ORLANDO, Fla — Every year, hundreds of Florida families lose loved ones in hit-and-run crashes, and too often, no one is ever held accountable. State data show 25% of all crashes in Florida involve a driver who takes off.
In October alone, Channel 9 covered five deadly hit-and-run crashes. So far, investigators have only identified a suspected driver in one case.
“It’s frustrating. You know that people can just leave somebody to die in the middle of the street,” Cpl. Edward Swisher of the Florida Highway Patrol said.
It’s the story of so many families whose loved ones have been taken from them in a hit-and-run crash.
“I know what happened. I know when it happened. I know where it happened. I don’t know who or why,” Nonna Keeler said.
Keeler lives in Montana. Investigators called to tell her she lost her son, Levi, in a hit-and-run crash on U.S. 27 and 192. Levi was riding his bike in the bike lane when troopers believe a semi hit him.
“From there, he left the scene, and that’s where the investigation begins,” Swisher said.
Swisher worked the scene, taking pictures and collecting evidence. But there was no video, no witness, and three years later, no one to hold accountable.
“I’m not going to say hope is completely gone, but we’re not as optimistic as we were,” Keeler said.
9 Investigates went through hundreds of cases, looking at the time of day, the type of road, the conditions. They vary. But troopers say in Central Florida, one thing is certain: “Less and less people are staying on scene,” Swisher said.
The Florida Highway Patrol says that in the last 10 years, hit-and-run cases have increased by 40%. From 2022 to 2023, troopers also saw a rise in deadly hit-and-runs.
“I do believe that since we’ve had changes in our economy, we’ve seen where people can’t afford insurance and have difficulty securing driver’s licenses, and that can ultimately really do some of the reasons for the hit-and-run to take place,” Cpl. Daniel Jonas with the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Jonas has investigated hundreds of crashes in his 17 years with the highway patrol.
“I carry several cases very near and dear to my own heart that were hit-and-run cases. Some were able to be solved, and some were not,” Jonas said.
These cases are not easy to prove. You can have evidence, video, pictures...“But if we don’t have a good witness to kind of put people behind the wheel” Swisher said. “It’s just hard to wrap the whole case together.”
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says there are two elements prosecutors struggle to prove.“One is the identity of the car involved in the accident… The second issue may be the identity of who was driving the car,” Bill Sheaffer explained.A study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that roughly 50 percent of hit-and-run drivers nationwide are identified in crashes.“Unfortunately, on certain cases, you don’t have all the answers for that family, and it’s extremely difficult to tell them, ‘Hey, we are going to have to wrap this one up,’” Corporal Swisher said.But these files are kept forever in the hope that one day someone calls and says they know something that will lead investigators closer to the driver, and families like Keeler’s closer to closure.“The fact that we don’t have answers makes me feel like I failed my son,” Keeler said.Troopers say our area makes hit-and-run crashes particularly difficult to solve. They believe tourists often see something and go back home without ever saying anything.
Florida lawmakers have tried and failed to address the issue. A bill this year would have required auto-repair shops to log crash damage, creating a paper trail for investigators. It also called for front license plates to help identify fleeing drivers. But the measure died in appropriations.
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