How Do I Get Surveillance Video of My Hit-and-Run Car Accident?

On November 24, 2025, 25-year-old De’Avion Smith was struck by a car while riding his bike. The driver fled the scene, and Smith was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Unfortunately, this incident is not isolated. Chicago data shows more than 37,000 hit-and-run accidents in 2021 alone.

Whether a hit-and-run results in serious injuries or a fatality, learning how to obtain surveillance video, and talking to a Chicago car accident lawyer, may help you strengthen your claim.

What is a hit-and-run car accident?

A hit-and-run car accident is when a driver collides with a person, property, or another vehicle and then flees the scene without exchanging information or reporting the accident. For example, if you are driving on a quiet street and a driver strikes you and, after doing so, drives away before you can get their information, this would be considered a hit-and-run.

How can surveillance video help you after a hit-and-run car accident?

Estimates suggest there are tens of thousands of public surveillance cameras throughout Chicago, including both public and private systems, according to research conducted by Comparitech. Surveillance video may make it easier for you to prove your claim if you were in a hit-and-run accident. Here’s how:

• Identifying the driver and car that hit you.
• Proving that you were hit by a driver and that this driver fled the scene.
• Demonstrating that you were not at fault for the accident you experienced and the injuries you sustained.
• Supporting your account of how the hit-and-run accident occurred.

What are some of the ways you may be able to obtain surveillance video of a hit-and-run car accident you experienced?

You may be able to obtain surveillance video of a hit-and-run car accident by:

• Filing a police report so that the police can investigate the hit-and-run and potentially obtain surveillance video from nearby cameras.
• Hiring a private investigator who can locate witnesses and find camera footage, among other things.
• Checking your own cameras, such as your dashcam, home or office cameras that may have recorded it.
• If the hit-and-run accident occurred near your home, you can ask your neighbors for any surveillance video of the accident, if they have cameras that record and save video.
• Asking nearby businesses for any surveillance video of the accident, if they have cameras capturing surveillance video.
• Filing a transportation Freedom of Information Act request for surveillance video of the hit-and-run accident, if this accident was captured by cameras operated by the Chicago Department of Transportation.

An experienced car accident lawyer can help identify potential sources of surveillance footage, request that the video be preserved, and take the appropriate legal steps to obtain it before it is deleted or overwritten.

How can a Chicago car accident lawyer help you obtain hit-and-run surveillance video?

A Chicago car accident lawyer can help you obtain hit-and-run surveillance video in the following ways:

• Identify potential surveillance video sources, including cameras outside businesses and city-operated cameras.
• Write a “letter of preservation” to the parties in possession of the surveillance video. This letter formally requests and puts them on notice to preserve the video so that you can use it.
• Issue subpoenas to the parties in possession of surveillance video that may help your case, in the event that these parties do not want to relinquish the footage.
• Reach out to businesses or other entities that may have recorded surveillance video to ask for footage of the accident.
• Your lawyer can submit a request for public surveillance video, such as video recorded by the Chicago Department of Transportation, so that you can use this footage in your case.

How can you get paid after a hit-and-run car accident?

Hit-and-runs in Illinois carry severe penalties, but victims may also have civil options for recovering compensation. In Illinois, a hit-and-run may be charged as a misdemeanor or felony depending on whether it involved property damage, injury, or death, with penalties ranging from up to one year in jail to more than a decade in prison for fatal hit-and-run cases.

Generally, there are two ways to recover damages after a hit-and-run accident:

• The compensation is provided by your auto insurance policy, which may encompass your medical bills, the wages you lost as a result of the hit-and-run accident, the pain/suffering you are living with, and any other damages that the hit-and-run car accident created.
• The compensation is provided through a personal injury lawsuit that was filed against the at-fault driver responsible for the hit-and-run car accident, but this is only possible if you know who the driver is and can file a claim against them.

What are the tips to keep in mind if you were in a hit-and-run car accident?

If you were in a hit-and-run car accident, the following tips can make it easier for you to obtain compensation:

• Contact a Chicago car accident lawyer as soon as possible. Surveillance video of your hit-and-run car accident can be overwritten or deleted. It’s best to act quickly.
• Keep track of costs associated with the hit-and-run car accident. This includes the time you have taken off from work, wages you lost, your medical expenses, and even things like the cost of getting to the doctor’s office, among many other possibilities.
• If you speak with your insurance company, limit your statements to the basic facts of the accident, and consider working with a lawyer to help manage communications.

Talk to a Chicago car accident lawyer

If you were injured in a hit-and-run accident, compensation may be available. Contact us today to talk to a Chicago car accident lawyer. Gainsberg Injury and Accident Lawyers are ready to help you.