‘Stay at the Scene’ campaign launched in Florida to raise awareness of hit-and-run crashes

Jacksonville, FL — As February marks Hit-and-Run Awareness Month, there’s a ‘Stay at the Scene’ campaign being launched in Florida.

Master Sgt. Dylan Bryan with the Florida Highway Patrol tells WOKV there has been an increasing trend of hit-and-run crashes all across the state.

“The latest stats that I was provided was over 91,000 hit-and-run crashes occurred in Florida last year. And that’s a pretty high number that we want to try, obviously to curb that behavior and bring that number down,” says Bryan.

According to numbers from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, hit-and-run crash fatalities increased by over 18% in 2020.

Bryan says it’s important to get law enforcement involved if you’re ever involved in a crash.

“If your vehicle strikes another object, that’s a traffic crash. Whether or not it causes damage, injury, or death, you know that’s obviously increasing circumstances there, but at that point by Florida statue, you’re required to summon law enforcement,” says Bryan.

Even if you are not the one involved in a crash, he says you can help investigators by documenting what you see if you witness a crash.

Under Florida law, a driver that leaves the scene of a crash involving death faces a felony charge and a mandatory minimum of 4 years in prison.

Cox Media Group