Short summary: Nine people were killed by hit-and-run drivers across New York City in August. The arrest numbers behind that are the part families need to understand, because they explain why a claim generally cannot be built around the hope that police find the car.
The statistics here are not background color. They are the reason the MVAIC route exists.
What the numbers say
Nine people were killed by hit-and-run drivers in New York City during August, including a 28-year-old nurse walking in Brooklyn and a 22-year-old struck in a West Village crosswalk. Three cyclists were killed by hit-and-run drivers in a single week that month.
The enforcement picture is starker. In 2025 the NYPD made 362 arrests out of 34,952 reported hit-and-run cases, roughly 1 percent. In the first quarter of 2026 there were 5 arrests across 16 critical-injury hit-and-runs. Back in 2019 the department made 492 arrests out of 5,699 injury crashes, under 9 percent. On one two-mile stretch of Third Avenue under the BQE, drivers have killed 11 pedestrians and cyclists since 2014, as reported by Streetsblog NYC.
What that means for a family
If you read those numbers as a claims problem rather than a policing problem, the conclusion is simple. The odds that a specific fleeing driver is identified, arrested, and found to be insured are generally low, and the odds get lower the longer a family waits to act.
New York anticipated this. The Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation, known as MVAIC, exists to stand in for the insurance a hit-and-run or uninsured driver should have carried.
The MVAIC clock is the short one
MVAIC is not a lawsuit and it is not a lottery. It is a claims process with strict notice requirements, generally measured in days and months rather than years, and it generally expects the incident to have been reported to police promptly.
Families who decide to wait for the collision investigation to conclude before filing anything are the ones who most often find the door already closed. We walk through the mechanics in our guide to hit-and-run and uninsured-driver claims.
Do these five things in the first week
Report the crash to police and get the report number. Note any camera you can see, including private storefronts, because footage is often overwritten within days. Get medical care and keep every record. Check whether anyone in the household carries uninsured motorist coverage, which can apply even when the fleeing driver is never found. And get advice on the notice deadlines before assuming any of them. Our 10-step checklist is the short version.
Questions New Yorkers ask us
If the driver is never caught, is the case over?
Generally no. MVAIC and uninsured motorist coverage were built for exactly this situation, and the two are not the same thing, so it is worth checking both.
Should you wait for the police investigation before filing anything?
Generally no. The insurance and MVAIC deadlines run on their own schedule and do not pause for an open investigation. The two tracks are meant to run at the same time.
Not sure where you stand after a crash? Get your free case review or call (888) 208-0529. A real person answers, 24/7.
Reporting: Streetsblog NYC.
