Hit-and-Run Laws & What to Do in Indiana

Getting hit by a driver who then speeds off is disorienting, and in Indiana it also sets several legal clocks running at once. This page sticks to what's true in Indiana specifically: the duties the state imposes at the scene, how prosecutors grade leaving the scene, and how you get paid when the other driver is never found. The national hub covers the general concept of hit-and-run; here we deal with the Indiana Code.

Under Indiana law there's no single crime called "hit-and-run." The offense is "leaving the scene of an accident," and its rules live in Indiana Code 9-26-1-1.1.¹

What Indiana requires you to do after a crash

If you're in a crash on an Indiana road, the statute gives you a short list of duties, and skipping any of them is what turns an ordinary collision into a criminal charge. You have to stop immediately at the scene, or as close to it as you can get without blocking traffic more than necessary.¹ You then give your name, address, and vehicle registration number to anyone else involved, and show your driver's license to any person involved in the crash or attending to a vehicle.¹ If someone is hurt, you have to render reasonable assistance, which includes arranging to get them to medical care if it's apparent they need it or they ask for it.¹

There's a duty most people don't know about. If you strike a parked or unattended vehicle, or roadside property, you can't just drive off. You have to locate and notify the owner, or leave your information and contact law enforcement.¹ The clipped-mirror-in-a-parking-lot situation is a real leaving-the-scene case if you keep going.

When there's an injury, a death, or heavy damage, call the police. A law enforcement officer has to investigate any crash that causes injury or death, or apparent property damage of at least $2,500, and the report gets filed with the state.² For how to pull a copy of that report in Indiana, see our Indiana crash reports page.

How Indiana grades leaving the scene

The penalty scales with the harm, and the jump from misdemeanor to felony is steep.

With property damage only and no injuries, leaving the scene is a Class B misdemeanor, carrying up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $1,000.¹³ If the crash caused bodily injury to another person, it's a Class A misdemeanor, up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.¹³

It becomes a felony once the injuries get worse. Leaving the scene of a crash that caused moderate or serious bodily injury is a Level 6 felony, six months to two and a half years, and it's also a Level 6 felony if you have a prior leaving-the-scene conviction within the last five years.¹⁴ If the crash killed someone or caused catastrophic injury, it's a Level 4 felony, punishable by two to twelve years.¹⁴ The most serious version is a Level 3 felony, three to sixteen years, and it applies when a driver flees during or after committing operating while intoxicated that caused serious bodily injury or death.¹⁵ "Serious bodily injury," "moderate bodily injury," and "catastrophic injury" are all defined by statute in Indiana's criminal code, so which tier applies can turn on a doctor's finding rather than a rough guess.⁶

The drunk-driving tier matters for a practical reason. A driver who has been drinking has a strong incentive to run, and Indiana's Level 3 felony exists to punish that exact choice.

Your license takes a separate hit

A conviction is only part of it. Leaving the scene of an accident is one of the "major offenses" the BMV counts toward habitual traffic violator status, and three major offenses within a ten-year window trigger a ten-year suspension of your driving privileges.⁷ That runs on top of any jail time, fines, or license suspension the court hands down.

When you're the victim and the driver is gone

If the person who hit you took off and is never identified, your own policy usually becomes the source of recovery. Indiana requires every auto liability policy to include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless you rejected it in writing, so most drivers carry it whether they realized it or not.⁸ The Indiana Department of Insurance sets the floor at $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage.⁹ A hit-and-run driver counts as uninsured for this purpose, so your UM coverage is what pays your injury claim when there's no one else to sue.

Property damage is where Indiana gets stingy with phantom drivers. The uninsured motorist property damage statute requires your claim to include the name and address of the at-fault driver, and it states flatly that there's no insurer liability where the owner or operator of the other vehicle can't be identified.¹⁰ So if the hit-and-run driver is never found, you generally can't recover the vehicle damage through uninsured motorist coverage. Collision coverage, if you carry it, would pay for the dent regardless of who caused it. Either way, that's a strong reason to get a plate, a description, camera footage, or a witness before the other car disappears. If your car lost market value even after a clean repair, that's a separate claim; see diminished value in Indiana.

Two more Indiana wrinkles. First, comparative fault still applies to a UM claim: your recovery drops by your share of the blame and disappears entirely if you're found 51% or more at fault.¹¹ Second, if the fleeing driver is later identified and turns out to have been drunk, you may also have a claim against whoever furnished the alcohol. Indiana's dram shop law lets you sue a bar or a social host who served someone they actually knew was visibly intoxicated, or who served a minor at all.¹²

If the driver is caught and insured, their liability coverage is the first stop. Indiana's minimum limits are $25,000 per person, $50,000 per crash, and $25,000 for property damage.¹³

The deadlines that actually bind you

Indiana gives you two years to sue for a crash injury, and two years for the vehicle damage, both under the same statute and both usually counted from the crash date.¹⁴ Two years feels long right after a wreck, and then it isn't. Your insurance policy also carries its own, much shorter notice deadline for a UM claim, so tell your insurer promptly even while police are still looking for the driver.

If you want help sorting out a UM claim, a liability claim, or a criminal case tied to your crash, you can start with our Indiana legal directory.

Reporting the crash and preserving evidence early does more for an Indiana hit-and-run claim than anything a lawyer can fix later. The plate number you jot down in the first five minutes is often the difference between a paid claim and a phantom one.

This is general information about Indiana law, not legal advice for your specific situation.

Sources

1. Indiana Code 9-26-1-1.1, Duties of driver of motor vehicle involved in accident; sentencing (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-26-1-1.1

2. Indiana Code 9-26-2-1, Investigation of accidents resulting in injury, death, or property damage of at least $2,500 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-26-2-1

3. Indiana Code 35-50-3, Misdemeanor sentences (Class A up to 1 year/$5,000; Class B up to 180 days/$1,000), Indiana General Assembly. https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/35#35-50-3-2

4. Indiana Code 35-50-2, Felony sentences (Level 6 and Level 4), Indiana General Assembly. https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/35#35-50-2-7

5. Indiana Code 35-50-2-5, Level 3 felony sentence (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/35#35-50-2-5

6. Indiana Code 35-31.5-2, Definitions (serious bodily injury, moderate bodily injury, catastrophic injury), Indiana General Assembly. https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/35#35-31.5-2

7. Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Common Traffic Violations and Habitual Traffic Violator status. https://www.in.gov/bmv/licenses-permits-ids/suspension-and-reinstatement/common-traffic-violations/

8. Indiana Code 27-7-5-2, Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage required unless rejected in writing (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/27#27-7-5-2

9. Indiana Department of Insurance, Auto Insurance. https://www.in.gov/idoi/consumer-services/types-of-insurance/auto-insurance/

10. Indiana Code 27-7-5-3, Uninsured motorist property damage coverage; no liability where the other operator cannot be identified (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/27#27-7-5-3

11. Indiana Code 34-51-2-6, Comparative fault; 51% bar to recovery (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-51-2-6

12. Indiana Code 7.1-5-10-15.5, Furnishing alcohol; civil liability (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/7.1#7.1-5-10-15.5

13. Indiana Code 9-25-4-5, Minimum financial responsibility limits (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-25-4-5

14. Indiana Code 34-11-2-4, Two-year limitation for personal injury and property damage (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-11-2-4