Content reviewed by:
Alex Shulman
When a driver speeds off after causing a crash, victims are left with medical bills, a damaged car, and no one to hold accountable—at least not right away.
Shulman & Hill has spent over a decade helping injured New Yorkers pursue compensation even when the at-fault driver disappears. With over $1 billion recovered and 200+ years of combined legal experience among our Yorktown car accident lawyers, we know how to build a case when the facts aren’t handed to us.
Get in touch today for a free case review. A hit-and-run lawyer in Yorktown from our firm can help you understand your options and pursue every source of compensation available.
What Makes Hit-and-Run Cases Challenging
Most personal injury claims start with a known at-fault driver and their insurance company. Hit-and-run cases flip that process on its head.
Without a driver to identify, there’s no policy to file against, no insurance adjuster to negotiate with, and often very little to go on besides a partial license plate, a vehicle description, or a few seconds of dashcam footage. Insurance companies may also be quicker to question the legitimacy of a claim when there’s no other driver to corroborate what happened.
This is exactly the kind of case where an in-depth, in-house investigation is important. A Yorktown personal injury lawyer may piece together traffic camera footage, canvass witnesses, and coordinate with police, turning a seemingly dead-end case into a viable claim.
Steps to Take After a Hit-and-Run Incident
What you do in the minutes and days after the crash can shape the outcome of your case. If you’re able to:
- Call 911 immediately and stay at the scene until police arrive
- Write down or photograph anything you remember about the other vehicle: color, make, model, license plate letters or numbers, even partial ones
- Look for nearby witnesses and ask for their contact information
- Photograph your vehicle, your injuries, and the surrounding area
- Seek medical attention right away, even if injuries seem minor
- Avoid posting about the accident on social media before speaking with a hit-and-run lawyer in Yorktown
Even a few small details can give investigators enough to work with, especially when paired with traffic and business surveillance footage in the area.
Evidence That Can Strengthen Your Claim
- Police accident reports and any follow-up investigation notes
- Traffic light, red-light, or nearby business surveillance camera footage
- Dashcam or witness cell phone video
- Paint transfer, debris, or vehicle damage patterns that can help identify the type of vehicle involved
- Medical records connecting your injuries to the crash
- Your own written account of the incident while details are still fresh
Common Injuries in Hit-and-Run Accidents
Hit-and-run drivers often flee at higher speeds or after side-swiping another car, which tends to produce more severe impacts than a typical fender-bender.
Victims frequently sustain broken bones, whiplash, spinal injuries, and head trauma, and pedestrians or cyclists struck by a fleeing vehicle can suffer catastrophic injuries requiring surgery or long-term rehabilitation.
Because these injuries are often severe, medical costs add up quickly. And without a driver’s insurance to cover them, victims are left wondering who pays. This is where pursuing every available avenue of compensation, rather than assuming there’s no one to recover from, becomes critical.
Insurance Issues That Often Arise
New York’s insurance rules create a few unique wrinkles in hit-and-run cases that many victims don’t know about.
No-Fault Coverage Still Applies
Regardless of who caused the crash or whether they’re ever found, your own no-fault (PIP) coverage should still pay for medical treatment and a portion of lost wages, up to your policy limits.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage for Unidentified Drivers
When the at-fault driver can’t be identified, your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage typically applies. Under New York auto policies, a hit-and-run by an unidentified vehicle is treated as an uninsured motorist claim, so your UM coverage steps in as if the missing driver had no insurance.
MVAIC When You Have No Coverage of Your Own
If you don’t have your own auto insurance to fall back on, you may instead be able to file with the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC), a state-created fund of last resort. MVAIC claims come with a strict catch: you generally must file a notice of intention to make a claim within 90 days of the accident.
Miss that window, and you may lose access to this coverage entirely. That is one of the biggest reasons to speak with a hit-and-run lawyer in Yorktown quickly rather than waiting.
When a Found Driver Turns Out to Be Uninsured
If the driver is later identified but turns out to have no insurance, your claim proceeds under the uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your own auto policy.
Proving Losses After a Hit-and-Run
Once a claim is underway, whether against MVAIC, an uninsured motorist policy, or an insurer that’s finally been identified, you still have to prove what the crash cost you. That means documenting medical treatment and future care needs, lost income and reduced earning capacity, property damage, and pain and suffering.
New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule, meaning your compensation can be reduced by any percentage of fault assigned to you, so accurate documentation matters just as much here as in any other injury case.
When the Driver Is Later Identified
Sometimes police make an arrest days or weeks after the crash, often through traffic cameras, tips, or vehicle repair records. When that happens, your case can shift direction. Leaving the scene of an accident is a criminal offense under New York law, and separately from any criminal case, you still have a civil claim for your injuries and losses.
If the driver has insurance, your claim moves forward against their policy; if they don’t, it may fall back to your uninsured motorist coverage. Since many of these claims overlap with broader personal injury and insurance law, having an experienced hit-and-run lawyer in Yorktown guiding the process helps you adjust quickly no matter which direction the case takes.
Deadlines Can Affect Your Rights
New York generally gives injury victims three years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit.
But hit-and-run cases often move on a faster clock than that: the 90-day MVAIC notice requirement, evidence like surveillance footage that gets erased or overwritten within days or weeks, and witnesses whose memories fade all make early action valuable.
Waiting even a few weeks can mean losing access to footage or a critical filing deadline before you’ve had the chance to fully understand your options.
Speak With a Hit-and-Run Lawyer in Yorktown Today
You shouldn’t have to absorb the cost of someone else’s decision to flee. A hit-and-run lawyer in Yorktown at Shulman & Hill can investigate the crash, pursue MVAIC or uninsured motorist coverage, and fight for the compensation you’re owed if the driver is later found.
Our firm isn’t a high-volume practice. We take a strategic, hands-on approach to every case we accept, backed by decades of combined experience across all five boroughs and Long Island.
Consultations are free, and you pay nothing unless we win.