs, electronic data, police records, and physical evidence can help establish a collision when the other driver is absent.
Pedestrians & Cyclists
Leaving the scene can be especially devastating when the victim has no vehicle around them.
Hit-and-run crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists can cause catastrophic injuries. Locating cameras, witnesses, debris, vehicle fragments, and other identifying evidence can become especially important when the injured person cannot provide a complete description of the fleeing vehicle.
Related Personal Injury Services
Hit-and-run collisions can involve many different road users.
Related pages provide additional information about motor-vehicle crashes, vulnerable road users, uninsured drivers, and catastrophic injuries.
Car Accidents
Passenger-vehicle crashes can involve serious injuries, disputed fault, and complicated insurance claims.
Explore →Highway & Freeway Accidents
High-speed hit-and-run crashes can involve multiple vehicles and rapidly disappearing evidence.
Explore →Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrians can suffer catastrophic injuries when a driver strikes them and leaves the scene.
Explore →Bicycle Accidents
Cyclists may have limited information about a fleeing vehicle after a serious impact.
Explore →Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists face severe injury risks when another driver causes a collision and fails to stop.
Explore →Traumatic Brain Injury
Vehicle impacts can cause lasting neurological, cognitive, behavioral, and functional impairment.
Explore →Catastrophic Injuries
Severe hit-and-run crashes can cause permanent disability and lifelong medical needs.
Explore →Wrongful Death
Families may have claims after a fatal collision involving a driver who fled the scene.
Explore →Frequently Asked Questions
Hit-and-run accident questions.
What should I do immediately after a hit-and-run accident?
If you are able, contact law enforcement, obtain medical care, photograph the scene and vehicle damage, identify witnesses, preserve any debris, and write down everything you remember about the fleeing vehicle and driver.
What if I did not get the license plate?
A license plate can be valuable, but it is not the only possible evidence. Vehicle descriptions, paint transfer, broken components, surveillance video, dashcams, witnesses, and police investigation may provide additional information.
Can surveillance video help identify a hit-and-run driver?
Potentially. Nearby businesses, residences, parking facilities, traffic systems, and other cameras may have recorded the collision, vehicle, license plate, or direction of travel. Some recordings may be overwritten quickly.
What if police never find the driver?
Depending on the circumstances and insurance policies involved, there may still be potential insurance coverage. A hit-and-run claim can require careful review of applicable uninsured-motorist and other coverage.
How long do I have to file a hit-and-run injury claim in Texas?
Texas generally applies a two-year limitations period to personal injury claims, although exceptions and insurance-related requirements can apply. Evidence such as surveillance footage can disappear much sooner.
Confidential Consultation
What Are You Facing?
Tell us where the crash happened, what you remember about the fleeing vehicle, whether police responded, whether there were witnesses or cameras, what injuries occurred, and what insurance coverage may be available.
Call833-FOR-PIRI
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