Bicyclist Seriously Injured in Hit and Run Accident in Jacksonville Beach, Florida
A man riding his bicycle on Third Street in Atlantic Beach, Florida was hit by an SUV and seriously injured, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The bicyclist, Robert Huish, a Navy pilot, was taken to the hospital with very serious injuries, while the person who hit him fled from the scene.
In Florida, it is a serious felony crime to cause an accident with injuries and fail to remain at the scene of the accident to provide contact and insurance information to the police along with a statement about how the accident occurred. The way people drive and fail to look out for bicycles on the roads, it is certainly plausible that this person was not paying attention and hit the bicyclist and then fled to avoid accountability for causing the accident. In many hit and run cases where the driver is ultimately caught, it is suspected that the driver left the scene because he/she had a suspended license or may have been intoxicated and tried to avoid an arrest for DUI.
In personal injury cases involving hit and run accidents, there still may be a way to recover damages even where the at-fault driver is never found. Normally, the at fault driver's insurance company is required to pay damages to the victim for his/her injuries resulting from the accident. However, if that driver is never located or that driver is uninsured, the victim can still recover damages if he/she has uninsured motorist coverage. In that case, the personal injury lawyer can make a claim with the victim's own insurance company to recover damages to compensate the victim for his/her injuries.
