An Edmonton woman was shocked to wake up Wednesday morning to find her SUV, parked on the road in front of her house, sustained significant damage overnight.
When Lynse Moisey went to brush the snow off her vehicle, she found her bumper and tailgate mangled.
Moisey had no idea what happened and when so she watched the footage from her home security camera.
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At around 1 a.m., the video shows a car that appears to lose control in the middle of the road before spinning and hitting her SUV on the back driver’s side.
“It slammed into the back of my car and then just drove away… didn’t even hesitate, didn’t stop, just kept driving,” she said.
The GMC was hit so hard it was forced forward, hitting her family’s other vehicle and puncturing a hitch-shaped hole in the front of her SUV.
“I was really, really upset,” Moisey said. “Obviously, accidents happen, that’s fine. But the fact that they drove away… If somebody had left a note or stopped, or tried to look around, or left a phone number.
“It wasn’t even a second thought. They didn’t even look, kept driving… They just didn’t care.”
Later that same day, Moisey’s doorbell camera captured another car that appeared to slide out of control in front of her home. It looks like it narrowly missed hitting her neighbour’s parked vehicle.
“I’ve seen three accidents now just on my small range in my security system,” she said.
She’s urging people to slow down, especially on residential roads in slick winter conditions.
Moisey is also hoping police will find the person that hit her SUV and that they’re charged appropriately.
READ MORE: 279 collisions reported to Edmonton police over slippery 24-hour period
During treacherous winter driving conditions, Edmonton police release collision numbers.
For instance, on Wednesday, Jan. 30, between 11:31 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., there were 84 crashes reported to police. Nine of those were hit and runs, 72 were property damage collisions and three were injury collisions.
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Sgt. Kerry Bates with EPS’ traffic division said the number of hit-and-run collisions in Edmonton is pretty steady year over year.
The more bad weather the city gets, the more collisions, which means the number of hit-and-run crashes goes up as well.
Bates offered some tips for drivers in the case they become a victim of a crash or potential hit and run.
“If people are rear-ended, for example… don’t worry about moving your car. A lot of times the subject will ask you to pull off the road, into a parking lot, and as you do that, they drive away,” Bates said.
“So don’t fall for that. Just leave your cars in traffic for the few minutes it takes to exchange information. Use your camera phone to photograph the vehicle, the licence, even the other driver. It’s well worth it in the end.”
He said about 10-15 per cent of hit-and-run investigations end up being solved but the more information provided, the higher the chances.
“Video would be huge,” Bates said. “It provides at least a vehicle description, hopefully, and if it identifies a licence plate and the actions or description of the driver… everything helps.”
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Some hit and runs involve parking lot sideswipes, are reported hours later with little information or involve stolen vehicles.
“It has to be repaired,” he said of the suspect vehicle. “It would have to be reported to be repaired in a legitimate body shop… There’s still some investigation to be done. It could be stolen. We don’t know the circumstances.”
Fines for hit and runs vary from about $400 to several thousand dollars, he said. Depending on the severity of the crash, an incident could result in a criminal charge.
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