Hit-and-run laws and what to do in Nevada

If another driver hit you in Nevada and took off, here is what state law requires at the scene, the penalties for leaving, and how you get paid when the driver is never found.

ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial
May 23, 2026
6 min read

Nevada treats leaving a crash scene as one of the more serious things you can do behind the wheel, and the line between a ticket and a prison sentence comes down to whether anyone was hurt. If you were the one hit and the other driver took off, the state's rules also shape how you get paid, and a few of them work against you if you miss a step. Here is what actually applies in Nevada.

What the law requires you to do at the scene

Nevada's crash duties live in Chapter 484E of the Revised Statutes. If a crash on a highway or on premises the public can access results in injury or death, every driver involved has to stop immediately at the scene, or as close to it as possible, and stay there until they have done what the law requires.1 For a crash that only damages another vehicle or property, the duty to stop still applies, and driving off is a separate offense.2

Stopping alone is not enough. Under NRS 484E.030 you have to give the other people involved your name, address, and vehicle registration number, and show your driver's license on request.3 You also have to render reasonable assistance to anyone injured, which the statute defines to include arranging transport to a doctor or hospital if treatment is apparently needed or the injured person asks for it.3 If you hit a parked car or other unattended property, you have to locate the owner or leave a written note with your name and address in a conspicuous place on the property.4 When no police officer is at the scene, you have to report the crash to the nearest police authority or the Nevada Highway Patrol by the quickest means available.5

Separately, NRS 484E.070 requires a written or electronic report to the Nevada DMV within 10 days of any crash that causes injury, death, or property damage that looks like $750 or more, filed on the SR-1 form.6 That report is a DMV filing rather than the criminal duty at the scene, and it applies even in a minor fender bender.

The penalties for leaving

The penalty depends entirely on what the crash caused. Leaving the scene of a crash that injured or killed someone is a category B felony. A conviction carries 2 to 20 years in state prison and a fine of $2,000 to $5,000, and the sentence cannot be suspended and probation cannot be granted.1 The statute counts a separate offense for each person injured or killed, so a driver who flees a crash with multiple victims faces stacked charges.1

Leaving the scene of a property-damage-only crash is a misdemeanor.2 Under Nevada's general misdemeanor penalty that means up to 6 months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.7 Failing to give information or render aid under NRS 484E.030, and failing to stop for a crash with unattended property under NRS 484E.040, are misdemeanors too.34

A conviction reaches your license as well. NRS 483.460 makes revocation mandatory for failure to stop and render aid in a crash that killed or injured someone, and that revocation runs for one year.8 It applies on top of whatever the criminal court orders.

If you are the one who was hit

Take care of the immediate things first. Get yourself and anyone with you to safety, check for injuries, and call 911. A police response matters more here than in an ordinary crash, because if the other driver is never identified, the police report becomes part of proving your own claim later.

Then capture whatever you can about the car that left. A full or even partial plate, the make, model, and color, and the direction it drove off all help police and your insurer. Look for witnesses and write down how to reach them, and note any nearby businesses, homes, or intersections that might have a camera. Photograph the damage, the scene, and anything the other vehicle left behind. Get medical care promptly if you are hurt, both for your health and because a gap in treatment gives an insurer a reason to discount the injury.

You can pull the official crash report once it is filed; that process is covered on the Nevada crash reports page. If the hit-and-run damaged your vehicle, the resale-value loss is a separate claim explained on the Nevada diminished value page. And if the case is serious or the insurer is fighting you, you can find a local attorney through the legal directory.

Getting paid when the driver is gone

Nevada is an at-fault state, so recovery normally runs through the at-fault driver's liability insurance. The state minimum is 25/50/20: $25,000 for bodily injury per person, $50,000 per crash, and $20,000 for property damage.9 A driver who flees is often uninsured or carrying only those minimums, which is where your own coverage comes in.

Every Nevada auto insurer has to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage equal to your bodily injury limits, and you can reject it only in writing.10 UM coverage is what pays when the other driver has no insurance, and it treats a hit-and-run driver as uninsured. There is a catch specific to Nevada, though. NRS 690B.020 requires actual physical contact between the unidentified vehicle and you or your car before an unknown hit-and-run driver counts as uninsured, and it requires that the crash was reported to police within the time set by NRS 484E.030, 484E.040, or 484E.050.11 A driver who runs you off the road without touching your car and then vanishes can leave you with no UM claim under that contact rule, which is one more reason to report fast and document everything.

Nevada is not a no-fault state, so there is no PIP here. Insurers do have to offer optional medical payments coverage of at least $1,000, which can help with early bills regardless of fault.10

Deadlines that decide your case

Two clocks run on a Nevada injury claim. You generally have two years from the date of the crash to sue for a personal injury, and three years for damage to your vehicle or other property.12 If the injured person is a minor, the two-year clock is tolled until they turn 18.13 Miss the deadline and the claim is gone, no matter how clearly the other driver was at fault.

One more Nevada rule shapes what you recover. The state follows modified comparative negligence with a 51 percent bar: you can recover only if you were not more at fault than the other driver, and your award drops by your share of the blame.14 In a hit-and-run that usually favors the victim, since a driver who flees rarely has a clean account of who caused the crash. It is still why documenting the scene early is worth the effort.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. Nevada Revised Statutes 484E.010, Duty to stop at scene of crash involving death or personal injury; penalty. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

  2. Nevada Revised Statutes 484E.020, Duty to stop at scene of crash involving damage to vehicle or property. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

  3. Nevada Revised Statutes 484E.030, Duty to give information and render aid. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

  4. Nevada Revised Statutes 484E.040, Duty to stop at scene of crash involving damage to unattended vehicle or property. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

  5. Nevada Revised Statutes 484E.050, Duty to report a crash to a police authority. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

  6. Nevada Revised Statutes 484E.070, Written or electronic report of crash to the Department (DMV). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

  7. Nevada Revised Statutes 193.150, Punishment of misdemeanors. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-193.html

  8. Nevada Revised Statutes 483.460, Mandatory revocation of license, permit or privilege to drive. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-483.html

  9. Nevada Revised Statutes 485.185, Required minimum amounts of insurance. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-485.html

  10. Nevada Revised Statutes 687B.145, Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and medical payments coverage. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-687b.html

  11. Nevada Revised Statutes 690B.020, Uninsured and underinsured vehicle coverage; physical-contact requirement for unknown drivers. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-690b.html

  12. Nevada Revised Statutes 11.190, Periods of limitation (subsection 4(e), personal injury; subsection 3(c), property damage). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html

  13. Nevada Revised Statutes 11.250, Tolling of limitation for a person under legal disability. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html

  14. Nevada Revised Statutes 41.141, Comparative negligence. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-041.html

About This Guide

Written by: ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial

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