Florida Launches Hit-and-Run 'Bad to Worse' Campaign

 Multiple Florida law enforcement agencies and their partners came together Feb. 15th to launch a statewide campaign to combat the growing number of hit-and-run crashes. This campaign is particularly important for walkers and cyclists, since they are the disproportionate number of victims. There should be "zero tolerance" for hit-and-run drivers. Also see: News-Press 2/15/16 : Florida hit-and-run crash totals go from bad to worse
 

Florida has seen the amount Hit and Run crashes remain steady over the years. Although the majority of Hit and Run crashes only result in property damage, more than 180 people were killed in hit and run crashes in 2015.* The DHSMV Florida Highway Patrol partners with the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Florida Police Chiefs Association, Students Against Destructive Decisions and the Florida Department of Transportation to combat the problem. The “Bad to Worse” campaign aims to reduce the number of hit and run crashes in Florida by educating drivers on their responsibilities if involved in a crash and the consequences they face if they leave a crash scene.

 A few hit and run facts for Florida*:

• In 2015, there were more than 92,000 hit and run crashes in Florida.
• Of those, the Florida Highway Patrol worked more than 23,000.
• Each year the percent of hit and run crashes stays steady, which means the problem of people fleeing the scene isn’t getting better.
• There were more than 19,000 injuries resulting from hit and run crashes, with over 1,200 of those involving serious bodily injury.
• Vulnerable road users are particularly at risk. In fact, there were 186 hit and run fatalities in 2015, over half of which were pedestrians.
• Approximately one out of every four pedestrian crashes resulted in the driver leaving the scene. 
•  Statewide in 2015 there were 2200 hit and run crashes involving a pedestrian...with 84 of them dying.
•  Last year 17% of all pedestrian fatalities involved a hit and run.
• Bicyclists make up approximately 12% of hit and run fatalities (down from 16% in 2013)
• In Lee County hit-and-runs involving cyclists or pedestrians totaled 100 in 2015, one more than in 2014.
• In Collier County bike/ped-related hit-and-run crashes totaled 33 in 2015; 36 in 2014. 

* Note: All 2015 data is considered preliminary, based on data available  as of 1/8/2016.  Note: data for the last five bullets above came from FHP's Lt. Greg Bueno

Data provided by FHP's Lt. Greg Bueno 2/15/16

News-Press 2/15/16 : Florida hit-and-run crash totals go from bad to worse

Click here to read the full FHSMV press release. 

BikeWalkLee Blog 2/16/15: Florida Highway Patrol launches hit-and-run awareness campaign