The other car is gone. You are on the pavement or on the shoulder with a phone that will not stop shaking in your hand.
A hit-and-run does not wait for you to feel ready. Police need the report. Doctors need the chart. Your own uninsured motorist coverage needs a claim number.
The analysis came from AZ Law Now. It’s an Arizona injury firm that hears the injured person out, then brings in the litigator the case needs.
This walkthrough is for the first hours and the first three days in Arizona. It is procedure, not a courtroom script.
Call for help and lock the scene while it still exists
Call 911 even if the other driver already fled. Say it is a hit-and-run. Ask for police and medical help.
A police report becomes the backbone of the claim when the other driver is missing. Officers can canvas for cameras while the trail is warm.
Turn on hazards if you are still in a vehicle. Move only if you are in a live lane and it is safe. Stay visible without walking into traffic.
If you can photograph anything, start now. Capture damage, debris, skid marks, street signs, and the direction of travel. Get the plate if anyone saw even a partial.
Ask bystanders for names and numbers before they leave. Ask what color the car was. Ask which way it went. Write it down while adrenaline is still loud.
Why hit-and-run is different when the victim is on foot
Arizona’s fatal crash record shows a hard gap by victim type. From 2009 through 2024, drivers fled 22.1% of fatal pedestrian crashes.
Drivers fled only 2.6% of fatal crashes when the person killed was inside a vehicle. A pedestrian’s killer is about 8.5 times more likely to run in that federal record.
Since 2009, drivers who fled have killed 684 Arizonans on foot. That is about one every eight to nine days across the full window.
One west and central Phoenix corridor runs worse than one in three. Inside that corridor the flee rate hits 35.4% for fatal pedestrian crashes in the same years.
Darkness nearly doubles the odds a driver runs. After dark the statewide pedestrian flee rate was 24.5%. In daylight it was 12.8%.
Those figures come from NHTSA FARS person-level records built for Arizona. They explain why scene work in the first hour matters so much when someone is hurt outside a car.
Medical care is evidence and care at the same time
See a doctor the same day. Walking away does not mean you are uninjured.
Adrenaline hides concussion and soft-tissue damage for hours. A same-day chart ties pain to the crash, not to a later fall at home.
Tell every provider it was a hit-and-run. Keep discharge papers, imaging orders, and work notes. Start one folder that night.
If you are a pedestrian or cyclist, photograph visible injuries before bruising peaks. Clothing and gear can matter too. Do not wash blood off a jacket before you photograph it if you can avoid it.
Missed work starts immediately. Note the hours. Keep pay records when they arrive.
Insurance when the other driver has no name yet
Your own policy may carry uninsured motorist coverage. That coverage exists for exactly this gap.
Uninsured motorist coverage is often the practical lever when the other driver flees. Underinsured coverage can matter later if a driver is found with thin limits.
Report the crash to your own insurer promptly. You can confirm the fact of the crash without inventing a perfect narrative on a recorded line.
Do not guess fault into a phone for the other side’s insurer if one appears later. Keep early calls short. Confirm identity and the basic event.
If a rideshare, delivery, or commercial vehicle was involved, write every logo and number you saw. Commercial coverage paths differ from ordinary passenger claims.
Arizona’s ordinary injury deadline for many claims runs two years under A.R.S. 12-542. Evidence does not wait two years. Camera footage often waits only days.
What to write down before memory softens
Write a plain timeline the same day. Where you were walking or driving. What you saw. What you heard. What hurt first.
Memory softens fast after a crash, and a short note beats a polished story written next month. Date the note.
List every business with a camera facing the street. Gas stations, apartments, bus shelters, and traffic cameras all matter. Police can request footage faster than a private person can.
Check your own phone for photos, videos, or crash detection alerts. Do not delete anything.
If a witness texted you, screenshot the thread. Save the contact.
Pima County posts Arizona’s highest large-county pedestrian flee rate in the same study at 24.9%. Maricopa sits at 23.4%. Big-city streets carry this pattern hardest in the federal file.
What to stop doing in the first seventy-two hours
Stop chasing the other driver yourself. That is police work.
Stop posting a full narrative on social media. Posts get screenshotted. They outlive the week you are in pain.
Stop signing broad medical releases from any insurer before you read every line. A form can reach records unrelated to this crash.
Stop assuming a minor-feeling injury stays minor. Many people feel worse on day two and day three.
Stop throwing away damaged clothes, helmets, glasses, or bike parts. Bag them.
A first-days checklist you can keep
- Call 911 and say hit-and-run.
- Get medical care the same day.
- Photograph the scene, damage, and injuries.
- Collect witness names and any partial plate.
- List nearby cameras while you still remember them.
- Write a dated timeline the same night.
- Open a claim with your own insurer and ask about UM coverage.
- Keep every bill and work note in one folder.
- Decline long recorded statements until you understand the ask.
- Put follow-up medical visits on the calendar before you forget.
Keep the first steps after an Arizona hit-and-run next to the police report and the first photos.
Use that page as a map of the problem. It is also a list of next moves. It is not a promise about results. Fleeing erases roadside identification in one move. Your job is to keep every piece that is still on your side of the street.
If the driver is found later, your early file still matters. If the driver is never found, your early file matters more.
Stephanie Ramirez writes Stephanie Ramirez’s client guides at AZ Law Now. She walks Arizona families through the first week after a serious crash.
