Hit-And-Run

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Drivers in a motor vehicle accident must stop and exchange insurance and registration information

A motorist involved in a collision with another vehicle, even a minor collision, and fails to stop their vehicle to exchange identification and registration information with the other driver is guilty of a misdemeanor. If there were injuries, the hit-and-run could be filed as a felony.

Punishment Can Be Severe

Most people grossly underestimate the gravity of the crime. In California, a misdemeanor hit-and-run is punishable by up to 180 days in county jail and three years of probation. A felony hit-and-run is punishable by up to two to four years in state prison.

There are no easy defenses other than to claim you couldn’t find a safe place to stop and subsequently got lost in traffic. This can be a credible defense if the driver could support her story with facts.  Consider this fact scenario from a driver who fled the scene without exchanging information.

Even if the motorist was faultless and the damage was minor, the law requires that every motorist stop and exchange information. Consider the example below.

Example of Hit And Run Defense – Testimony Of The Accused

I was in heavy bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic when my front bumper made contact with the rear bumper in front of me. Given the traffic was heavy, I felt it was not safe to move across four lanes of heavy traffic to exchange information. So I signaled with my hands to the other driver to get off at the next exit.

The next exit was a quarter-mile away, and I thought the safest way to handle this was for us to meet at the closest off-ramp. So, I slowly drove across the lanes to get off at the next off-ramp with my blinkers on, but I think she lost me in all that traffic.

I waited for her at the off-ramp for over a half-hour, but the driver never showed up, so I went home. I did not report the incident because I was unable to write down the other driver’s license plate.

Result: The case was dismissed.

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