If you did a hit and run, call a criminal defense attorney before you talk to police, drive back to the scene, or call your insurance company. Leaving the scene of an accident is a criminal offense in every state, and what you do in the next few hours and days will heavily influence how this plays out. A lawyer is the only person who can tell you how to meet your legal obligations without making your situation worse.
Call a Lawyer Before You Do Anything Else
Every instinct right now is telling you to rush back to the scene or pick up the phone and call the police. Resist that for the time it takes to speak with an attorney. Anything you say to law enforcement can be used against you, and people in a panic almost always say too much.
A criminal defense attorney will tell you what information you are legally required to provide, what you should not volunteer, and how to approach police in a way that demonstrates cooperation without waiving your rights. Many offer free initial consultations and can give you a game plan within an hour. This is where outcomes diverge: people who get legal advice early almost always end up in a better position than those who wing it.
If you cannot afford an attorney, you can request a public defender once charges are filed. But if there is any way to consult a lawyer before your first interaction with police, do it.
What the Law Required You to Do at the Scene
Every state imposes a duty on drivers involved in a collision. The core requirements are consistent: stop at the scene, provide your name, address, and vehicle registration to the other driver or a nearby witness, and show your driver’s license if asked. If someone is injured, most states also require you to provide reasonable assistance, which usually means calling 911 or helping the person get medical attention.
When the accident involves only property damage and the owner is not present, as with a parked car, you are typically required to leave a written note with your contact information and report the incident to local police. The fact that none of this happened is what created the legal problem. Returning to fulfill these obligations, even belatedly, can still work in your favor.
Why Coming Forward Quickly Matters
There is no fixed timeline for how long it takes police to identify a hit-and-run driver. It could be hours or months depending on the evidence. Surveillance cameras, witnesses who caught your license plate, paint transfer on the other vehicle, and automated license plate readers all give investigators leads. In urban areas with heavy camera coverage, identification can happen the same day.
The longer you wait, the more likely police come to you rather than the other way around, and that distinction matters when prosecutors decide how to charge you. Someone who returned within a few hours, cooperated, and showed genuine remorse is a very different defendant than someone tracked down weeks later through forensic evidence. Prosecutors have discretion in what charges to file and what plea offers to make. Judges weigh the same factors at sentencing. Coming forward does not guarantee leniency, but it gives your attorney something meaningful to work with.
Reporting the Incident the Right Way
Once you have spoken with an attorney, the next step is usually reporting the incident to law enforcement. Your lawyer may go with you to the police station or advise you to call the non-emergency line. When you report, stick to objective facts: the time, location, and basic circumstances. Do not speculate about fault, speed, or whether anyone was injured. Provide the identification the law requires and let your attorney handle the rest.
Many states also require a written accident report to the Department of Motor Vehicles when property damage exceeds a certain dollar amount, typically ranging from $500 to $2,500. Deadlines for these reports vary, with some states allowing as few as 72 hours and others up to 10 days. Your attorney can confirm whether a DMV report applies to your situation and make sure it gets filed on time.
Criminal Penalties You May Face
The severity of the charges turns almost entirely on whether anyone was hurt. States generally treat hit-and-run as two distinct offenses: one for property damage only and another for accidents involving injury or death.
Property Damage Only
When no one is injured, leaving the scene is typically a misdemeanor. Fines range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, and jail time can run up to six months or a year. Some states scale penalties based on the amount of damage. Damage under a few hundred dollars is sometimes treated as a minor traffic offense with modest fines, while higher damage amounts push the charge into more serious misdemeanor territory with potential jail time of up to 180 days.
Injury or Death
When someone is injured or killed, the charge almost always becomes a felony. Prison sentences vary significantly. Injury cases typically carry one to five years, though some states authorize up to seven or ten years for serious injuries. If someone died and the driver caused the accident, sentences can reach ten years or more. Fines for felony hit-and-run can exceed $10,000, and some states impose restitution on top of that.
A few states also enhance penalties when the driver was intoxicated at the time. If alcohol or drugs were involved in your accident, the stakes are considerably higher, and getting a lawyer immediately becomes even more urgent.
Civil Liability and Restitution
Criminal penalties are not the only financial exposure. The victim can sue you in civil court for medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. Civil cases use a lower burden of proof than criminal cases, so even if criminal charges are reduced or dropped, a civil judgment is still very much on the table.
Courts can also order restitution as part of a criminal sentence, requiring you to reimburse the victim for specific out-of-pocket losses. In some cases, particularly when the driver knew someone was injured and fled anyway, courts may award punitive damages on top of actual losses. Punitive damages are designed to punish especially reckless behavior and can multiply the financial impact dramatically.
Insurance Consequences
You need to report the accident to your insurance company, and most policies require you to do so within a few days. Delaying too long can give your insurer grounds to deny the claim entirely. Be truthful. Misrepresenting what happened can void your coverage, and insurers routinely cross-reference police reports with policyholder statements.
Expect your premiums to rise significantly. Auto insurance rates after an at-fault accident typically go up 20% to 40%, and a hit-and-run conviction pushes that higher because insurers view leaving the scene as a separate risk factor beyond the accident itself. The increase usually lasts three to five years. If your insurer drops you, you may need coverage through a high-risk insurance pool, which costs substantially more.
Liability coverage may pay some of the victim’s damages, but policies often have exclusions for criminal acts, and insurers sometimes deny coverage when the policyholder left the scene. Collision coverage may help pay for damage to your own vehicle, minus the deductible, but some policies allow the insurer to deny the claim if you were committing a crime at the time of the loss. Ask your attorney to review the relevant exclusions.
License Suspension
A hit-and-run conviction almost always triggers a license suspension or revocation, separate from any court-imposed penalties. Property-damage-only offenses may result in suspensions of six months to one year. Felony hit-and-run involving injury or death can lead to revocations lasting several years. Some states impose mandatory suspension periods that judges cannot waive.
The conviction also adds points to your driving record, compounding the insurance premium increase and pushing you closer to an administrative suspension based on accumulated points alone. In some states, the DMV takes administrative action independently of what happens in criminal court, meaning you could face two separate proceedings affecting your ability to drive.
Longer-Term Consequences
A hit-and-run conviction follows you well beyond the sentence. Both misdemeanor and felony convictions show up on background checks. Under federal law, criminal convictions can be reported indefinitely, while arrest records that did not lead to conviction drop off after seven years. Many employers run background checks, and a hit-and-run conviction raises flags for jobs involving driving, positions of trust, or roles requiring professional licenses.
Expungement may be an option down the road depending on your state, the severity of the offense, and whether you have completed your sentence. Misdemeanors are more commonly eligible than felonies, and waiting periods typically range from one to several years after completing all terms of the sentence, including probation and restitution.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, the stakes are higher. Depending on the circumstances and classification, a hit-and-run conviction may be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, which can trigger deportation proceedings, bar you from adjusting your immigration status, and make you ineligible for certain visas. A felony hit-and-run involving serious injury could potentially be classified as an aggravated felony under immigration law, which carries mandatory detention and near-certain removal. Make sure your criminal defense attorney understands immigration consequences or works alongside an immigration lawyer.
Managing the Stress While This Plays Out
People who have left the scene of an accident often describe the days afterward as a constant loop of guilt, dread, and second-guessing. That psychological weight is real, and it affects your ability to make good decisions at exactly the moment you need to make several important ones.
Talking to a therapist is a practical step. A mental health professional can help you manage the acute stress so you can function while dealing with the legal process. Some criminal defense attorneys can recommend therapists who work with people facing criminal charges. Voluntary counseling or community service can also help at sentencing by showing you took responsibility beyond what the court required.