‘Hit and run’ driving, also known as untraced driving, is now emerging as an issue that needs to be tackled for the benefit of society. Department for Transport data shows that in just over 12% of road traffic accidents reported to the police where someone is injured, a ‘hit and run’ driver is involved. 

This is the second year in succession that Department for Transport data shows that there has been an increase in these types of accidents, which is now reversing the trend witnessed over the past decade. In parallel, in recent years we have seen a steady increase in the number of claims submitted to MIB relating to a driver who could not be traced.

Drivers who ‘hit and run’ can be convicted of the serious offences of failing to stop and failing to report an accident which can result in imprisonment. Yet despite these serious consequences there has been a lack of research which identifies ‘hit and run’ driver behaviours and motivations.

Successful interventions have already been implemented by the government, MIB and the insurance industry to reduce the levels of uninsured driving such as the development of the Motor Insurance Database and the introduction of Continuous Insurance Enforcement. MIB has a responsibility towards the victims of untraced drivers and we want to see a reduction of a similar scale for ‘hit and run’ driving. Our view is that behavourial insight derived from an independent, academic study can be used to develop preventative strategies to address ‘hit and run’ driving.

This belief prompted us to commission the Department of Criminology at the University of Leicester to undertake such a study. The research, split into two phases, has been invaluable.

Phase one involved the research team surveying people who had been convicted of committing a ‘hit and run’ offence and conducting further interviews to understand why they left the scene. As a result the team has identified six broad categories of ‘hit and run’ drivers that are linked to distinct motivational behaviours. Interestingly the research revealed that there is a public perception that motoring offences are not ‘real crimes’ and therefore there is a tendency for drivers to justify their behaviour.

Using the phase one findings, the university team then interviewed government and industry stakeholders and other interested parties to gain their views on possible interventions to help tackle the social and criminal issues connected to the issue of ‘hit and run’.

Based on this insight we are now working with our Members in the insurance industry and our partners including government, police and road safety groups to take forward recommendations focused on the education of drivers about their responsibilities and the development of easy ways to report accidents.

"There is a public perception that motoring offences are not ‘real crimes’ and so there is a tendency for drivers to justify their behaviour."

Importantly, the research has highlighted to us that there is a lack of information and understanding from the victim’s perspective. We plan to commission further research with the university and once complete we will share the evidence to mobilise support from interested parties to press for meaningful changes. It is after all what responsible road users would expect.

Read about the research at: www.mib.org.uk/hitandrun