Principle Attorney
People who have hit someone with their car, injuring or killing the victim, and then run away deserve to be caught and punished. Many times that’s not easy because the hit-and-run vehicle just disappears into the crowd of cars. But if the drivers running away from their crime can be apprehended, they can be charged and tried in criminal court.
Colorado now has an alert system for hit-and-run accidents to make it easier to apprehend the runaway drivers. It’s called the Medina Alert and is named after Jose Medina, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while he was working his job as a parking valet near the state Capitol in Denver. It’s similar to the Amber alert for abducted children that Colorado has had for a while. In cases of serious injury or death, if police can get a reliable description of the car that’s fleeing the scene or the car’s license plate number, authorities can post the information on electronic highway signs and can alert the media.
The system has been used in Denver for two years, and Aurora started the program last year. About a week ago, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the new law into effect statewide. It’s proved to be effective in Denver. Of 17 cases where enough information was available to broadcast the alerts, 13 were solved and the hit-and-run drivers apprehended. Colorado is the first state in the nation to adopt the Medina alert system. Let’s hope it isn’t the last.