Leaving the Scene Out of Fear for Your Safety: How Pennsylvania's Hit-and-Run Law Applies

Attorney Answer

Talk to a criminal defense lawyer first, before you speak to the police or to the people who say you hit and ran. Pennsylvania's leaving-the-scene law has no written exception for danger, but its general justification defense applies to Vehicle Code offenses too. If you hit the blocking car and left because you believed it was necessary to avoid being attacked, that is the defense a lawyer would build. A court lets a jury consider it only if there is evidence of a clear and imminent threat, so what you can show about the threat, and what you did once you were safe, matter most.

What the law requires after hitting an occupied or attended car. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3743:

(a) General rule.-- The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting only in damage to a vehicle or other property which is driven or attended by any person shall immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close thereto as possible but shall forthwith return to and in every event shall remain at the scene of the accident until he has fulfilled the requirements of section 3744 (relating to duty to give information and render aid).

(b) Penalty.-- Any person violating this section commits a misdemeanor of the third degree, punishable by a fine of $2,500 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

The duties referred to are in 75 Pa.C.S. § 3744(a): give your name, address and the vehicle's registration number, and show your license and insurance information on request. If anyone was hurt, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3742 applies instead and the charge is more serious.

Reporting to the police later is narrower than it sounds. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3744(b):

(b) Report of accident to police.-- In the event that none of the persons specified are in condition to receive the information to which they otherwise would be entitled under subsection (a) and no police officer is present, the driver of any vehicle involved in the accident after fulfilling all other requirements of section 3742 (relating to accidents involving death or personal injury) and subsection (a), insofar as possible on his part to be performed, shall forthwith report the accident to the nearest office of a duly authorized police department and submit to the police department the information specified in subsection (a).

That route is written for a scene where no one is able to receive the information. It does not, by its terms, cover a driver who left because the people there were a threat — which is why the defense below, not § 3744(b), is how the law would account for your reason.

The justification defense. 18 Pa.C.S. § 503(a):

(a) General rule.-- Conduct which the actor believes to be necessary to avoid a harm or evil to himself or to another is justifiable if: (1) the harm or evil sought to be avoided by such conduct is greater than that sought to be prevented by the law defining the offense charged; (2) neither this title nor other law defining the offense provides exceptions or defenses dealing with the specific situation involved; and (3) a legislative purpose to exclude the justification claimed does not otherwise plainly appear.

Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 107(a), that part of the Crimes Code applies to offenses defined in other statutes, including the Vehicle Code. Section 503(b) adds a limit: where the actor was reckless or negligent in bringing about the situation, or in judging that the conduct was necessary, the defense is unavailable for an offense that recklessness or negligence is enough to establish. And there is a threshold. In Commonwealth v. Hoke, 381 Pa. Super. 70, 552 A.2d 1099 (1989), the Superior Court upheld a trial court's refusal to let a jury consider justification on a leaving-the-scene charge, because the driver had offered no evidence of a clear and imminent harm; the driver there had not been threatened. Evidence of the threat you describe is therefore the heart of the case.

What you can do

1. Talk to a Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer before you speak to the police, an investigator or anyone else about this, and do not write out your account of what happened for anyone in the meantime. What you say can be used as evidence.

2. Keep, for your lawyer only, anything that shows how you came to be in the parking lot and what happened there: messages, call logs, photos of your car, and the names of anyone who saw it.

3. Do not contact the men or the owner of the car you hit.

4. Ask your lawyer about notifying your insurer; the damage to the other car is a claim against your liability coverage, separate from any charge.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Pennsylvania 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. Parking-lot cameras often record over their footage on a routine cycle, and a lawyer can send a request to preserve it quickly. If you receive a citation or summons, the date on it controls. Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1533(a), failing to respond to a citation or summons for a Vehicle Code violation leads to a license suspension, separate from the charge itself.