BATON ROUGE — Hit-and-runs are happening in Baton Rouge at a rate of at least 10 reported calls a day, according to police.

Baton Rouge police respond to around 300 hit-and-runs a month. So far this year, they have responded to 2,214, and last year that number reached 3,671.

Those figures cover more than just drivers hitting another car and leaving the scene.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said hit-and-runs contribute to the state's auto insurance problems because they shift the financial burden away from the person who caused the damage.

"They shift the loss not to the person who did the damage, but to the car owner whose vehicle was damaged," Temple said. "And that typically falls under our uninsured motorist coverage."

Temple said Louisiana's uninsured motorist rate sits at about 13.9% of all vehicles on the road, which is below the national average of 14.9%. He said the bigger issue in Louisiana is underinsured motorists, with the state carrying more than twice the national average of vehicles with minimum limits coverage.

Temple said he believes lower premiums could reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road.

"As it becomes more affordable, I think one, yes, you may have people on the road that, look, they're making budgetary decisions," Temple said. "So as premiums come down, I think you will see that number probably get better as far as uninsured motorists."

He also pointed to recent legislative reform and vehicle safety technology as factors that could continue to bring premiums down.

"If you're driving a new vehicle, you've got sensors in the bumpers on the front, the back, you've got cameras that all combined work to help keep you out of an accident," Temple said. "If you don't have the accident, then you don't have the bodily injury claim, you don't have the litigation, you don't have the loss, and premiums come down."

On the ground level, insurance agent Nayo Andrews with Andrews Family Allstate said the first thing anyone should do after a hit-and-run is call police and stay at the scene.

"The first thing when you have an insurance claim, they're going to ask, were the police called out? Do you have a police report?" Andrews said. "If you don't have a certain type of concrete or paper trail, it's more like just hearsay."

Andrews said victims can be left with costs they did not expect, even when they have insurance. Medical fees, litigation expenses, and deductibles can all fall back on the driver who was not at fault if they do not have adequate uninsured motorist coverage.

"If the person who is at fault, if they flee the scene, those passengers can or have the option to sue you if you don't have uninsured motorist coverage to protect yourself and your passengers," Andrews said.

Shanice Singleton, who lost her brother Tyrese Singleton to a hit-and-run, says she wants to see stricter laws for drivers who flee the scene.

"I hope for life because you're giving people a slap on the hand; they're going to keep coming out here running over people," she said. "A hit-and-run is a lot that you bring families through."

She said her brother was just beginning his life when he was killed and that her family has been left to deal with the emotional weight of that loss.

"I would love to see someone do a stricter law for stuff like this," she said.