If you left the scene of an accident and are now trying to figure out what happens next, here is the honest starting point. Leaving was the problem, not the collision. California charges hit-and-run for the leaving, regardless of who caused the crash. But what you do in the next few days matters more than what you did in the first few seconds, and there are right and wrong moves. This page covers them in order. If the collision involved only a parked car and you are reading this before anyone has contacted you, our guide to hitting a parked car covers that specific situation.
Our office has defended hit-and-run cases at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta since 1999. We represent drivers from Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, and French Valley, along with Temecula, Menifee, Wildomar, Winchester, and Canyon Lake, our full Southwest Riverside County service area. If you left the scene and have not yet spoken to police, call (951) 400-4357 before you do.
First, Which Charge You Are Looking At
There are two hit-and-run statutes, and the difference is whether anyone was hurt.
- Property damage only, Vehicle Code 20002. A misdemeanor. Up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine. This covers the parked car, the fender-bender, the mirror clipped in a parking lot.
- Injury or death, Vehicle Code 20001. A wobbler. As a misdemeanor, up to a year in jail. As a felony, 16 months to three years, and up to four years if someone died or was permanently injured. Our guide to felony hit-and-run under VC 20001 covers those cases.
One point people miss: the statute does not ask whether you caused the crash. It asks whether you stopped, identified yourself, and, if someone was hurt, helped. Fault matters at sentencing and in the civil case. It does not decide the charge.
The Element That Decides Most of These Cases
To convict you of hit-and-run, the prosecution has to prove you knew, or reasonably should have known, that you were in a collision and that it caused damage or injury. Knowledge is the element. A driver who felt a bump at night, saw nothing in the mirror, and kept going has a defense. A driver who got out, looked at the dent, and drove off does not. Before you say anything to anyone, understand that every statement you make about what you noticed goes directly to this element.
What to Do Now, in Order
1. Do not call the police to “explain.” This is the instinct, and it is the most damaging thing you can do. An unrepresented driver who calls to explain what happened has just confessed to the knowledge element and the leaving, in a recorded statement, with no negotiation. Reporting may be the right move. It should happen through an attorney, in a form that does not hand the prosecution its case.
2. Do not contact the other driver or property owner. Not to apologize, not to offer payment, not through a friend. Direct contact creates statements and, in some cases, a witness-tampering problem. Compensation can be part of the resolution, and it has to be structured.
3. Preserve what helps you. Photograph your vehicle now, before any repair. Save your dashcam footage, your phone’s location history, and any messages that show where you were and when. If you did not realize you hit anything, the evidence that supports that is time-sensitive.
4. Do not repair the vehicle yet. Not because repairs are illegal, but because an undocumented repair looks like concealment, and body shops report suspicious hit-and-run damage to police in some cases. Document first.
5. File the DMV report if it applies. California requires an SR-1 form to the DMV within 10 days of any collision involving injury or death, or property damage over $1,000, regardless of fault. A police report does not substitute for it. This is a separate legal duty, and failing to file it costs you your license. Do it with your attorney, because the SR-1 is also a statement.
6. Be careful with your insurer. You are required to cooperate with your own policy, and you should. But anything you say to an insurer can be obtained by the prosecution. Get advice before you give the recorded statement.
How the Investigation Actually Unfolds
A hit-and-run that nobody reported will usually stay that way. A hit-and-run that was reported unfolds on a predictable timeline. The other driver or a witness gave police a plate number, a partial plate, or a vehicle description. If there is a plate, the registered owner gets a phone call or a visit within days. If there is only a description, investigators canvass for video, and in Southwest Riverside County that means doorbell cameras, business cameras, and traffic cameras along the corridor where it happened. The call from a detective often sounds friendly: they just want to hear your side. That call is the investigation. Say that your attorney will contact them, and nothing else.
The Outcomes That Are Actually Available
This is where early representation changes things, because hit-and-run has resolutions most charges do not.
- Civil compromise. For a property-damage hit-and-run under Vehicle Code 20002, California law allows the case to be dismissed entirely if the property owner is compensated and tells the court they are satisfied. Pay for the damage, properly, through the court, and the misdemeanor can go away with no conviction. This is the most common good outcome in these cases, and it only works if the compensation is handled correctly.
- No filing. When the case is reported through counsel before charges are filed, with insurance information provided and the damage covered, the District Attorney’s Office frequently declines to file at all.
- Reduction. A felony 20001 case where the injury was minor can often be resolved as a misdemeanor, and a 20001 case can sometimes become a 20002 case where the injury evidence is thin.
- Diversion. Misdemeanor hit-and-run is generally eligible for court diversion, which ends in dismissal on completion.
Every one of these gets harder after the recorded statement to the detective. That is why the order above matters.
If Alcohol Was Involved
Many people leave the scene because they had been drinking and panicked. If that is your situation, understand two things. Leaving does not make the DUI go away; it adds a charge and it makes the DUI harder to fight, because the prosecution will argue you left to avoid a breath test. And the longer the delay before contact with police, the harder it becomes for the prosecution to prove your blood alcohol level at the time of driving. That cuts both ways, and how to handle it is a conversation for your attorney, not a decision to make alone. Our DUI defense practice handles the combined cases.
How These Cases Run at the Southwest Justice Center
Misdemeanor hit-and-run cases from our eight cities are heard on the misdemeanor calendar at the Southwest Justice Center, where civil compromise and diversion are negotiated. Felony 20001 cases go through the felony settlement department. In both, the filing deputy’s decision is made in the weeks after the report, which is the window in which our office contacts the District Attorney’s Office with the insurance information, the compensation plan, and the facts that support the knowledge defense. Cases that are handled in that window resolve better than cases that start at arraignment.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I go back to the scene now, does that fix it? Not by itself. Returning after the fact does not undo the leaving, and how you return matters. A report made through an attorney is different from showing up and explaining.
Can I be charged if I did not know I hit anything? The prosecution has to prove you knew or should have known. If the contact was minor and you had no reason to notice, that is a real defense, and it depends on what you say and what the evidence shows.
Will paying for the damage end the case? For property-damage hit-and-run, often yes, through civil compromise. It has to be done through the court, with counsel, to produce a dismissal.
How long do police have to charge me? One year for a misdemeanor, three years for a felony. Most hit-and-run investigations that go anywhere move within weeks.
The Next Move Is the One That Counts
The collision is done. The leaving is done. What is not done is the investigation, the filing decision, and the resolution, and all three are still open. Call the Law Office of Nic Cocis at (951) 400-4357 for a free, confidential consultation before you talk to anyone else.
