Hit and Stay!

by Carl Simons

Although this seems very basic to most people, if you are involved in an accident — whether you believe the accident to be your fault or not — legally you must follow certain protocols. After the accident you are required by law to contact (or attempt to contact) the individual you collided with, exchange California driver’s licenses, proof of insurance and contact information. If you fail to do this, even if the accident is not your fault, you could be charged with a crime. In the event the other party is nowhere to be found (i.e. you collide with a parked car), you are required to place a note with the aforementioned information and attach it to the vehicle.

Unfortunately, when many of us are involved in an accident we go into panic mode. Many people fail to think clearly and realize one important thing: It’s not a crime to hit another car, but fleeing the scene is a crime. About 95 percent of the hit-and-run cases I have handled involved parties with insurance. If they had simply followed the law, they would not have been subjected to criminal charges. If you are caught and convicted of the crime it could be mean a felony or a misdemeanor on your record—depending on the amount of damage in the accident. Such crimes could subject you not only to jail time, but could affect your driving record, insurance and your professional licensure.

The other night, my partner and I were getting ready to call it a night. I received a call from an individual who had just accidentally hit and substantially injured an individual on a bicycle. As his actions were unintentional, and the incident had only recently occurred, I instructed him to return to the scene and exchange information with the individual and avoid the drama and tremendous expense of potentially being arrested. He then told me that he in fact had returned back to the accident scene in an attempt to make sure no one could identify him and find out if the person was hurt. Once he found out the person was substantially injured, he freaked out and decided to leave. He then told me he was a doctor.

As less then 20 minutes had elapsed since the incident, I told him to go back—or at least contact the police and inform them of the incident—to avoid possible hit-and-run charges as well as potentially facing action against his license to practice medicine. I reminded him the crime was not the accident, but not taking responsibility for it was, and that if he was caught, his life would be a great deal worse. Additionally, he would have to live with his conscience for the rest of his life. He told me he would think about it, but I could tell he was not thinking clearly and did not follow my instruction. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon call I receive.

Finally, it is important to put yourself in the “victim’s” shoes. Personally, in the past 10 years, my car has suffered two rather serious hit-and-runs while it was parked, and my partner was almost killed in an accident where the individual ran. If you are involved in such an accident, generally you have no reason to run, as you most likely will not be charged with any sort of crime. Is it really worth the risk and expense of getting caught?

If you have any questions regarding this or any other legal matter, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Offices of Carl Simons at (310) 749-4529.