What Hit-and-Run Charges Mean Under California Law

Attorney Answer

If you are facing hit-and-run charges, the first move is a criminal-defense attorney and no statements to anyone else. California has two separate hit-and-run statutes, and which one you are charged under changes everything about your exposure — a misdemeanor with a bounded penalty, or a provision that can reach state prison. You have told us very little, so what follows is the law, not an assessment of your case.

Cal. Veh. Code § 20002(a) covers accidents resulting only in damage to property, including vehicles. It requires the driver to stop immediately at the nearest location that will not impede traffic, and then, under § 20002(a)(1)-(2), to identify themselves to the owner or, if the owner is not present, leave written notice and then to notify the police or the California Highway Patrol without unnecessary delay. That is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Cal. Veh. Code § 20001(a) covers accidents resulting in injury to a person other than the driver, or in death. It requires the driver to stop immediately at the scene. The penalties are on another level: up to one year in county jail and a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, and where the accident results in death or permanent serious injury, two to four years in state prison or 90 days to one year in county jail.

One feature of both sections is worth understanding before you say anything to anyone. Each is written around a driver being involved in an accident, not around a driver causing one. Being blameless for the collision itself does not remove the duty to stop. That is why "it wasn't my fault" is an answer to a different question, and why saying it out loud to an investigator usually does more harm than good — it places you at the scene.

The charging papers matter more than anything on this page. They name the section, and the section decides whether this is a misdemeanor or something far heavier. Your lawyer will look for that first.

The civil side runs separately and on its own clock. Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a) makes everyone responsible for an injury occasioned to another by want of ordinary care. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 gives two years to bring an action for injury to, or the death of, an individual caused by another's wrongful act or neglect, and Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1) gives three years for damage to a vehicle. A civil claim can be made whether or not the criminal case is ever filed, and resolving one does not resolve the other.

What you can do

1. Get a local criminal-defense attorney now, before any further contact with the police, the other driver, or any insurer. If you have been given a court date, that date does not wait for you to be ready.

2. If you cannot afford a lawyer, ask the court about the public defender at your first appearance, and ask early rather than late.

3. Do not write out, type, text, email or record your account of what happened, and do not post about it. Anything you create can be obtained.

4. Do not delete messages, photos or posts that already exist. Preserving is safe; deleting can create a separate and worse problem.

5. Do not repair, wash or repaint the vehicle before your attorney has seen it.

6. Collect the paperwork you already have — the citation or complaint, any police paperwork, your registration and your insurance declarations page — and bring all of it to the first meeting. The charged section is written on it.

7. Ask that attorney about the DMV accident-reporting requirement under Cal. Veh. Code § 16000(a) and about notifying your own insurer. Both involve statements and their own timing. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. If you have charging papers, the date on them controls and is far shorter than any civil deadline. The civil claims that can follow run on their own clocks: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 allows two years for injury or death, and Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1) three years for damage to a vehicle, both ordinarily from the accident. How long the state has to bring a charge is a different question governed by rules not covered here, and the DMV reporting deadline is shorter than all of them. Nothing here computes a date for you. Have a local criminal-defense attorney review your dates now.