Duties After Hitting a Vehicle in a Parking Lot

Attorney Answer

Texas treats leaving the scene of a collision as a criminal matter, not just an insurance problem, so the most important thing you can do now is get advice before you describe the incident to anyone. The other driver being gone does not close the file, and how the next few days are handled matters more than what happened in the lot.

The stop-and-exchange duty is in Tex. Transp. Code § 550.022(a). It applies to the operator of a vehicle involved in a collision resulting only in damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended by a person, and it requires the operator to stop immediately at or as close as possible to the scene, to return to the scene if the vehicle was not stopped there, and to remain until the requirements of § 550.023 are met. Section 550.023 sets out what has to be exchanged: the operator's name and address, the vehicle's registration number, and the name of the operator's liability insurer, given to the other operator or to a person attending the other vehicle, plus the driver's license shown if requested and available.

Two details in that language matter for your situation. First, § 550.022 speaks of a vehicle that is driven or attended by a person. If the car you struck was parked and empty, that section by its terms does not describe your collision. Texas has a separate provision covering a driver who strikes an unattended vehicle, which in general terms calls for locating the owner or leaving written notice; a Texas lawyer should confirm exactly which duty applied to you. Second, the penalty under § 550.022(c) turns on the money: a Class C misdemeanor if the damage to all vehicles is less than $200, and a Class B misdemeanor if it is $200 or more.

Because a criminal charge is possible, treat every conversation about this as part of a criminal case, not a claims process.

What you can do

1. Keep what already exists. Store receipts, card statements, phone photos and any dashcam file from that day are records that were created before anyone asked questions. Do not create a new written account of the crash, and do not post about it.

2. Before you contact the police, the other driver, or any insurance company about this incident, speak with a Texas criminal-defense attorney. Leaving the scene is charged as an offense in Texas, and what you say first tends to set the whole case.

3. Ask that attorney how and when to give notice to your own auto insurer. Policies generally require prompt notice, but the timing and the wording are different questions when a charge is possible.

4. If an officer calls, a citation arrives, or the other driver's insurer contacts you, hand it to the attorney instead of answering it yourself.

5. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with a Texas attorney is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) gives a person two years from the day the cause of action accrues to sue for personal injury or for damage to property, so a civil claim arising from this collision runs on that clock. Criminal deadlines are set separately and are not something to work out from a web page. When the deadline actually falls depends on your specific facts, and a Texas attorney should review them.