Can a hit-and-run property damage case be settled by paying the other driver?

Sometimes, but only through the court, not through a private deal. For a misdemeanor hit-and-run that damaged only property, a judge may end the case through a civil compromise if the owner of the damaged property appears in court before trial and says they have been paid for the damage, but the judge does not have to allow it.

The offense this applies to

This process concerns a Vehicle Code section 20002 hit-and-run: an accident that damaged only property, including vehicles. The statute requires the driver to stop immediately and then either give the owner or person in charge of the property the names and addresses of the driver and the vehicle’s owner, or leave a written notice on the damaged property and report the collision to police without unnecessary delay. Not complying is a misdemeanor; the maximum penalty is six months in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. Our hit-and-run overview explains the charge itself.

An accident that injured or killed someone other than the driver is charged under a different statute, Vehicle Code section 20001, which can be punished by state prison and so can be charged as a felony (Penal Code section 17(a)). A felony cannot be compromised under the sections described below, so do not assume paying for the damage can resolve an injury case. Our hit-and-run with injury or death page covers that charge.

How a civil compromise works

Penal Code section 1377 allows a misdemeanor to be compromised when the person injured by it has a remedy by civil action, unless one of the statute’s exclusions applies. In a property-damage hit-and-run, that person is ordinarily the owner of the damaged property, who is not always the other driver.

The compromise happens in court, not in a side agreement that keeps the case out of court. Under Penal Code section 1378, the injured person has to appear before the court where your case is pending, at any time before trial, and acknowledge receiving satisfaction for the injury. The judge then may, in its discretion and on payment of the costs incurred, stay the proceedings and discharge you. If the judge does, the reasons must be set out in the order and entered in the court’s minutes, and the order bars another prosecution for the same offense.

What can stand in the way

Section 1377 lists offenses that cannot be compromised no matter how much is paid: offenses committed by or upon an officer of justice carrying out official duties, committed riotously, committed with intent to commit a felony, committed in violation of a court order described in Penal Code section 273.6 or 273.65, committed by or upon a family or household member (or involving someone in a domestic relationship described in Family Code section 6211 or Penal Code section 13700(b)), committed upon an elder in violation of the elder abuse statutes, and certain offenses committed upon a child. If the property you hit belonged to a family or household member as the law defines that term, a civil compromise is not available for that reason alone.

A compromise is also limited to misdemeanors. Section 1377 reaches only “an act constituting a misdemeanor,” and Penal Code section 1379 says no public offense can be compromised, and no prosecution stayed on a compromise, except as these sections provide.

What this does not change

A payment or court compromise can resolve, at most, a charge that already exists. It does not replace the duty under Vehicle Code section 20002(a) to stop and give your information, or to leave a note and report the collision, and it is not a reason to delay reporting an accident or to try to handle it privately. If your case also involves a DUI, our hit-and-run DUI defense page explains how the two charges interact.

Practical steps

Because the property owner has to appear in your court case and the judge has the final say, this is not something to negotiate directly with the other driver on your own. An attorney can raise a compromise with the court and coordinate the owner’s appearance and the paperwork if the facts support it. Even when the law allows a compromise, the judge may decline it.

If you are facing a property damage hit-and-run and want to know whether a civil compromise is realistic in your case, contact the Law Offices of David S. Chesley at (800) 755-5174 to discuss your options.