California law requires more than leaving a note. When you damage a parked or otherwise unattended vehicle and cannot find the owner, Vehicle Code section 20002 requires you to stop, leave a written notice at the scene, and also notify the police without unnecessary delay. Skipping a step can turn a property-damage accident into a misdemeanor hit and run.

Stop, then use one of two ways to give your information

When your vehicle is involved in an accident that damages only property, including another vehicle, you must immediately stop at the nearest location that will not impede traffic or endanger other motorists, and then immediately do one of two things (Vehicle Code section 20002(a)):

  • Find the owner or the person in charge of the damaged property and give that person your name and address and the name and address of the vehicle’s owner, including current residence addresses. If asked, show your driver’s license and vehicle registration.
  • Or leave a written notice on the damaged vehicle or property, and also notify the police, as described below.

CALCRIM No. 2150, the jury instruction for this offense, describes the duty to stop immediately as stopping “as soon as reasonably possible under the circumstances” (CALCRIM No. 2150).

What the written notice must contain

The notice must be left in a conspicuous place on the vehicle or other damaged property. It must give the name and address of the driver and of the owner of the vehicle you were driving, along with a statement of the circumstances of the accident (Vehicle Code section 20002(a)(2)). Make clear that you were the driver. When this is disputed, CALCRIM No. 2150 tells jurors that a driver providing a name and address “is required to identify himself or herself as the driver of a vehicle involved in the accident.”

The step people miss: you must also notify police

A note by itself does not finish the job. The same subsection requires you, without unnecessary delay, to notify the police department of the city where the collision occurred, or the local headquarters of the California Highway Patrol if it happened in unincorporated territory (Vehicle Code section 20002(a)(2)). CALCRIM No. 2150 says the driver “must then also” make that notification after leaving the note, so it is an added step, not an alternative. Practically, that means contacting the police department for that city, or the CHP if the location is outside city limits, as soon as you can, and writing down when you reported and to whom.

This duty can apply in a parking lot, and fault does not matter

You do not need to be on a public street for this duty to apply. CALCRIM No. 2150’s authority notes cite a 1966 California appellate decision, People v. Stansberry, for the point that this offense may occur on private property. The duty also does not depend on who caused the accident: it applies “regardless of how or why the accident happened,” even if someone else caused it or it was unavoidable (CALCRIM No. 2150).

A DMV report may also be due within 10 days

Separately from the police notice, if the damage to any one person’s property is more than $1,000, the driver must report the accident to the DMV within 10 days on the department’s form, either personally or through an insurance agent, broker, or legal representative (Vehicle Code section 16000(a)). That duty covers accidents on a street or highway and “reportable off-highway” accidents, such as one in a parking lot involving a vehicle subject to registration (Vehicle Code section 16000.1).

What happens if you do not comply

Failing to comply with the requirements of section 20002, whether that is stopping, providing your information directly, or leaving a note and notifying police, is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both (Vehicle Code section 20002(c)). A conviction also requires proof of what the driver knew about the collision and the damage, and that the failure to act was willful (CALCRIM No. 2150). That knowledge question is separate from the roadside steps described here.

If anyone was hurt, or alcohol was involved

This page covers property-damage-only accidents. An injury to anyone other than you brings in a different and more demanding law, explained on the page about hit and run with injury or death. For a collision after drinking, the page on hit and run DUI defense addresses the combined charges.

If you already left without doing this

The duties are time-bound: stop “immediately” and notify police “without unnecessary delay.” If you drove away without leaving a note or calling, report to the police as soon as you can and get legal advice promptly. A late report does not undo the delay, and when and how you reported can matter if a charge is considered. Whether a charge that has already been filed can later be resolved is a separate question from the roadside duty itself. Do not alter, backdate, or fabricate any note, receipt, or record to make it appear timely.

To go over the timeline and the evidence with a lawyer, contact the Law Offices of David S. Chesley at (800) 755-5174.