Hit and Run

Two Different Charges

California has two hit and run statutes, and which one applies changes everything.

VC § 20002 — Property Damage Only (Misdemeanor)

Applies when a collision damaged property — another vehicle, a parked car, a fence, a mailbox — and nobody was injured.

This is the more common charge by a wide margin, and it’s a misdemeanor. It’s also the version most likely to be resolved without a conviction.

VC § 20001 — Injury or Death (Wobbler / Felony)

Applies when the collision caused injury or death to someone other than the driver. It’s a wobbler, chargeable as a felony or misdemeanor, with exposure increasing substantially where injuries were serious or death resulted.

The difference between these two statutes is not fault or intent — it’s whether a person was hurt.

What the Law Requires After a Collision

Understanding the duty helps explain the charge.

If property was damaged (§ 20002), you must:

• Stop immediately at the scene
• Locate the owner or driver and provide your name and address
• If you can’t find them — as with a parked car — leave a note in a conspicuous place on the vehicle with your name and address, and notify law enforcement

If someone was injured (§ 20001), you must additionally:

• Provide your name, address, vehicle registration, and driver’s license on request
• Render reasonable assistance, including arranging transport to medical care if it’s apparent that treatment is needed or if the injured person requests it
• Notify law enforcement

The note requirement catches people out. Many drivers who hit a parked car look for the owner, don’t find them, and leave — not realizing that a note and a police notification were required.

What the Prosecution Has to Prove

For a charge under Vehicle Code § 20002, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:

1. You were involved in a vehicle accident;
2. The accident caused damage to someone else’s property;
3. You knew you had been involved in an accident that caused damage, or reasonably should have known; and
4. You willfully failed to perform the required duties.

For § 20001, the same structure applies with injury or death in place of property damage, and knowledge that someone was injured — or that the accident was of a nature likely to cause injury.

Knowledge Is the Contested Element

You have to know an accident happened. That sounds obvious, and in serious collisions it is. In many cases it isn’t:

• Minor contact in a parking lot, at low speed
• Contact you felt but reasonably believed caused no damage
• Night, rain, road noise, music, or a conversation
• A large vehicle where minor contact isn’t transmitted to the driver
• Damage that was already there and attributed to you

Prosecutors infer knowledge from circumstances — the extent of the damage, whether you slowed or looked, what witnesses say. Those are inferences, and inferences can be challenged.

Civil Compromise — How Property Damage Cases Get Dismissed

This is the most important section on this page.

Under Penal Code §§ 1377 and 1378, certain misdemeanors where the victim has suffered a civil injury can be dismissed by the court if the victim acknowledges they’ve been compensated and no longer wishes to pursue the case.

Misdemeanor hit and run under § 20002 is a classic civil compromise case. The person whose car you hit has a civil claim for the damage. If that damage is paid — through insurance or directly — and they inform the court they’re satisfied, the judge has discretion to dismiss the charge.

The outcome is a dismissal, not a conviction.

A few things worth knowing:

• It requires the victim’s cooperation, which is why how and when they’re approached matters
• It requires the court’s approval — it’s discretionary, not automatic
• It’s generally not available for § 20001 injury cases
• It works best when restitution is arranged properly, through counsel, rather than through direct contact that can be misread

This is frequently the entire strategy in a property-damage case, and it’s worth asking any attorney you speak with whether they’ve pursued it.

Penalties in California

§ 20002 — Misdemeanor. County jail exposure, fines, probation, restitution for the property damage, and DMV points.

§ 20001 — Wobbler. As a misdemeanor, county jail exposure. As a felony, state prison exposure, increasing where injuries were serious or death resulted.

Consequences Beyond Sentencing

• DMV points and the license consequences that follow from accumulation
• Insurance. Rates increase sharply, and coverage can be refused
• Restitution, which in injury cases can be substantial
• Employment, particularly for any driving role — commercial drivers face separate consequences
• Immigration. Felony hit and run can carry consequences for non-citizens
• Civil liability, which continues separately from the criminal case

Defenses to Hit and Run Charges

You didn’t know an accident occurred. The primary defense in minor-contact cases. Knowledge is a required element, and low-speed parking lot contact genuinely isn’t always perceptible.

You didn’t know property was damaged. Even where contact was noticed, a reasonable belief that nothing was damaged goes to the knowledge element.

You weren’t the driver. Identification in these cases frequently rests on a partial plate, a brief description, or an assumption about who was driving a registered vehicle.

You did stop and identify yourself. Disputes arise about whether adequate information was exchanged, whether a note was left, and whether it was found.

You left the note. Notes blow away, get rained on, or are missed. The requirement is to leave one — not to guarantee it’s received.

It wasn’t your vehicle, or the damage was pre-existing. Damage gets attributed to the wrong incident regularly.

Emergency. Leaving to obtain emergency assistance, or under threat, may be justified in narrow circumstances.

Mistaken identity. Especially where identification came from a witness who saw a vehicle rather than a driver.

If You Realize Later That You May Have Hit Something

People do leave without knowing, and then find out — a dent they can’t explain, a note on their windshield, a call from police.

That’s a difficult position, and what happens next matters more than what already happened.

Talk to an attorney before you talk to anyone else. Not because there’s a way to make it disappear, but because how a case is approached before charges are filed genuinely affects the outcome. Coming forward through counsel, with restitution arranged and a civil compromise in view, is a materially different posture than being tracked down.

Don’t contact the other party directly. It’s a natural instinct, and it frequently makes things worse — statements get recorded, apologies become admissions, and approaches get characterized as pressure.

→ Pre-Filing & Investigation

Why a Former Prosecutor Matters

Hit and run cases involve more discretion than most. Whether a § 20001 case is filed as a felony or a misdemeanor. Whether the evidence of knowledge is strong enough to file at all. Whether the office will agree to a civil compromise or oppose it.

Polina Logrue made those calls at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. She knows what evidence of knowledge prosecutors consider adequate, how restitution and early cooperation affect a filing position, and how civil compromise requests are received when they’re presented properly.

In property-damage cases, the work often happens before the first court date — which is exactly when most people haven’t yet called anyone.

Meet Polina →

Charged With Hit and Run? Do This First

1. Don’t contact the other driver or property owner directly. Any communication should go through counsel.
2. Don’t give a statement to police about whether you knew, what you felt, or why you left.
3. Photograph your vehicle now, including any pre-existing damage.
4. Write down everything you remember — where you were, conditions, what you noticed, who was with you.
5. Locate your insurance information. Coverage matters for restitution and for civil compromise.
6. If you left a note, say so immediately and describe exactly where you left it.
7. Call before your arraignment, and before charges are filed if possible.

Call (949) 758-4469 · Free Consultation

Related Charges

• DUI Defense — frequently charged alongside hit and run
• Driving on a Suspended License — a common underlying reason for leaving
• Vehicular Manslaughter — where a death resulted
• DMV Hearings — where a license action follows
• Expungements — clearing a prior conviction