Gallagher & Lipshutz represents people hurt by drivers who left the scene in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, and throughout Clark County. A hit-and-run claim is two cases at once: finding the driver, and getting your injuries paid for whether or not the driver is ever found. Our Las Vegas hit and run accident lawyers work both at the same time, so the search for the car never holds up your medical care and your claim never waits on the police.
The first days decide most of it. Casino and business cameras record over themselves within days or weeks, the private archive of Las Vegas traffic camera feeds keeps about 90 days, witnesses forget plates, and your own insurance policy requires prompt notice. If you were hurt, the right order is medical care, the police report, your own insurance company, and then a hit and run lawyer in Las Vegas who can start on the cameras, and all four can happen on the same day.
We offer free consultations for hit-and-run victims and families after fatal crashes. Call (702) 381-3770 or contact Gallagher & Lipshutz before giving a recorded statement to any insurance company, including your own. Nevada gives most injury victims two years to file — see our Nevada injury claim deadlines page.
What Nevada Law Required the Driver to Do
Every driver in a crash has to stop. A driver in a crash that injures or kills anyone must stop at the scene right away and stay there, under NRS 484E.010. A driver in a crash with only property damage must also stop, under NRS 484E.020, after moving the car out of traffic if it is blocking the road. Every driver then has to give their name, address and registration number, show their license on request, and get help for anyone who is hurt, under NRS 484E.030. A driver who hits a parked car has to find the owner or leave a note with a name and address, under NRS 484E.040.
Leaving a crash that hurt someone is a category B felony, punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison, with a separate charge for each person hurt. Leaving a property-damage crash, or hitting a parked car without leaving a note, is a misdemeanor. The criminal case belongs to the prosecutor, and a conviction does not pay your medical bills. Your claim is a separate case against an insurance company, and it moves on its own schedule.
How We Find the Driver
Most hit-and-run drivers are found through a plate, a camera, or a witness, and each of those goes stale fast. Our hit and run accident attorneys start on all three the day we are hired. We obtain the police report and follow up with the investigating officer on any lead in it. We contact the businesses, casinos and homeowners with cameras pointing to where the crash happened, because most systems record over themselves in days. The RTC and NDOT traffic cameras that cover Las Vegas streets and freeways are not recorded by the government, so we identify the cameras that recorded the area where the crash was and order the private archive footage when the case warrants it. We also request the responding officers' body camera video. It captures the scene, the witnesses, and the description of the fleeing car as it was given at the scene.
A partial plate is often enough. For a Nevada plate, the DMV will release the insurance on file for the vehicle to a crash victim who has a police report and the vehicle identification number. For an Arizona, California, Utah or other out-of-state plate, the search takes a private investigator. The firm has one, and we run that search for our injury clients. When the plate, the make and model, or a distinctive piece of damage turns up the car, we open the claim against the driver's insurance company.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigates crashes in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County, including the Strip. Henderson and North Las Vegas have their own police departments, and the Nevada Highway Patrol handles I-15, US-95, I-215 and I-11. A hit-and-run with serious injuries goes to the LVMPD Traffic Bureau's Collision Investigation Section, which canvasses for video and puts out a description of the vehicle. A property-damage hit-and-run with no plate and no video usually does not get a detective.
Your Own Coverage Pays When the Driver Is Never Found
If the driver is never identified, the uninsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy pays for your injuries the way the driver's policy would have. Nevada requires every auto insurer to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage equal to your own injury limits, under NRS 687B.145, and you have it unless you rejected it in writing. A hit-and-run driver counts as uninsured under NRS 690B.020 on two conditions. The other vehicle must have made physical contact with you or your car, and the crash must have been reported to the police within the time the crash-reporting laws allow. A car that ran you off the road without touching you is a harder claim. A crash reported days later is the most common reason a hit-and-run claim is denied.
The coverage follows you as a person, not just your car. It applies when you were hit while walking, riding a bicycle, or riding in someone else's car, through your own policy or a household policy that covers you as a family member. Your collision coverage repairs the car. Medical payments coverage, if you bought it, pays early bills regardless of fault. Nevada law also bars your insurer from raising your rates or dropping you over a crash that was not your fault, under NRS 687B.385.
An uninsured motorist claim is a claim against your own insurance company, and your company handles it like any other claim. It questions fault, the injury and the treatment, and it pays only what it has to. A Las Vegas uninsured motorist lawyer proves that the crash happened the way you say, that the other car made contact, and what your injuries cost, then holds your insurer to the coverage you paid for. If the driver is known but had no insurance or too little, the claim works the same way. Our Las Vegas car accident lawyers page covers uninsured and underinsured driver claims in detail.
When the Driver Is Found
Once the driver is identified, the driver's liability insurance pays for the injuries the driver caused. The uninsured motorist claim then closes, or becomes an underinsured motorist claim if the driver's policy is too small. Nevada drivers must carry only $25,000 of injury coverage per person, so a serious injury often runs through the driver's policy and into your own underinsured coverage. Fleeing the scene hurts the driver in the injury case too. It is hard to argue that the person you left at the scene was the one at fault.
The criminal case and the injury claim run side by side. The prosecutor decides whether to charge the driver. A guilty plea or conviction helps prove the claim, but the claim does not wait for it. If the driver was drunk, see our Las Vegas drunk driving accident lawyers page, because Nevada has a separate punitive damages statute for driving while intoxicated.
