Phoenix's Hit-and-Run Epidemic — One Every 50 Minutes

Phoenix has a hit-and-run epidemic. There’s no other word for it. Our analysis of Phoenix Police Department calls-for-service data counts 89,441 hit-and-run calls between January 2018 and July 2026 — better than one in every five traffic calls the department takes, and roughly one every 50 minutes, around the clock, for eight straight years.

The Numbers

Out of 398,020 traffic calls recorded by Phoenix Police between January 1, 2018 and July 25, 2026, 89,441 were hit-and-runs — a driver struck someone or something, another vehicle, a pedestrian, a cyclist, a parked car, and left.

Across the eight complete calendar years in that window, that averages 10,456 hit-and-runs a year out of about 46,400 traffic calls.

What is remarkable is not the number. It is how little the number moves:

Eight years, a pandemic, and a swing of more than 11,000 in annual call volume — and the hit-and-run share never leaves a four-point band. Whatever drives a Phoenix driver to flee is not responding to traffic levels, enforcement, or the economy. It is a constant.

One number does move. Fatal hit-and-runs doubled, from 17 in 2018 to 34 in 2022, and they have not returned to where they started.

They Cluster — Almost Entirely in West Phoenix

This is the part that does not show up in a citywide average.

We resolved every intersection-formatted call against the City of Phoenix’s own street intersection gazetteer, which places 233,459 of these calls at a specific crossing. Ranked by hit-and-run count, the twenty worst intersections in Phoenix are all in the same place:

Every one sits between 27th and 75th Avenue, on Indian School, McDowell, Thomas, Camelback, Bethany Home or Dunlap. Not one east Phoenix or north Phoenix intersection appears until well down the list.

At 27th Avenue and Indian School, more than one in four crashes ends with a driver leaving — six points above the citywide rate.

This is the same grid we identified as the deadliest corridor in Arizona, reached from a completely different direction. That analysis used federal fatality records. This one uses city dispatch logs. They point at the same twenty intersections.

Why Phoenix Has Such a Problem

Uninsured drivers. Arizona consistently ranks among the top states for uninsured motorists. Drivers without insurance flee because they know they face both civil liability and criminal penalties for driving uninsured.

DUI involvement. Many hit-and-run drivers are impaired. They flee to avoid a DUI arrest — which carries severe penalties in Arizona including mandatory jail time.

Wide, high-speed roads. Phoenix’s broad arterials make it easy to flee quickly. The grid system offers dozens of escape routes. And the distances between intersections mean fewer witnesses and cameras.

Limited enforcement capacity. With roughly 46,000 traffic calls a year, Phoenix police are stretched thin. Not every hit-and-run gets a dedicated investigation, especially if no injuries are reported.

The Human Cost

Hit-and-runs are not victimless. The person left behind may be injured and unable to get help. Their vehicle may be totaled. And without the other driver’s information, they face the prospect of paying for everything out of pocket — unless they have uninsured motorist coverage.

Hit-and-run pedestrian accidents are the most devastating. A pedestrian struck by a fleeing vehicle may lie in the road for minutes before someone calls 911. Every second of delay in medical treatment can mean the difference between recovery and permanent disability — or life and death.

Your Legal Options After a Hit-and-Run

Even if the driver is never identified, you’re not without options:

UIM/UM coverage on your own auto policy covers your injuries when the at-fault driver is uninsured or unidentified. This is exactly the scenario UIM exists for — and it’s why we tell every Arizona driver to carry it.

If the driver is found — through cameras, witnesses, plate readers, paint transfer analysis, or police investigation — you can pursue a full personal injury claim. The fact that they fled supports a claim for punitive damages because fleeing is a conscious, deliberate choice to prioritize self-interest over your safety.

Dram shop claims may be available if the hit-and-run driver was intoxicated and was overserved at a bar or restaurant.

What to Do

Follow the steps in our hit-and-run guide: don’t chase the driver, get any plate or vehicle details you can, call 911 immediately, look for witnesses and cameras, and document everything.

Then call the Law Badgers. We’ve handled numerous hit-and-run cases and know how to work with police investigators, subpoena camera footage, and maximize your recovery through UIM claims — even when the other driver is never caught.

This Problem Is Solvable

Ten thousand hit-and-runs a year is not inevitable, and a rate that has not moved in eight years is not a mystery to be solved — it is a policy that has not been tried. Other cities have cut hit-and-run rates with expanded camera networks, automated license plate readers, community tip programs, and meaningful enforcement.

The clustering makes that easier, not harder. Twenty intersections inside a single grid account for a wildly disproportionate share of the problem. This is not a city-sized problem requiring a city-sized budget. It is a twenty-intersection problem.

Until Phoenix catches up, the best thing you can do is protect yourself: carry UIM coverage, invest in a dashcam, and know what to do if you’re ever a victim.

About this data. Figures come from Phoenix Police Department calls-for-service records published on the Phoenix Open Data Portal, covering January 1, 2018 through July 25, 2026. Supplemental follow-up reports are excluded so that a single incident is counted once; including them would raise the total to 92,327. Intersection locations were resolved against the City of Phoenix street intersection gazetteer. Calls-for-service records reflect what was dispatched, not adjudicated outcomes, and a call logged as a hit-and-run may later prove otherwise.