Hit-and-runs on the rise in SWFL, most in Lee County

According to AAA, hit-and-runs account for around 5% of all traffic deaths, and Southwest Florida saw a total of more than 5,000 hit-and-run crashes between January and November 2021; 14 of them were deadly and more than 900 caused injuries.

Most of those crashes happened in Lee County, which brought in more than half the total of hit-and-run crashes in Southwest Florida. Lt. Greg Bueno with the Florida Highway Patrol
told WINK News what those numbers mean to him and others that have to respond to the scenes of such crashes.

“There shouldn’t be any, because if you’re involved in a traffic crash, you must stay there,” Bueno said. “It’s so frustrating to go to 911 calls and scenes as a first responder and see the level of unaccountability by people, because they leave a scene and someone’s laying there deceased or seriously injured. You know, we have zero tolerance for it. It’s frustrating. And we’re hoping that it’s frustrating to the community, as well, because it should have touched enough people’s lives by now.”

If you are in a crash, stay at the scene until you talk to police. Remember: If you leave, it’s considered a crime.

It all starts from the root of the accident. There are millions of distractions available to drivers, whether you’re eating food behind the wheel, putting makeup on or texting and surfing the internet while operating a large, dangerous piece of machinery. Accidents can happen to anyone, but in order to avoid a hit-and-run in the first place, self-discipline is key. Get enough sleep, put that phone down and abide by the rules of the road.

But what happens when it’s too late and a driver makes a life-changing mistake they can’t take back? Why make matters worse and leave after running into someone?

“They leave for a variety of reasons, and none of them are good,” Bueno said. “At the end of the day, if you fail to stay on-scene, you’re failing yourself, because you have now committed a crime. In their mind, they leave potentially because they’re impaired, because their insurance is lapsed, their license is not valid. They’re scared. Lately, we’ve been getting, ‘Well, I don’t know what I hit.’ My goodness, stop your car, turn around and look. It’s that simple.”

Since 2012, Bueno says we’ve had over 600,000 crashes in the state of Florida. What do we do about it? If you see a crash and someone leaves the scene, that means you’re automatically involved, so call it in. You can remain anonymous; just call Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-8477 or FHP or visit them online and they will protect your identity.

If you’re texting and you cause a crash or even kill someone, there’s a good probability law enforcement will get a search warrant for your phone.