WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — At least two fatal hit-and-runs are still under investigation in West Palm Beach.
The most recent crash killed a 23-year-old woman when she was crossing 45th Street near Interstate 95 in Riviera Beach on July 8.
The other was a 55-year-old woman killed while she was crossing Belvedere Road near a Wawa gas station.
The two cases are not related but both involved women crossing the street in the middle of the night, not in a crosswalk, and both involved drivers who did not stay at the scene.
West Palm Beach police said in both investigations they have found people who admitted to being the drivers, but they said they can't move forward with possible charges until DNA evidence confirms they were the ones behind the wheel of the vehicles.
Those results, police said, could take weeks if not months.
This comes as a national study by the Governors Highway Safety Association found there has been a surge in pedestrian-related deaths and that Florida is one of the states with the highest numbers.
According to the study, 2022 was the year with the highest recorded number of pedestrians killed in crashes in the last four decades.
"It gives you how many seconds? Like 36 seconds to cross this long, like, four lanes," Tamara Varhar said to her husband as they crossed a busy 45th Street. "He kept saying, 'You have to hurry. You have to hurry.' Well, if you're a senior citizen or if you have a bad knee like I do, you just hobble and pray you can make it in time."
The two were walking to see the Harley Davidson but said 45th Street doesn't feel safe even in the crosswalks.
"This guy was making a turn, a right turn, and he went right in front of us, didn't slow down, and my husband could've stepped right into that car," Varhar said.
According to a study by the GHSA, in 2022, there were 7,500 pedestrians killed in crashes. That's the highest since 1981.
A possible reason for it is the use of cellphones, according to personal injury attorney Michael Pike with Pike & Lustig.
"I think that if people just paid more attention to operating their vehicle, paid more attention to what they are doing with that vehicle, I think the pedestrian would be better protected," Pike said.
According to the study, last year Florida was one of the states with the highest pedestrian-related deaths at 824, behind California with 1,100 and Texas with 826.
"But that doesn't mean that the pedestrian is off the hook," Pike said. "A pedestrian also has to be careful when crossing the street."
Pike said if you're driving and you hit someone with your car, you must stay at the scene or you risk being charged with a felony and jail time.
If you're the person hit by a car, Pike said to take pictures, have the driver's car inspected by a professional and get a lawyer.
"If it's involving a fatality, then the family will have to open up, in all likelihood, an estate and then have a personal representative appointed over that estate and bring the cause of action buying through the estate and/or the surviving heirs," Pike said.
Pike said if you're charged in a hit-and-run, you could have your license revoked for at least three years.