Pedestrians, Cyclists and Motorcyclists Hit by a Driver Who Fled
People on foot and on two wheels are hurt worst in hit-and-runs, and they have the least to work with: no dash camera, often no plate, and sometimes no memory of the car. Your own auto policy still covers you. Uninsured motorist coverage applies to you as a person when the car made contact with you, and a household policy covers a family member who has no car. A pedestrian hurt or killed by a driver who failed to stop is also a victim under the Nevada Victims of Crime Program. The program can help with medical bills, counseling and lost income when the crash was reported to the police.
Strip and casino-driveway crashes have one advantage: cameras cover almost every foot of those properties. Our Las Vegas pedestrian accident lawyers page covers the crosswalk rules and the Strip. Our Las Vegas motorcycle accident lawyers page explains why the motorcycle's own policy is the one that counts for a rider.
What to Do After a Hit and Run in Las Vegas
If a driver hit you and left, the steps you take in the first hours decide whether the driver is found and whether your own coverage applies. Here is what to do.
Step 1: Write Down the Car
The plate or any part of it, the make, model and color, the damage you saw, and which way it went. Do it before you talk to anyone else, while it is fresh; it is gone from memory in minutes.
Step 2: Call 9-1-1
Call 911 if anyone is hurt. If no one is, call the non-emergency line for the agency that covers the location; hit-and-runs are reported by phone or in person, not online. Ask for the event number before you hang up.
Step 3: Get Checked
If you feel anything is wrong, the safest option is the emergency room, where a team of specialists and imaging can find injuries that adrenaline hides.
Step 4: Find Witnesses
Get names and phone numbers from anyone who saw the crash. Ask whether they saw the plate or the driver.
Step 5: Look for Cameras
Note every business, home and doorbell camera that faces the spot, and ask the owners the same day to save the video. Most systems record over themselves within days. Or call Gallagher & Lipshutz and we will do this for you.
Step 6: Take Pictures
Photograph your car or your injuries, the debris, paint transfer, skid marks, the intersection and the signals.
Step 7: Report It to Your Own Insurer
Tell your own insurance company the same day, because your uninsured motorist coverage requires prompt notice. Keep the statement short and factual.
Step 8: Do Not Sign Anything
Do not give a recorded statement about your injuries or sign a medical authorization or release, for your own insurer or the driver's, until you understand your injuries.
Does uninsured motorist coverage cover a hit and run in Nevada?
Yes, if the other vehicle actually hit you or your car and you reported the crash to the police. Under NRS 690B.020, an unidentified hit-and-run driver counts as an uninsured driver on those two conditions, and your own uninsured motorist coverage pays for your injuries. A car that forced you off the road without contact is a harder claim.
What should I do after a hit and run in Las Vegas?
Get medical care, call 911 or the non-emergency line for the agency that covers the location, write down everything about the car, get witness names, ask nearby businesses to save their camera video the same day, and report the crash to your own insurer. Do not give a recorded statement about your injuries to any insurance company before you understand them. The eight steps above walk through each of these.
Do I need a lawyer for a hit and run?
If you were injured, a lawyer works the search for the driver and the insurance claim at the same time, contacts the businesses with cameras before the video is gone, runs the plate search a police report or DMV request cannot, and deals with your own insurer on the uninsured motorist claim. If the only damage is minor and below your deductible, report it to the police and your insurer anyway so the record exists if injuries show up later.
What if the hit-and-run driver is never found?
Your own uninsured motorist coverage pays for your injuries, your collision coverage repairs the car, and medical payments coverage, if you bought it, pays early bills. Most Las Vegas hit-and-run injury claims are paid this way. The claim is against your own insurer, and it is handled like any other claim, so proof of the crash, the contact and the injuries still has to be built.
Can I claim for a hit and run in a parking lot with no injuries?
Yes, through your collision coverage. Photograph the damage and the spot, look for the note Nevada law required the other driver to leave, ask the property for its camera footage the same day, and report it by phone to the police agency for that location and to your insurer. Your rates cannot go up for a crash that was not your fault. If a camera or witness gives you a plate, the DMV request in our whose-insurance guide can lead to the driver's insurance.
How long do I have to file a hit-and-run claim in Nevada?
Report the crash to the police and your insurer right away, because both the uninsured motorist statute and your policy require prompt notice. A lawsuit against the driver must be filed within two years of the crash under NRS 11.190(4)(e), whether or not the driver has been found. A lawsuit against your own insurance company over uninsured motorist coverage is a claim on the policy, and Nevada allows six years for it. Do not plan around either deadline. Engage a lawyer right away so the case is built for a lawsuit from the start; an attorney contacted at the last minute may not be able to get the case filed in time. See our Nevada injury filing deadlines page.
Is a hit and run a felony in Nevada?
It is a category B felony when anyone was injured or killed, punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison with a separate charge for each person hurt, and a misdemeanor when the only damage was to property. The prosecutor brings that case; your injury claim is separate, and a conviction does not pay it.
Gallagher & Lipshutz represents hit-and-run victims in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, and Clark County. For a free consultation, call (702) 381-3770 or contact Gallagher & Lipshutz. The video, the plate and the witnesses are all easier to find in the first week than in the first month.
