Bakersfield Hit and Run Accident Lawyer

Consult Rulsky Law Group for a free consultation with a Bakersfield, CA hit and run accident lawyer.

If a driver hit your car and took off, you have legal options to pursue compensation. These claims usually run through your own uninsured motorist coverage, which is why we recommend speaking with our Bakersfield, CA hit and run accident lawyer before your carrier locks in a decision.

Our founding attorney, Jerry Rulsky, has handled California injury cases for more than 12 years, including time as a litigation and trial attorney at the largest personal injury firm in the country. Call today to request a free case evaluation and explore your options for compensation.

Hit and Run Accident Lawyer Bakersfield, CA

What are your options when the driver who hit you fled the scene?

California auto policies typically include uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, which is designed to step in when the at-fault driver is uninsured, underinsured, or unidentified. UM pays for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering up to your policy limit. Most drivers carry it without remembering the details until something happens.

The catch is that the carrier paying you under UM is no longer your ally. They have every reason to question whether the hit and run actually happened, dispute the severity of your injuries, or push you toward a recorded statement that limits the claim. These cases often turn on the first few weeks of evidence.

Types of Hit and Run Cases We Handle in Bakersfield

Hit and run incidents come in different forms. Some are low-speed parking lot scrapes. Others involve catastrophic injuries on the freeway. The categories below cover most of what we see, though every case has its own facts and complications.

• Vehicle-on-vehicle hit and runs. The most common type, ranging from low-speed parking lot scrapes to freeway sideswipes and rear-end crashes where the at-fault driver flees before police arrive. Recovery typically runs through your UM coverage when the other driver isn’t found.
• Pedestrian accidents. These cases are often catastrophic. Drivers who flee after striking someone on foot are usually impaired, uninsured, or wanted for something unrelated. We’ve handled pedestrian accident claims across Kern County, and your UM coverage applies whether or not the driver is later identified.
• E-bike accidents. Cyclists and e-bike riders struck by fleeing drivers face the same UM claim path as motorists, plus added wrinkles around their own auto policy’s bicycle-rider provisions.
• Parking lot incidents. The classic scenario: you come back to your car, find a dent, a broken mirror, and no note. Most policies handle these through collision or property damage coverage rather than UM, which means the documentation requirements are different.
• Brain injuries. When a fleeing driver causes a TBI, concussion, or another brain injury, case value rises significantly. We coordinate with neurologists and neuropsychologists to document long-term effects on work, relationships, and daily life.
• DUIs. A meaningful share of fleeing drivers are impaired or unlicensed. When the driver is later identified, punitive damages may be available based on conscious disregard for the safety of others.
• Wrongful death. When a fleeing driver causes a fatality, the family typically has both a UM claim against their own carrier and, if the driver is identified, a separate civil action for wrongful death.
• Cases where the driver is later identified. Many hit and runs are solved weeks or months after the incident through traffic cameras, witness reports, or paint-transfer evidence. When that happens, the case structure shifts to direct claims against the responsible driver.

Why Choose Rulsky Law Group for Hit and Run Cases in Bakersfield, CA?

Hit and Run and UM Claim Experience

Our founder, Jerry Rulsky, has practiced California injury law since 2014 and was named Best Car Accident Lawyer in Bakersfield by Expertise.com. Hit and run cases share a lot of similarities with car accident cases, except your own insurance company is now the one writing the check. That changes how the case has to be prepared.

Before opening the firm, Jerry worked as a trial attorney at the largest personal injury firm in the country, where UM and underinsured motorist claims came across his desk regularly. He earned his J.D. from California Western Law and a biology degree from UC Irvine. He is a member of CAALA and the LA County Bar, and he speaks English, Russian, and Spanish, which matters in a community as linguistically varied as Kern County. Jerry also handles broader injury work as a personal injury lawyer in Bakersfield, CA, and across vehicle, premises, and trucking cases the firm has helped its clients recover millions of dollars.

Contingency Fees and No Upfront Costs

You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. We also help arrange settlement advance funding when bills are piling up before resolution, which matters in hit and run cases that can take time to develop while police work to identify the driver.

