Car accidents are a major contributor to personal injuries. However, when a car accident causes serious injury and then the perpetrator flees, the consequences seem even more disastrous. Such was the case recently when Gainesville police went in hot pursuit of a runaway driver after a hit-and-run accident.

According to police, the driver of the car who fled was a 32-year-old man. The accident took place at around 10:20 in the morning where Southwest 13th Street intersects with Ninth Road in Gainesville. The suspect ran a red light, resulting in a collision with a vehicle driven by a 62-year-old man from Palatka. The older man was transported to Shands at the University of Florida.

The suspect, however, was able to flee the scene on foot; despite the condition of his overturned red pickup truck. Police then used a helicopter and K9 unit to track the man down and apprehend him. He was booked into the Alachua County jail and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious injury, burglary, resisting arrest and providing forged identification. Police report that the man had fake ID on him. It was also learned that the man had a battery warrant out on him from Suwannee County.

This story illustrates how quickly a car accident can change a person's life. When personal injuries or death occur because of the reckless actions of another, Florida law provides for the right of victims (or their surviving family in the event of a death) to recover monetary damages for their injuries as well as pain and suffering. No one should have to suffer at the negligent or reckless hand of another, and the law supports their right to seek full accountability from wrongdoers.

Source: The Gainesville News, "Suwannee fugitive arrested after Gainesville crash," Karen Voyles, Nov. 9, 2011