Hit-and-Run Laws & What to Do in New Jersey

New Jersey punishes leaving the scene with fines, license loss, and prison, and it still lets hit-and-run victims recover through PIP, uninsured motorist coverage, and a state fund. Here are the exact rules, numbers, and deadlines.

ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial
May 24, 2026
6 min read

Hit-and-run laws and what to do in New Jersey

Someone hit your car and drove off. Maybe you caught a plate, maybe you got nothing but a dent and a sick feeling. New Jersey treats leaving the scene as a serious offense, and the state also gives you real ways to recover money even when the other driver is never identified. Here is how the law actually works in New Jersey, with the statutes, deadlines, and dollar figures that apply here.

What New Jersey requires you to do after a crash

The core rule is N.J.S.A. 39:4-129. Any driver involved in a crash that injures a person or damages a vehicle or other property must stop at the scene or as close to it as possible, remain there, and give their name and address and show their driver's license and registration certificate to the other people involved, to any injured party, and to a responding officer.1 If you strike an unattended car or property, you have to leave a note with that same information.1

Reporting is a separate duty. Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-130 you must give immediate notice, by the quickest available means, to the local police, the county police, or the State Police whenever a crash causes injury, death, or property damage above $500. You then have to file a written report with the Motor Vehicle Commission within 10 days, unless an officer already filed a report for the crash.2 That $500 threshold is easy to clear, so most collisions trigger both duties.

If you were the victim and the other driver fled, you have not broken this law by leaving to reach safety or to flag down help. You still owe the same prompt notice and report, so call the police from the scene.

What makes it a hit-and-run, and the penalties

Leaving the scene when you had a duty to stop is what New Jersey punishes, and the penalty grows with the harm.

For a crash involving only vehicle or property damage, a first violation of 39:4-129 carries a fine of $200 to $400, up to 30 days in jail, and a six-month license suspension. A repeat offense runs $400 to $600, 30 to 90 days in jail, and a one-year suspension.1 The Motor Vehicle Commission adds 2 points to your license for the no-injury version.3

When the crash injured or killed someone, the same statute raises the numbers: a fine of $2,500 to $5,000, up to 180 days in jail, a one-year suspension for a first offense, and permanent loss of your license for a second.1 That version carries 8 points.3

The traffic penalty is often just the start. New Jersey charges fleeing drivers criminally too. Leaving the scene of a crash that caused serious bodily injury is a third-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1.1, punishable by up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000, and the usual presumption against prison for a first-time third-degree offender does not apply.4 If the crash killed someone, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.1 makes leaving a second-degree crime, which carries five to ten years in prison and a fine up to $150,000. If the driver is also convicted of a homicide offense from the same crash, the sentences run consecutively instead of together.5

One detail catches a lot of people. Under both criminal statutes, the state does not have to prove you knew you had hurt or killed anyone. Being unaware of the injury or death is not a defense.54 A driver can be convicted while insisting they thought they had only clipped a curb.

The deadlines you cannot miss

Immediate notice to police and the 10-day written report are the first two.2 A police crash report also becomes the foundation of any insurance or injury claim later, so make sure one gets created. You can request the New Jersey report once it is filed; the steps are on our New Jersey crash report page.

If the driver is never identified and you end up looking to a state fund for payment, a much shorter clock starts. More on that below.

How you get paid when the driver is gone

A hit-and-run does not leave you without coverage in New Jersey. The state's no-fault system is built to pay first and sort out fault later.

Your own personal injury protection (PIP) covers your medical treatment regardless of who caused the crash, under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4. A Standard policy defaults to $250,000 in medical benefits unless you chose a lower option in writing, and a Basic policy carries $15,000.6 So your emergency treatment and follow-up care are covered even when the driver who caused it all is long gone.

For the rest, meaning bodily injury beyond PIP and pain and suffering, uninsured motorist (UM) coverage steps in. N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 defines an "uninsured motor vehicle" to include a hit-and-run vehicle, so your UM coverage stands in for the missing driver's liability insurance.7 UM is required on every Standard policy and tracks the state's liability minimums, which rose to $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.7

There is a catch worth knowing before you file. If you picked the limitation-on-lawsuit (verbal threshold) option on your policy, you can recover pain-and-suffering damages only if your injury fits one of the six categories in N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8, and that limit applies to a UM claim the same way it would to a suit against an identified driver.8

Your car is treated differently. New Jersey UM property-damage coverage only responds when the other vehicle is identified, so for a true hit-and-run the repair bill goes through your collision coverage instead, subject to your deductible.9 If your car lost market value even after a proper repair, that is a separate claim; see our page on diminished value in New Jersey.

There is a backstop for people with no coverage at all, like a pedestrian struck by a fleeing car who owns no policy. The Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund, created by N.J.S.A. 39:6-61 and the sections that follow, can pay hit-and-run victims who have no other insurance available.10 For an unidentified driver you have to show you made all reasonable efforts to identify the vehicle and its owner, under N.J.S.A. 39:6-78.11 And you must file a Notice of Intention to make a claim within 180 days of the crash, under N.J.S.A. 39:6-65.12 Miss that window and the claim is gone, no matter how badly you were hurt.

Deadlines for a lawsuit

If a driver is later identified, a personal injury lawsuit in New Jersey generally must be filed within two years of the crash, under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2.13 A claim for vehicle or property damage has a longer six-year limit under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.14 Those are the outer limits. The 180-day fund notice and your own policy's reporting conditions come due long before them, so treat the early deadlines as the real ones.

What to do now

Report the crash to the police right away and get a report number. Write down everything you remember about the other car and the direction it went while it is fresh, and check for nearby cameras. Get medical care and tell your own insurer promptly so PIP and, if needed, UM coverage open on time. If you were hurt or the claim is contested, talking with an attorney early protects the short deadlines above; you can start with our legal directory.

This is general information about New Jersey law, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 39:4-129 (Action in case of accident). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-39/section-39-4-129/

  2. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 39:4-130 (Immediate notice of accident; written report). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-39/section-39-4-130/

  3. New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, Point Schedule. https://www.nj.gov/mvc/license/points-schedule.htm

  4. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1.1 (Knowingly leaving scene of motor vehicle accident resulting in serious bodily injury). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2c/section-2c-12-1-1/

  5. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.1 (Knowingly leaving scene of motor vehicle accident resulting in death). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2c/section-2c-11-5-1/

  6. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4 (Personal injury protection coverage). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-39/section-39-6a-4/

  7. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 (Coverage for uninsured and underinsured motorists). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-17/section-17-28-1-1/

  8. New Jersey Courts, Model Civil Jury Charge 5.33, Limitation on Lawsuit Option (N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8). https://www.njcourts.gov/sites/default/files/charges/5.33.pdf

  9. New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage. https://www.nj.gov/dobi/autoplanner/frmuninsandundinschoice.htm

  10. New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund. https://nj.gov/dobi/division_insurance/ucjf/ucj11326.htm

  11. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 39:6-78 (Payment where identity of motor vehicle and driver cannot be ascertained). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-39/section-39-6-78/

  12. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 39:6-65 (Notice of intention to make claim). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-39/section-39-6-65/

  13. New Jersey Courts, Statute of Limitations FAQ (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2). https://www.njcourts.gov/faq/what-statute-of-limitations-claim-my-case

  14. New Jersey Revised Statutes, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1 (Six-year limitation). https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2a/section-2a-14-1/

About This Guide

Written by: ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial

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