The State of Hit-and-Runs in the U.S. 

From 2015 to 2019, there were nearly 4 million hit-and-runs in the U.S.

Out of these accidents, 73 percent resulted in property damage only, 27 percent were injury only, and less than 1 percent were fatal.

In case you’re wondering how likely hit-and-runs are, only 2 percent of drivers experienced them in 2019. To break it down by the damages and injuries, 1 percent of U.S. adults experienced hit-and-runs with property damage only, and less than 1 percent involved injuries or deaths.

Fatal hit-and-runs are more common in certain areas than others, according to the latest data from AAA and the U.S. Census Bureau (2016).

By Region

The South had the most fatal hit-and-runs in 2016 — 0.65 per 100,000 inhabitants. The Northeast had the lowest rates at 0.41 per 100,000 inhabitants.

By State

New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina have the highest rates of fatal hit-and-runs. The states with the lowest per capita rates are Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, and Nevada.

Multiple factors lead to a hit-and-run crash, from the number of pedestrians to the characteristics of the hit-and-run driver.

More Pedestrians

Most of the people killed in hit-and-runs are pedestrians, who aren’t protected by the body of a car.

Environmental Factors

Environmental factors such as lighting, the shape of roadways, and general surveillance can affect the likelihood of hit-and-runs. Areas with less lighting have more car accidents in general. The more visibility, the less likely someone is to commit a hit-and-run. In general, heavy-traffic areas with more surveillance have fewer hit-and-runs than darker, more private areas.

Driver Characteristics

In 2019, 61 percent of motor vehicle crashes involving hit-and-runs had male drivers, compared with 39 percent of female drivers, according to the most recent NHTSA data. The large majority of drivers were between the ages of 25 and 54, making young and middle-aged male drivers more likely to cause hit-and-runs than any other group.

Another characteristic of many drivers in hit-and-runs was a history of DUIs, license suspensions, or high blood alcohol concentrations at the time of the arrest. DUIs correlate with male drivers: In 2019, 206 percent more men were arrested for DUIs than women. For men 65 and older, that number increases to 341 percent.

Men are also disproportionately killed in traffic accidents. Although men and women both make up 50 percent of all licensed drivers, men make up 71 percent of all traffic fatality victims.

Across all traffic fatalities, including hit-and-runs, the plurality of victims are between the ages of 25 and 34. While this group makes up 14 percent of the total U.S. population, they are killed in 18 percent of all traffic accidents. Therefore, the most likely person to die in a hit-and-run is a male between the ages of 25 and 34.

The culprits in hit-and-runs often drive older cars, suggesting a lower socioeconomic status, according to AAA data. The costs of an at-fault accident could be high, especially for those who drive without insurance — property damage, bodily injuries, state penalties and fees, and possibly even years in prison. Therefore, many people flee the scene to avoid law enforcement and the costs of the accident, but they become guilty of a greater crime (a hit-and-run) by doing so.⁵

If someone hits your parked car, or if someone hits your car and then leaves, will your car insurance cover your property damages and bodily injuries? It depends on your coverages and limits.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Insurance companies can apply your uninsured motorist coverage to hit-and-runs to pay your medical bills. Many states do not require you to purchase uninsured motorist coverage, but we recommend it, considering that an estimated 12 percent of drivers across the nation were uninsured as of 2019⁶.

Collision Coverage

Collision coverage is another coverage that you could apply to property damage from hit-and-runs, although its main usage is for accidents you’ve caused. No state requires collision insurance, but it’s part of full coverage, along with comprehensive coverage, medical payments coverage, and liability coverage.

Medical Payments Coverage and Personal Injury Protection

Finally, you can apply either medical payments coverage or personal injury protection (PIP) to the costs of your injuries. While medical payments coverage will cover your medical bills, PIP will also cover any wages you lost or child care you had to pay for as a result of the accident.

Hit-and-runs are a major reason why purchasing full-coverage car insurance and uninsured motorist coverage is essential. If you lack these coverages and only have the minimum coverage your state requires, you may have to pay for the costs out of pocket if you’re involved in a crash. To see more of our car insurance research, read about state driving statistics, the statistics on uninsured motorists, or the state of potholes in the U.S.

To perform this research, we combined third-party data from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the Insurance Research Council, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.