BILLINGS — Getting into a crash is every driver’s worst nightmare. Finding that your car has been struck, and you weren’t there to see it happen, makes for a bigger hassle.
Hit and runs are becoming a more common occurrence in Billings, and losing a car to one was an unfortunate reality for Billings Senior High freshman Layne Tuhy.
"I saved up for like three years and my dad and grandpa helped me pay for it too," said Layne.
His first car was gone in an instant, smashed by a wayward driver while parked on the street in the early morning hours on March 27.
"He just started driving his car four days before that. So, he just got his license, got his car. We’ve had the car for almost a year, getting it running right and it got smoked four days later," said Layne's father, Brian Tuhy.
"I was looking at it, and there was holes in the door from the tow hitches from the front of it so I was kind of like, ah, that’s totaled," Layne added.
It’s part of a troubling trend, both nationwide and in Billings.
"In 2022, we had 988 hit-and-run crashes that we had reported to us that we investigated, and or took the report for. So, that’s quite a few," said Lt. Matt Lennick of the Billings Police Department.
There were just over 3,000 total traffic incidents in Billings last year, so hit-and-runs made up almost one-third of them.
Lennick said the reasons range from fear of a DUI, no insurance, or simply being frightened of consequences. And once a driver flees, catching them is a struggle.
"It’s difficult sometimes to investigate too because sometimes the license plates don’t match the vehicles that they’re on if it’s a stolen or fictitious plate. We have to have a description of the driver," added Lennick.
In 2022, Billings police were able to cite 151 of those 988 violations. And Layne’s father thinks it could be part of a bigger issue.
"I think Billings, for how small we are, has a lot of crime, and I think it all just goes hand in hand with that," he said.
As for Layne, he does have a new vehicle now, but he definitely won’t be parking it on the street anytime soon.
"It’s scary for how often it can happen. It can happen anytime honestly. Just be careful where you park your car," Layne added.
