Hit-and-run crashes are a large and measurable part of U.S. traffic safety data. Police-reported hit-and-run crashes reached 919,292 in 2023, while the 2022 fatality count reached 2,972, the highest in the 1975–2023 series.
Key Hit and Run Statistics
The most broadly useful U.S. hit-and-run figures are:
- In 2023, 919,292 police-reported hit-and-run crashes represented 15.0% of all crashes in the United States.
- In 2022, 2,972 hit-and-run fatalities represented 7.0% of all U.S. traffic fatalities.
- In 2023, 242,886 injuries resulted from hit-and-run crashes in the United States.
- In 2022, 241,497 injuries from hit-and-run crashes represented 10.1% of all U.S. traffic injuries.
- Across 2017–2023, vehicle occupants sustained 1,633,474 hit-and-run injuries, or 10.0% of all occupant injuries.
- Across 2017–2023, pedestrians sustained 111,783 hit-and-run injuries, or 23.7% of all pedestrian injuries.
- Across 2017–2023, pedalcyclists sustained 55,395 hit-and-run injuries, or 17.2% of all pedalcyclist injuries.
- Across 2017–2023, pedestrians accounted for 1,939 hit-and-run fatalities in 2022, or 25.5% of all pedestrian fatalities.
- Across 2017–2023, pedalcyclists accounted for 1,453 hit-and-run fatalities, or 21.5% of all pedalcyclist fatalities.
- Across 2017–2023, 13,645 hit-and-run fatalities occurred in dark conditions, or 10.1% of all fatalities recorded in darkness.
- Across 2017–2023, 9,308 pedestrian hit-and-run fatalities occurred in dark conditions, or 25.7% of pedestrian fatalities in darkness.
- Across 2017–2023, 1,053 pedalcyclist hit-and-run fatalities occurred in dark conditions, or 31.6% of pedalcyclist fatalities in darkness.
- Across 2017–2023, hit-and-run fatalities were 16.4% of all fatalities in U.S. cities with more than 500,000 people.
- Across 2017–2023, 32.6% of pedestrian fatalities in U.S. cities with more than 500,000 people occurred in hit-and-run crashes.
- Across 2017–2023, the most socially vulnerable 20% of U.S. ZIP-code populations had more than six times as many hit-and-run fatalities as the least vulnerable quintile.
- In 2023, the estimated uninsured-motorist rate was 15.4% in the United States, a claim-based insurance measure rather than a hit-and-run count.
Contents
- Key Hit and Run Statistics
- Hit-and-Run Crash Volume and Trends
- Hit-and-Run Injuries by Road User
- Hit-and-Run Fatalities and Vulnerable Road Users
- Timing, Darkness, and Hit-and-Run Fatalities
- Urban, Rural, and Social-Vulnerability Patterns
- State, Metro, and Insurance Context
Hit-and-Run Crash Volume and Trends
The AAA Foundation brief uses the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) to estimate police-reported crashes and injuries. These are not a census of every collision: unreported incidents are outside the measurement system.
| Year | Police-reported hit-and-run crashes | Share of all crashes |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 785,012 | 12.2% |
| 2018 | 810,245 | 12.0% |
| 2019 | 817,690 | 12.1% |
| 2020 | 770,093 | 14.7% |
| 2021 | 899,997 | 14.7% |
| 2022 | 861,429 | 14.5% |
| 2023 | 919,292 | 15.0% |
Source: Understanding the Increase in Fatal Hit-and-Run Crashes: Prevalences of Crashes, Injuries, and Deaths in the United States, 2017–2023. The 2020 figures reflect pandemic-era traffic conditions, and the 2023 count is described in the brief as a recent historic high.
Fatality measurement differs from crash measurement. Fatalities come from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), a fatal-crash census whose counts cover people meeting FARS inclusion rules.
The brief reports 2,972 hit-and-run fatalities in 2022, equal to 7.0% of all traffic fatalities and the highest count in its 1975–2023 series. The share of all crashes was 12.2% in 2017 and 15.0% in 2023, but those percentages should not be read as a direct fatality risk because the underlying systems and denominators differ.
Hit-and-Run Injuries by Road User
CRSS estimated 250,999 hit-and-run injuries in 2017, 272,992 in 2018, and 299,141 in 2019. The corresponding shares of all traffic injuries were 9.1%, 10.1%, and 10.9%.
| Year | Hit-and-run injuries | Share of all traffic injuries |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 295,611 | 13.0% |
| 2021 | 251,885 | 10.1% |
| 2022 | 241,497 | 10.1% |
| 2023 | 242,886 | 9.9% |
Source: Understanding the Increase in Fatal Hit-and-Run Crashes: Prevalences of Crashes, Injuries, and Deaths in the United States, 2017–2023. The 2020 estimate is shaped by pandemic-era conditions.
Across 2017–2023, vehicle occupants accounted for 1,633,474 hit-and-run injuries, or 10.0% of all occupant injuries. Their large absolute count contrasts with the much higher hit-and-run shares recorded for people outside vehicles.
Pedestrians accounted for 111,783 hit-and-run injuries, or 23.7% of all pedestrian injuries, while pedalcyclists accounted for 55,395, or 17.2% of all pedalcyclist injuries. Pedestrian injuries rose from 14,488 in 2017 to 17,368 in 2023; pedalcyclist injuries rose from 7,496 to 10,076 over the same endpoint comparison.
