The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that motorists must have “actual knowledge” of crashes to be found guilty in hit-and-run cases. The ruling stemmed from a Palm Beach County case in which motorist Zachariah Dorsett hit a teen who fell in the road while riding a skateboard.
Dorsett, who was driving a heavy pickup, was stopped by police about three miles from the accident and was later charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving an injury. Dorsett said he didn’t know he hit the teen, arguing that his windows were rolled up, his air conditioner and windshield wipers were on and that a radio was playing at full volume, according to the Supreme Court opinion.
