Charged After Hitting a Fence in Ohio and Leaving Your Information With the Owner: The Statute That Applies

Attorney Answer

For damage to a fence or other property beside the road, Ohio's stop-and-notify rule is Ohio Rev. Code § 4549.03. It asks a driver to stop, take reasonable steps to notify the owner, and give their name, address and registration number, showing a license if asked. Whether what you gave the owner met that is what the leaving-the-scene charge turns on. The reckless-driving charge is a separate question. With a commercial license at stake, have a defense lawyer handle both.

What the statute requires. Ohio Rev. Code § 4549.03(A):

(A) The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in damage to real property, or personal property attached to real property, legally upon or adjacent to a public road or highway immediately shall stop and take reasonable steps to locate and notify the owner or person in charge of the property of that fact, of the driver's name and address, and of the registration number of the vehicle the driver is driving and, upon request and if available, shall exhibit the driver's or commercial driver's license.

If the owner or person in charge of the property cannot be located after reasonable search, the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident resulting in damage to the property, within twenty-four hours after the accident, shall forward to the police department of the city or village in which the accident or collision occurred, or if it occurred outside the corporate limits of a city or village to the sheriff of the county in which the accident or collision occurred, the same information required to be given to the owner or person in control of the property and give the location of the accident and a description of the damage insofar as it is known.

The second sentence is for when the owner cannot be found. You found the owner, so the first sentence is the one that applies: the question is whether the information you left included your name, your address and the registration number of the truck.

What a violation carries. Ohio Rev. Code § 4549.03(B):

(B) Whoever violates division (A) of this section is guilty of failure to stop after an accident involving the property of others, a misdemeanor of the first degree.

A charge may also have been brought under a different section, so read the citation for the section number and check it against the facts.

The reckless-driving charge turns on how the truck was being driven, not on what happened afterward. A lawyer will look at it separately, and at what a conviction on either charge would mean for your commercial driver's license.

What you can do

1. Before you talk to the police, the other driver's insurer or anyone else about what happened, talk to a criminal defense lawyer. Keep the records that already exist, such as photos, texts, call logs and any papers exchanged at the scene, and go over the details with the lawyer in person or by phone.

2. Find whatever you gave the owner, or any copy, photo or text of it. If the information went by text or call, keep the record.

3. Tell your employer or carrier as your job requires, and report the damage to the insurer that covers the truck.

4. Keep the court date on the citation.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Ohio attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. The citation carries its own court date. The fence owner has two years from the crash to bring a claim for the damage under Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A).