On the night of April 3, Maria Del Aguila was riding her scooter at the intersection of Northwest 10th Avenue and Northwest 13th Street when she was struck by a car.
Del Aguila, a 21-year-old UF accounting junior, said she remembers the impact from the crash, the feeling of flipping through the air and lifting her head up to see her broken scooter.
Since the accident, Del Aguila said the Gainesville Police Department has not been able to find the driver who hit her.
“I'm at least a little lucky that I had friends and family two hours away that could come and help me,” she said. “But there's so many international students, there's so many kids that I know whose families live out of state where it's like, well, what are they going to do?”
Incidents like Del Aguila’s are not isolated. In 2025, GPD reported 992 hit-and-run accidents — 66 of which involved injuries, said GPD spokesperson Art Forgey.
Sometimes, hit-and-run accidents can be fatal. In May, just one month after Del Aguila’s accident, a hit-and-run on Archer Road killed a 34-year-old Gainesville man.
Last year, nearly 100,000 hit-and-run accidents were reported across Florida. There have been over 35,000 reported this year.
These hit-and-run accidents make up nearly 25% of all crashes in the state, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Despite the high number of hit-and-runs each year, Florida has strict requirements for drivers involved in collisions.
Under Florida law, drivers are required to immediately stop and report the crash to law enforcement. They’re also required to exchange insurance or contact information and report any injuries.
Forgey said many Gainesville drivers leave the scene of the crash because they fear consequences from previous interactions with police, have a suspended driver’s license or lack insurance.
“The biggest reason is that they're wanted for something,” he said. “Sometimes none of those play into effect, and the person just got scared and left.”
If a driver is caught leaving the scene, they could be fined, have their license revoked or be sentenced to jail.
In April, a Gainesville man was denied bond after turning himself in following a hit-and-run incident that left a motorcyclist injured.
Depending on the severity of injuries and vehicle damage, a driver can also be put on probation, Foregy said.
“I’ve seen anywhere from where people are put on probation to where a driver was injured or killed and they're getting multiple years in prison,” Foregy said.
In Gainesville, hit-and-run investigations can take anywhere from several days to weeks.
Forgey said Gainesville police try to locate the car based on information collected at the scene or security cameras from nearby buildings at the crash site. Officers may also use dash cameras, witnesses and electronic license plate readers, he added.
Other police stations approach their investigations in the same way.
Kyle Plusa, a criminal justice professor at Florida Gulf Coast University and former police officer, said investigations begin as soon as possible for hit-and-run cases.
Investigators may search for vehicle debris, broken headlights and paint transfers, Plusa said.
"Law enforcement deals with the facts at hand at that very moment, and that's all we have to base our decisions on every time," he said.
Contact Olivia Lofaso at olofaso@alligator.org. Follow her on X @OLofaso77652.
Olivia Lofaso is a third-year journalism student and the Summer 2026 city/county commission reporter. She previously worked as a contributing writer at The Alligator. In her free time she enjoys visiting art museums and solving crosswords.