Understanding Hit and Run Cases

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Hit and Run Cases

Recovery in a hit and run case usually processes through your own uninsured motorist policy first, with possible additional avenues if the driver is later identified. UM coverage in California typically pays for:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
• Pain and suffering, including limits on activities and ongoing discomfort
• Emotional distress, anxiety, and PTSD-related symptoms

UM pays up to your policy limit. If your damages exceed that limit, the case generally stops there unless the driver is later identified or a separate party (a vehicle manufacturer, a road designer, an employer of a driver on the clock) bears liability. That’s part of why we always check whether other policies might apply.

When the driver is identified later, the case opens up. You can pursue their bodily injury liability coverage and, in DUI matters or other extreme conduct, punitive damages on top of compensatory amounts. The criminal investigation and the civil claim can run parallel, with each affecting the other.

Important Aspects in Your Hit and Run Case

A few practical things shape these claims more than most people expect:

• Report to the police as soon as possible. Insurance carriers often deny UM claims based on delayed reporting, and the police report becomes the foundation of the case.
• Capture every detail you remember about the vehicle. Color, make, partial plate numbers, distinguishing features, time, location.
• California is a pure comparative negligence state. Even if your own carrier argues you were partly at fault, that reduces but does not eliminate recovery.
• The first UM offer is rarely the best one. Quick settlements tend to undervalue serious injuries by tens of thousands of dollars.
• Health insurance liens and provider liens reduce your final recovery. We negotiate medical liens down before disbursing settlement funds.

Hit and Run Case Timeline

Hit and run cases follow steps similar to other injury claims, with one key difference: there’s a parallel police investigation that may or may not produce a suspect. The general path:

• Police report and initial medical treatment, typically 1 to 6 months while you’re getting better
• UM claim notice and pre-suit negotiation with your own carrier
• Filing a UM lawsuit if no fair offer comes in
• Discovery, depositions, and motion practice, often 6 to 12 months
• Mediation or settlement conference before trial
• Trial or arbitration, depending on policy provisions, if the carrier still won’t pay fair value

If the at-fault driver is identified mid-case, the structure shifts to include them as a defendant alongside the UM claim. That can change both the timeline and the recovery ceiling.

What to Bring to Your Hit and Run Consultation

If you decide to work with our firm, we will gather evidence. If you already have documentation, please bring it to the consultation.

A few things help us give you sharper answers in the first conversation:

• The traffic collision report number, or the responding officer’s name and agency
• Photos of damage, the scene, or your visible injuries
• A written description of the fleeing vehicle and what you remember
• Names and phone numbers for any witnesses
• Your auto insurance declarations page or policy documents
• Any correspondence from your insurer, including denials, offers, or requests for recorded statements

Your first consultation is completely free and will typically run about thirty to forty-five minutes. We’ll listen and give you our honest read on what your UM coverage can realistically recover, and there will be absolutely no pressure to hire us at the end.

California Legal Resources for Hit and Run Cases

California governs hit and run claims through criminal statutes that punish fleeing drivers, insurance code provisions on UM coverage, and the standard tort framework that applies to all injury cases. The resources below are useful starting points for understanding the legal framework, though specific case strategy requires individualized analysis.

• Statute of limitations. Most personal injury claims in California must be filed within two years of the date of injury under Civil Procedure 335.1. UM lawsuits generally follow the same rule.
• Hit and run criminal law. Vehicle Code 20001 makes leaving the scene of an injury accident a serious offense, with felony exposure when serious injury or death is involved. Vehicle Code 20002 covers misdemeanor property-only hit and runs.
• Uninsured motorist coverage. Insurance Code 11580.2 governs UM requirements, written waiver rules, coverage minimums, and the arbitration framework that applies to many claims.
• Negligence and damages. California uses pure comparative fault, addressed in the CACI jury instructions. General tort damages are governed by Civil Code 3333.

Reach Out to Rulsky Law Group to Schedule a Consultation

If your hit and run case is stalled with your own carrier, or you haven’t filed yet because you’re not sure where to start, we’re available to talk it through at no cost. Time matters with these claims, and waiting can limit your options. Contact Rulsky Law Group to schedule a free consultation. We respond to new inquiries the same day or the next business day in most cases.