Do police investigate minor hit-and-run incidents?

Yes, often. Most jurisdictions require the police to investigate a reported hit-and-run offense, including cases involving only minor injuries or property damage.

But note that the police will typically spend more time and resources investigating serious hit-and-run accidents (for example, those involving death or a serious injury).

Most states say that you commit misdemeanor hit and run if you flee the scene of an auto accident after hitting a car and causing property damage. The crime is punishable by a fine and/or jail time.

You generally commit felony hit and run if you flee the scene of an accident where you injured or killed someone. The crime is punishable by more serious consequences in comparison to misdemeanor hit and run.

If you are involved in an auto accident, most state laws say that you are required to present to other motorists your:

• driver’s license,
• vehicle registration,
• contact information (including your phone number), and
• insurance information.

You may also be required to help get aid to injured third parties, such as calling 911 and waiting until first responders arrive.

1. Do police officers review minor hit-and-run cases?

Law enforcement personnel usually investigate all reported hit-and-run cases, including those involving minor property damage and/or physical injuries.

But note that the hit-and-run laws of most states recognize different types of hit-and-run car accidents. For example, many states say that leaving the scene of an accident can trigger criminal charges of:

• hit and run causing property damage,
• hit and run causing physical injury, and
• hit and run causing fatalities.¹

Given this, police will usually spend more time investigating serious hit-and-run offenses than minor accidents. Serious offenses are most often those involving:

• death, or
• serious bodily injury.

In practice, this usually means that if the police are busy reviewing a serious hit-and-run incident, it might take a while before they commence a hit-and-run investigation involving minor injuries or damage.

2. Does the available evidence make a difference?

Yes, typically. Police will spend more time investigating hit-and-run cases that involve a significant amount of evidence.

This means that if a minor case involves few workable leads, police will often pay less attention to it than a case with several leads or many eyewitnesses.

3. How long will an investigation take?

The overall length of a hit-and-run investigation will usually depend on the amount of evidence in a case and the state law governing the incident.

However, police departments usually resolve cases involving minor physical injuries or property damage quicker than more serious cases. This is because minor cases generally involve smaller impacts.

Please also keep in mind that the length of an investigation will vary depending on how busy a police department is and its staffing levels. If the police are tasked with reviewing many auto accident cases, it will usually take them longer to begin investigating a minor hit-and-run case.

4. What about a hit-and-run involving no property damage?

Police usually are not required to investigate hit-and-run cases without property damage or injury.

Recall that a hit-and-run driver is only guilty of a crime if he/she leaves the scene of the accident where, at the minimum, there is some type of property damage.²

If there is no property damage, then:

• there is technically no crime, and
• the police are not obligated to investigate the incident.

5. Will an insurance company investigate a minor hit and run?

If you file an insurance claim after a minor hit and run, the insurance company will often investigate the incident.

An insurer investigates a hit-and-run accident to determine if it will provide you compensation for any losses, including:

• medical bills, and
• lost wages.

An insurance company’s investigation may include:

• reviewing any pertinent police reports or accident reports,
• reviewing any available medical records,
• speaking with witnesses,
• looking at photos of any damaged motor vehicles or property, and
• reviewing videos of surveillance cameras (for example, if a person hit an unattended vehicle or parked car in a parking lot).

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