Hit-and-run laws and what to do in North Dakota

Someone hit your car and drove off. Maybe you were stopped at a light in Fargo, or you walked back to a dented bumper in a Bismarck parking lot and the other driver was already gone. North Dakota winters make the vanishing act easier, and a fleeing driver counts on the snow and the empty county road to cover the exit.¹

This is what the law actually says in North Dakota, with the statute numbers, so you know both your rights and the other driver's exposure.

What the law requires every driver to do

North Dakota splits the duty to stop by how serious the crash was.

If anyone is hurt or killed, the driver has to stop right away, or come back and stop as close to the scene as possible, and stay there until the requirements of section 39-08-06 are met.² Those requirements are specific: give your name, address, and the name of your auto insurance carrier, show your license if asked, and give reasonable help to anyone injured, including arranging a ride to a doctor or hospital when it's clearly needed.³

When a crash only damages vehicles, the driver still has to stop and stay until those same information duties are done.⁴ Leaving before that is its own offense.

Parked cars are covered too. Hit an unattended vehicle and you have to track down the owner or leave a written note in a conspicuous spot with your name, address, insurance carrier, and a short account of what happened.⁵ Driving away from a parked car you dinged is a class A misdemeanor in North Dakota, a heavier charge than leaving a crash where the other driver was standing right there.⁵⁶

There's also a reporting duty. North Dakota requires immediate notice to law enforcement when a crash causes injury, death, or property damage of at least $4,000.⁷ Inside city limits you notify the local police; everywhere else it's the county sheriff or the state highway patrol. Failing to give that notice is a $50 fine by itself.⁷

What leaving actually costs

The penalty depends on the harm. Failing to stop after a crash that injured someone is a class A misdemeanor, which carries up to 360 days in jail and a $3,000 fine.²⁶ If a driver negligently fails to stop and the crash caused serious injury, it becomes a class C felony, up to five years and $10,000.²⁶ If someone was killed, it's a class B felony, up to ten years and a $20,000 fine.²⁶ A property-damage-only hit-and-run sits at the bottom as a class B misdemeanor, up to 30 days and $1,500.⁴⁶

A conviction under the injury-or-death statute also costs the driver their license, which the state revokes on top of any sentence.²

Why this matters to you: a driver looking at felony exposure has a real reason to stay gone, and the criminal case moves on its own track, separate from your claim for the damage.

Your first moves as the victim

Report it to the police, even for a parking-lot scrape. The $4,000 threshold is the driver's reporting duty, but a police report is what starts the paper trail you'll rely on later.⁷ Write down whatever you caught: a partial plate, the color and make, the direction they went, the time.

One North Dakota rule deserves your attention right at the scene. If the driver is never identified, whether you can use your own uninsured-motorist coverage can turn on a witness. North Dakota's definition of an uninsured motor vehicle includes a hit-and-run car with an unknown driver only when the vehicle physically made contact with you or your car, or the crash is independently verified by a disinterested witness.⁸ A bystander who saw the whole thing matters here. In a no-contact case, that person can be the difference between a covered claim and a denied one.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation sells the official crash report for $7 once it's on file, and you can order it with the date, your last name, and the county.⁹ Our North Dakota crash report page covers how to pull yours.

Getting paid when the other driver is gone

North Dakota is a no-fault state, and after a hit-and-run that helps you. Your own policy carries basic no-fault benefits, usually called PIP, that pay your medical bills and part of your lost wages up to $30,000 per person, no matter who caused the crash or whether the other driver is ever found.¹⁰ Your insurer has to pay within 30 days of getting reasonable proof of the loss.¹⁰

Every North Dakota auto policy also has to include uninsured-motorist coverage at limits at least equal to the 25/50 liability minimum.¹¹¹² A hit-and-run driver counts as uninsured, so UM is often the money that covers what PIP doesn't, as long as you clear the contact-or-witness rule above.⁸

No-fault also limits when you can sue for pain and suffering. You need a "serious" injury, which North Dakota defines as death, dismemberment, permanent disfigurement, disability lasting more than 60 days, or medical expenses over $2,500.¹⁰ Clear that bar and, if the driver is later identified, you can bring a full injury claim against them. If that driver was drunk, punitive damages are easier to reach: North Dakota lets a jury weigh them on a lower showing when the driver's blood alcohol was .08 or higher, the driver was impaired by drugs, or the driver refused a chemical test.¹³

Your car itself can be worth less after a serious repair, even a good one. Our North Dakota diminished value page explains that claim.

Deadlines and the fault rule

You have six years from the crash to file a personal-injury lawsuit in North Dakota, and six years for vehicle and property damage.¹⁴ A wrongful-death claim is shorter, at two years.¹⁵ Six years is a long runway, but memories fade and a disinterested witness gets harder to find, so it isn't a reason to sit on it.

North Dakota follows modified comparative fault. You can recover as long as your share of the blame stays below the combined fault of everyone else; at 50% or more you recover nothing, and any award is reduced by your percentage.¹⁶ In most hit-and-run cases the fleeing driver owns the fault, but expect the insurer to test whether any of it belongs to you.

Getting help

A single hit-and-run can pull in your PIP carrier, your UM coverage, and, if the driver surfaces, their insurer too. When the injuries are real or an insurer is dragging its feet, a North Dakota attorney can line those claims up in the right order. You can find one through our legal directory.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCICS), North Dakota State Climate Summary. https://statesummaries.ncics.org/chapter/nd/

2. N.D.C.C. § 39-08-04 (accidents involving death or personal injuries, penalty). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c08.pdf

3. N.D.C.C. § 39-08-06 (duty to give information and render aid). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c08.pdf

4. N.D.C.C. § 39-08-05 (crashes involving damage to vehicle, penalty). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c08.pdf

5. N.D.C.C. § 39-08-07 (duty upon striking unattended vehicle, penalty). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c08.pdf

6. N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-01 (classification of offenses, penalties). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t12-1c32.pdf

7. N.D.C.C. § 39-08-09 (immediate notice of accident, penalty). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c08.pdf

8. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-40-15.1 (definition of uninsured motor vehicle, hit-and-run physical contact or disinterested witness). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c40.pdf

9. North Dakota Department of Transportation, Purchase a Crash Report ($7 fee). https://www.dot.nd.gov/travel-and-safety/safety/purchase-crash-report

10. N.D.C.C. ch. 26.1-41 (Auto Accident Reparations Act, basic no-fault benefits and tort threshold). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c41.pdf

11. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-40-15.2 (uninsured motorist coverage required). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c40.pdf

12. N.D.C.C. § 39-16.1-11 (minimum liability limits, 25/50/25). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c16-1.pdf

13. N.D.C.C. § 32-03.2-11 (exemplary damages, lower threshold for impaired drivers). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c03-2.pdf

14. N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16 (six-year limitation for personal injury and property damage). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf

15. N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18 (two-year limitation for wrongful death). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf

16. N.D.C.C. § 32-03.2-02 (modified comparative fault). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c03-2.pdf