A Mississippi schoolgirl was knocked off her bicycle and killed earlier this month. Her mother was injured. The driver did not stop.
Leaving the scene of an accident where there has been a death or injury is illegal under Mississippi law. Leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, such as to a car, is also unlawful.
A driver found guilty of a hit and run, where someone is killed, mutilated, disabled, disfigured, or loses a limb or organ, faces between five and 20 years in prison. They also have to pay a fine of between $1,000 and $10,000.
None of that will be of much consolation to the mother who lost her daughter, but at least she knows who did it — the driver eventually handed himself into local police. Many hit and run drivers never turn themselves in and are never caught.
In the time it takes you to read this article, another two hit and runs will have occurred, somewhere in the United States. The numbers are increasing year by year. A report from the Foundation for Traffic Safety found there is a hit and run accident every 43 seconds in the U.S. Roughly six people per day die and one in five pedestrian deaths are due to a hit and run.
A hit and run, whether fatal or non-fatal, can devastate the person hit and their family. If this happens to you, a Meridian attorney can investigate your case and the legal options available to you.