Responding to a City Hit-and-Run Letter in Texas

Attorney Answer

Do not answer that letter in your own words. A city letter about a hit-and-run offense is a request, not a court order, and anything you write back can become evidence in a criminal case — take it to a Texas criminal-defense lawyer before you send anything, including your insurance information.

Cities send this kind of letter for two different reasons, and the difference decides what you should do. Sometimes it is a civil demand — city property was damaged and the city wants an insurer to pay for it. Sometimes it comes from the police or a prosecutor and is a step in a criminal case. The letterhead, the department name, and any case or offense number on the letter tell you which one you are holding. A lawyer can read that in a minute; guessing at it is how people talk themselves into a charge.

Here is what Texas law actually requires. The exchange duty in Tex. Transp. Code § 550.023 is a duty at the scene: the operator of a vehicle in a collision resulting in injury or death, or damage to a vehicle driven or attended by a person, must give that person the operator's name and address, the registration number of the vehicle, and the name of the operator's liability insurer, show a driver's license if it is requested and available, and give reasonable assistance to anyone injured. It is a duty owed on the spot to the people involved. It is not a standing obligation to mail insurance information to a city office weeks or months later.

The offense the letter refers to comes from the stop-and-remain sections. Under § 550.022(a), a driver in a collision resulting only in damage to a vehicle driven or attended by a person must stop at the scene or as close to it as possible without obstructing traffic more than necessary, return immediately if not stopped there, and remain until the § 550.023 requirements are met. Failing to do that is 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, under § 550.022(c). If the collision resulted or was reasonably likely to result in injury to or death of a person, § 550.021 applies instead, and its penalties are far more serious. Texas has no general driver crash-report duty, so a letter is not a report you were supposed to have filed.

There is a separate question the letter may be aimed at. Tex. Transp. Code § 601.051 requires financial responsibility for a vehicle before anyone operates it, and § 601.191(b) makes a first violation a misdemeanor with a fine of $175 to $350. Whether you had coverage on the date in question is exactly the kind of fact a written answer locks in.

What you can do

1. Do not reply, call, or send documents yet. Do not write out what happened for the city, the police, or an insurer.

2. Take the letter and the envelope to a Texas criminal-defense lawyer now. If the letter carries a response date, say so on the first call so it is not missed.

3. Keep what you already have and create nothing new — the letter, the envelope, your policy documents for that period, any repair invoices, and photographs already on your phone.

4. Ask that lawyer whether and how to notify your own insurer. Most policies require prompt notice of a claim, but what gets said in that notice can matter later, so let a lawyer set the order.

5. Let the lawyer, not you, make any contact with the city, the police department, or the other driver.

*Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — starting with who actually sent this letter and what it demands — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.*

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) generally gives two years from accrual for personal injury and property damage claims, which is the clock on any civil demand behind the letter. Criminal deadlines and any response date printed on the letter run on different schedules this page does not set. Have a Texas attorney check the dates on your particular letter promptly.