San Diego experiences increase in hit and run fatalities

San Diego is a great place to live. You may have even had friends from other cities tell you how lucky you are to live here. And while the weather and amenities make San Diego such a terrific city, it is not without its problems.

One particularly disturbing trend that the city is currently experiencing involves the increase of fatalities caused by hit and run accidents. In fact, information released by the Statewide Integrated Traffic System indicates that such accidents were responsible for the deaths of 11 people in 2014. This total is especially alarming when you consider that there were no fatalities whatsoever in both 2012 and 2013.

The hit-and-run accidents are not limited to one area of the city and have occurred in several places. However, over half of the fatal accidents took place in a business district in the vicinity of crosswalks and sidewalks.

Police state that often the hit-and-run drivers are impaired during the accidents. It is also possible they are uninsured and thus afraid to turn themselves in.

Families who have members taken away suddenly are left to deal with tremendous grief. They may also be looking at serious financial hardships. Therefore, if the death was caused by the negligence of another, the family has serious decisions to make regarding matters of compensation.

In the case of hit and run accidents, it is often difficult to catch the offender. This means a family may not be able to pursue a civil suit and must rely on receiving a settlement from an insurance company. A California motor vehicle accident attorney may be of service to a family seeking to secure an amount compensatory to their needs.