Hit-and-run in Bakersfield: what to do in the first 48 hours.

Watching a driver speed away after hitting you is a special kind of anger. The driver broke the law twice, by crashing and by leaving, yet you're the one left with a smashed car on Rosedale Highway and no idea who pays. Hit-and-run cases in California follow their own rules, with deadlines that start the moment the other driver disappears. Many victims never get a name or a plate number, and many still recover. Here's what to do first, what the law does to the driver, and how to get paid when police never find them.

What to do right after a hit-and-run

Stay at the scene, even though every instinct says to chase the other car. Following risks a second crash and pulls you away from the witnesses who saw everything. Instead, say the plate out loud, record a voice memo, and note the color, make and damage. Then call 911 and ask for medical help if anyone is injured.

The clock that matters most starts right away. To use your own uninsured motorist coverage for injuries when the driver is unknown, California law requires a police report within 24 hours (opens in a new tab) and a sworn statement to your insurer within 30 days. Miss them and you can lose the coverage built for exactly this situation. Report a crash on city streets to the Bakersfield Police Department, or one outside city limits to the Kern County Sheriff or the CHP, and get the report number.

Cameras matter most in the first two days. Businesses along Stockdale Highway and White Lane often keep footage only a few days before recording over it. Ask managers to save the clips, and photograph the scene from several angles. A doctor's visit the same day protects your health and your claim at once.

What California law does to the driver who fled

Leaving the scene is a crime of its own, separate from causing the crash. A driver who damages a car or other property and drives off without stopping or leaving a note commits a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both (opens in a new tab), and still owes for the damage. The law punishes the leaving itself, so even a driver who wasn't at fault becomes a criminal by driving away.

When someone is injured, the stakes rise. Fleeing a crash that injures someone can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor (opens in a new tab), with fines of $1,000 to $10,000, and if someone dies or is permanently and seriously injured, the prison term is two, three or four years. If the driver is convicted, the court also orders restitution for the victims' economic losses, though that money covers only documented costs and can be slow to arrive.

The worst cases leave families who lose someone to a fleeing driver with a criminal case to follow and a civil claim to file. The two run separately, and the civil claim is the one that compensates the loss. For everyone else, recovery starts with a different question: whose insurance pays?

Who pays when the driver is never found?

Many hit-and-run drivers are never identified, so your plan can't depend on finding them. California treats an unknown driver whose car hit you, or the car you were in, as uninsured. That one rule opens up coverage on your own policy that many people forget they bought:

• Uninsured motorist bodily injury: pays for your injuries and your passengers' when the at-fault driver can't. It covers injuries only, not your car.
• Collision: usually what repairs your car when the driver is unknown, after your deductible.
• Uninsured motorist property damage: pays up to $3,500 toward your car, but only if the driver or the car's license plate is identified (opens in a new tab). A plate number from you, a witness or a camera can make the difference.

The state's consumer guide explains how each of these coverages works (opens in a new tab). Medical payments coverage, if you bought it, can also pay medical bills no matter who was at fault. And insurers generally can't raise your premium for a crash that wasn't your fault; a car hit by a hit-and-run driver is presumed not at fault when the crash was reported to police in a reasonable time.

The state fund many hit-and-run victims never hear about

California's Victim Compensation Board (opens in a new tab) lists hit-and-run among the crimes it covers when someone is injured or killed. It may help pay medical and dental bills, counseling and lost income that insurance doesn't cover, up to $70,000 in total. It pays last, after health insurance and auto coverage, and it doesn't pay for vehicle damage or for pain and suffering. You need to cooperate with the police investigation, but the driver doesn't have to be caught or charged, and you generally have seven years from the crash to apply.

Your deadlines run on three different clocks

Hit-and-run victims juggle three timers at once. The police report is due within 24 hours, a report to the DMV within 10 days (opens in a new tab) when anyone is injured or the damage tops $1,000, and California gives you two years to file an injury lawsuit (opens in a new tab). If the driver is never found, the uninsured motorist claim must also be settled, taken to court or put to arbitration within two years. Each deadline belongs to a different place, and missing any of them costs you something real.

Evidence disappears faster than any of those deadlines. The same file that wins ordinary crash cases decides these too, and the proof that settles fault after a Bakersfield crash looks the same whether the driver stayed or fled. Build it in the first week, not the last month. Our Bakersfield hit-and-run page sets out how we handle these claims.

Questions Bakersfield hit-and-run victims ask most

Hit-and-run cases mix criminal law, insurance rules and tight deadlines, which is why people injured in Kern County end up with more questions than answers. These come up again and again, whether the crash happened on Panama Lane, in a parking lot or outside your own home. Treat each answer as a starting point for your own situation.

What should I do if someone hits my car and drives off?

Stay put, call 911 and write down everything you remember. Report it to police within 24 hours to protect your uninsured motorist claim, then tell your insurer. Don't chase the driver.

Will a hit-and-run claim raise my insurance rates?

Generally not. California insurers can't raise your premium for a crash that wasn't your fault, and a hit-and-run reported to police in a reasonable time is presumed not to be. The claim goes through your own policy, but the fault belongs to the driver who fled.

What if they hit my parked car and left no note?

Driving off without leaving a note is itself a misdemeanor. Report it to police anyway, check nearby homes and businesses for camera footage, and use your collision coverage for the repairs, or uninsured motorist property damage if the car or its plate is identified.

What if I was walking or biking when the driver fled?

Your rights are the same, and the injuries are usually worse. Uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy can usually cover you on foot or on a bike, too. Cases involving people hit while crossing a Bakersfield street lean heavily on witnesses and that 24-hour police report.

What happens if the police find the driver later?

Your claim shifts to their liability insurance, and your insurer can recover what it paid, including your deductible. Talk to your insurer or your lawyer before you settle with anyone: settling without your insurer's written consent can cost you your uninsured motorist coverage.

You can still recover, even if they're never caught

A hit-and-run takes away the easy path to compensation, but it doesn't take away your claim. The 24-hour report, your own coverages and the state's victim fund exist because so many fleeing drivers stay unknown. Move early on all three and the missing driver stops controlling your recovery.

If a hit-and-run driver left you injured in Bakersfield, you don't have to sort it out alone. Valero Law Group has an office in Bakersfield and has won over $500 million for its clients across California, in English and Spanish. Seeing what a strong car accident claim looks like here costs nothing and can turn a maddening situation into a plan.