Signage outside Garage H emphasizes the rules of the road to UCF students. State law requires motor vehicles to yield to pedestrians on crosswalks.
Ava Jessum
February marks the beginning of Hit-and-Run Awareness Month, serving as a timely warning for UCF students of traffic risks on campus.
Hit-and-run incidents are a large issue in the state of Florida, with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles estimating that roughly 25% of all crashes involve a hit-and-run.
UCF, designed to be a walkable campus, has led to an abundance of pedestrians. Hit‑and‑run accidents put students at risk every day, especially on crosswalks where distracted driving can result in collisions.
Ava Jessum
Hit‑and‑run accidents directly threaten the safety of students who walk, bike, scooter or drive around campus every day. Campus factors such as busy parking lots, early sunsets and distracted driving have been identified by FLHSMV as the leading causes for these incidents.
According to FLHSMV, in 2023, there were 104,273 hit-and-run crashes in Florida, showing a decrease of less than 1% from the previous year. This remains a prevalent issue for public safety as data trends show no sign of decline.
In 2025 alone, 59 hit‑and‑run incidents were reported to the UCF Police Department.
Officer Lee Smith, who specializes in traffic enforcement at UCFPD, shared that the start of a new semester always brings an influx of accidents on campus.
“The first month of school we handle a lot of traffic crashes and a lot of hit-and-runs, because there’s a lot of congestion here on campus,” Smith said. “I see a lot more vehicle hit-and-runs than pedestrians.”
As students arrive back on campus, it can be overwhelming for student drivers to navigate the crowds in the first weeks. This can be especially difficult for first-year students who are away from home for the first time or out-of-state students who may be unfamiliar with Florida’s rules of the road.
For this reason, UCFPD has made an effort to highlight these issues through education initiatives such as its Safety Tip Tuesday videos and informing students on the correct steps to take after an accident occurs.
When a crash happens, students are advised to never leave the scene, even if there is no vehicle damage visible. The best course of action is to park in a safe spot, then dial UCFPD’s nonemergency number at 407-823-5555 if there are no injuries. If the accident involves injury to either individual, call 911.
Smith said the most important piece of advice for students on how to prevent these incidents is to slow down.
“You get on campus and everything becomes stressful,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of cars, there’s a lot of people walking and now we have people riding their e-scooters. You’re moving a mile a minute to try and find parking, not following the traffic laws and now you’ve accidentally hit someone.”
UCF’s Parking Garage H remains at a tight 100% capacity, even on weekends.
Ava Jessum
So far this year, four hit-and-run incidents have been reported to UCFPD. This includes Piper Young, freshman elementary education major, who was involved in a hit-and-run accident on the top level of Garage B just two weeks ago.
After witnesses reported seeing the same car back into Young’s vehicle twice and then flee the scene, Young was contacted through the law enforcement database.
“My first thought was that this was going to take a lot of time and energy to get fixed, especially because I’m from out of state and I’ve never had a car incident happen to me in Florida,” Young said.
When Young arrived on the scene, she met with a UCFPD officer and took pictures of the damage to her vehicle, now marred with dents and black paint.
According to Young, she then filed a police report and went through her insurance to assess the damage and cost of repairs. The suspect has yet to be identified.
“The parking garages are tight and people are coming in and out of them all the time and I understand that, but just take accountability,” Young said. “That’s what I was upset about. You don’t just leave.”