Civil Remedies After Criminal Hit-and-Run Cases: Pursuing Compensation While Criminal Charges Are Pending
A hit-and-run crash can leave an injured person with two separate concerns at once. One is the criminal case against the driver who fled. The other is the civil claim needed to pay for medical treatment, lost income, pain, and long-term recovery. Those two matters may involve the same crash, but they do not move the same way or serve the same purpose.
The criminal case belongs to the State of Florida. The civil claim belongs to the injured person. A driver may face arrest, prosecution, probation, jail, license consequences, or other criminal penalties, but those proceedings do not automatically pay the injured person’s bills. Working with an experienced West Palm Beach hit-and-run lawyer can help separate the compensation issues from the criminal prosecution and keep the injury claim moving while criminal charges are ongoing.
The Criminal Case Does Not Replace the Civil Claim
After a hit-and-run arrest, many injured people assume the criminal case will resolve everything. The prosecutor may pursue charges, police may collect evidence, and the court may address punishment. Those steps matter, but they are not the same as a personal injury claim.
A criminal case focuses on whether the driver violated the law and what penalty should follow. A civil claim focuses on the harm caused to the injured person. Medical bills, therapy, missed work, future care, pain, and permanent limitations still need to be documented and pursued through the civil process.
A guilty plea or conviction may help explain what the driver did, but compensation is not automatic. The injured person still needs a separate civil claim directed toward the losses caused by the crash.
What Florida Law Requires After an Injury Crash
Florida law requires a driver involved in a crash causing injury or death to stop and remain at the scene. Florida Statutes § 316.027 applies to crashes involving death or personal injuries and requires the driver to stop, remain at or near the scene, and fulfill the duties required after the crash.
That requirement matters because leaving the scene interrupts the most basic accountability after an injury crash. The fleeing driver avoids immediate identification, prevents the ordinary exchange of information, and forces the injured person, witnesses, police, and insurers to reconstruct facts that should have been available at the scene.
The Duty to Give Information and Render Aid
A driver who stays at the scene has duties beyond stopping the vehicle. Florida Statutes § 316.062 requires a driver involved in a crash involving injury, death, or property damage to provide identifying information and render reasonable assistance when treatment appears necessary or is requested.
Those duties affect what happens in the first minutes after the collision. A pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist, passenger, or another driver may be left waiting for help. Witnesses may have to call 911, describe the fleeing vehicle, and try to assist before emergency responders arrive.
The failure to provide information and aid should not be treated as a side issue. When a driver leaves an injured person behind, the civil case can reflect the fear, delay, and uncertainty created by that decision.
Building the Civil Claim While Charges Are Pending
The criminal case may move slowly. Court dates can be continued, plea negotiations may take months, and the injured person cannot control the timing. The civil claim cannot depend entirely on that schedule.
Medical treatment should continue based on the injury, not the status of the prosecution. Records should be gathered from emergency care, specialists, therapy providers, imaging facilities, and treating doctors. Lost income, work restrictions, transportation problems, household limitations, and changes in daily activity should also be documented while recovery is unfolding.
The compensation claim should keep moving while the criminal court process develops. Waiting for the prosecution to finish can leave gaps in the medical record, wage history, and proof of how the injury affected the person’s life.
Accessing Evidence From the Criminal Investigation
A criminal investigation may produce useful evidence, but access is not always immediate. Police reports, body camera footage, witness statements, traffic camera footage, vehicle information, crash reconstruction materials, and charging documents can help identify the driver and explain why the collision occurred.
The injured person may not receive every record at once. Some materials may be unavailable while the investigation is active. Others may require formal requests or coordination with law enforcement, prosecutors, or insurers. A civil claim must be prepared with that timing in mind.
A criminal investigation can support the civil case, but it should not be the only source of proof. Independent witness outreach, scene review, nearby video searches, vehicle information, and photographs of the crash location can help keep the civil claim from depending entirely on the criminal file.
Insurance Coverage After a Hit-and-Run Crash
Finding the driver does not always mean finding enough insurance. The hit-and-run driver may be uninsured, underinsured, driving someone else’s vehicle, or even excluded from a policy. If the driver is never identified or does not have enough insurance, the injured person’s own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may become one of the most important sources of recovery.
Florida Statutes § 627.727 governs uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in Florida. In a hit-and-run injury claim, that coverage can help address the gap left by a fleeing driver who cannot be found, cannot be insured, or cannot provide enough coverage for the harm caused.
When an Arrest Does Not Resolve Civil Responsibility
An arrest can identify a suspect, but civil responsibility may still require additional proof. The person charged may deny driving, claim another person had the vehicle, dispute permission to use the car, or challenge how the crash occurred. The vehicle owner may also become part of the investigation if the driver was using someone else’s car.
Those disputes affect the civil claim because compensation depends on proving more than an arrest occurred. The injured person may need evidence connecting the driver to the vehicle, the vehicle to the collision, and the driver’s conduct to the injuries. Police reports and charging documents can help, but civil recovery often requires its own liability investigation.
A criminal charge can support the injury claim, but it does not replace the civil proof needed to pursue compensation. The civil case should be prepared to show who was responsible, what vehicle was involved, and how the hit-and-run caused the losses being claimed.
Damages Available in a Civil Hit-and-Run Claim
The criminal case may punish the driver, but the civil claim must address the injured person’s losses. Damages can include emergency treatment, hospital bills, surgery, physical therapy, medication, future medical care, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, pain, emotional distress, scarring, disability, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Hit-and-run crashes can create additional emotional harm because the injured person was left behind. A person struck by a fleeing driver may struggle with fear, anger, anxiety, sleep disruption, or the knowledge that the driver chose to leave instead of helping. Those effects should be documented along with the physical injuries.
A civil claim should reflect the full cost of the crash and its aftermath. Compensation should not be limited to what the criminal court addresses or what the insurer first offers.
Why Civil Action Should Not Wait for the Criminal Case
A pending criminal case can make the injured person feel stuck, especially when court dates are continued or plea discussions take months. Civil recovery depends on work that cannot wait for the criminal docket.
Witness memories fade. Video footage can be overwritten. Crash scenes change. Medical records need to be organized while treatment is ongoing. The delay built into a criminal case should not prevent the injured person from actively pursuing and protecting the civil claim.
Guidance from a knowledgeable West Palm Beach hit-and-run lawyer can help coordinate the civil claim while criminal charges are pending, so compensation issues are not left waiting for the prosecution to end.
Contact Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather
If you were injured by a hit-and-run driver, the criminal case is only one part of what comes next. The civil claim must address medical care, lost income, insurance coverage, pain, future treatment, and the harm caused by being left at the scene.
Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather represents injured people in serious hit-and-run accident claims throughout West Palm Beach and Florida. Contact Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather today to speak with a West Palm Beach hit-and-run lawyer and learn how we can help protect your civil claim while criminal charges are pending.
Sources:
- Florida Statutes § 316.027 — Crash involving death or personal injuries
leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399%2F0316%2FSections%2F0316.027.html - Florida Statutes § 316.062 — Duty to give information and render aid
leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.062.html - Florida Statutes § 627.727 — Motor vehicle insurance; uninsured and underinsured vehicle coverage
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0600-0699%2F0627%2FSections%2F0627.727.html