Hit-and-Run Fatalities and Vulnerable Road Users
The road-user pattern is especially uneven when the outcome is death. Across 2017–2023, vehicle occupants comprised 88% of hit-and-run injuries but only 18% of hit-and-run fatalities, with the shares rounded in the AAA brief.
| Road-user group | Hit-and-run fatalities | Share of that group’s fatalities |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians, 2017 | 1,226 | 20.2% |
| Pedestrians, 2022 | 1,939 | 25.5% |
| Pedalcyclists, 2017–2023 | 1,453 | 21.5% |
| Motorcyclists, 2017–2023 | 1,417 | 3.6% |
| Vehicle occupants, 2017–2023 | 3,153 | 1.8% |
Source: Understanding the Increase in Fatal Hit-and-Run Crashes: Prevalences of Crashes, Injuries, and Deaths in the United States, 2017–2023. The table combines a 2017 and 2022 pedestrian comparison with 2017–2023 aggregates; those periods are not interchangeable.
NHTSA reports that 23% of pedestrian fatalities in 2021 involved hit-and-run drivers. Its cited historical FARS analysis found that hit-and-run crashes accounted for 6.6% of pedestrian fatalities in Mississippi and 29.8% in the District of Columbia during 1998–2007; those state figures are historical and are not current rates.
AAA’s earlier historical analysis reported 2,049 U.S. hit-and-run deaths in 2016, then a record high, and said that figure was 60% higher than in 2009. It also estimated that nearly 20% of pedestrian deaths involved hit-and-run crashes versus about 1% of driver fatalities, and that nearly 65% of people killed in hit-and-run crashes were pedestrians or bicyclists; the historical period and denominators differ from the 2017–2023 brief.
Sources: Countermeasures That Work: A Highway Safety Countermeasure Guide for State Highway Safety Offices — Pedestrian Safety and Hit-and-Run Deaths Hit Record High.
Timing, Darkness, and Hit-and-Run Fatalities
FARS data for 2017–2023 show a strong lighting contrast. Dark conditions accounted for 13,645 hit-and-run fatalities, or 10.1% of all fatalities recorded in dark conditions; daylight accounted for 3,032, or 2.4% of all daylight fatalities.
Dawn or dusk accounted for 598 hit-and-run fatalities, or 5.0% of fatalities in those lighting conditions. The lighting analysis excludes 189 fatalities with unknown lighting condition.
| Road-user and lighting condition | Hit-and-run fatalities | Share of fatalities in that condition |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians, dark | 9,308 | 25.7% |
| Pedestrians, daylight | 1,200 | 12.8% |
| Pedalcyclists, dark | 1,053 | 31.6% |
| Pedalcyclists, daylight | 322 | 10.4% |
By time of day, the largest overall hit-and-run fatality block was 11 p.m. to 2:59 a.m. The next-ranked blocks were 7 p.m. to 10:59 p.m. and 3 a.m. to 6:59 a.m.; 205 fatalities had unknown time of day.
Urban, Rural, and Social-Vulnerability Patterns
The AAA brief’s urbanicity categories show higher hit-and-run fatality shares in larger cities. Across 2017–2023, hit-and-run fatalities were 16.4% of all fatalities in cities with more than 500,000 people, compared with 12.7% in cities of 250,000–500,000 people.
In cities above 500,000 population, hit-and-run crashes accounted for 32.6% of pedestrian fatalities and 30.0% of pedalcyclist fatalities across 2017–2023. The associated counts were 3,115 pedestrian fatalities and 310 pedalcyclist fatalities.
Across the 50 large urban areas with the highest overall hit-and-run fatality shares, the overall percentage ranged from 9.6% to 18.5%. In those selected areas, the percentage of pedestrian fatalities occurring in hit-and-run crashes ranged from 19.9% to 41.0%; these are selected-area ranges, not national averages.
The social-vulnerability comparison is also descriptive rather than causal. The most socially vulnerable 20% of U.S. ZIP-code populations had more than three times as many hit-and-run fatalities as the middle vulnerability quintile and more than six times as many as the least vulnerable quintile.
State, Metro, and Insurance Context
State comparisons require careful dates. NHTSA’s cited 1998–2007 FARS analysis found hit-and-run crashes involved 6.6% of pedestrian fatalities in Mississippi and 29.8% in the District of Columbia, while the AAA brief’s main tables cover 2017–2023.
AAA’s historical 2006–2016 analysis estimated an average of 682,000 hit-and-run crashes per year. It also reported that U.S. hit-and-run deaths increased by an average of 7.2% per year since 2009 in that historical analysis; this is a past trend summary, not a forecast.
Insurance data provide related context but do not identify hit-and-run drivers. The Insurance Information Institute summarizes Insurance Research Council claim-ratio estimates: the uninsured-motorist rate was 12.4% in 2017, 14.3% in 2020, and 15.4% in 2023, or more than one in seven drivers.
| 2023 uninsured-motorist measure | Estimate |
|---|---|
| United States | 15.4% |
| Mississippi, highest state estimate | 28.2% |
| Maine, lowest state estimate | 5.7% |
| States above national estimate | 15 states plus D.C. |
| States below national estimate | 36 states |
Source: Facts + Statistics: Uninsured motorists. These are claim-based estimates, not a direct vehicle census and not the share of hit-and-run drivers.
The insurance measure therefore should be used only to describe the compensation context surrounding crashes. It cannot be substituted for the CRSS hit-and-run crash estimates or the FARS fatality counts.