Getting hit by a driver who takes off is one of the worst things that can happen on a Pennsylvania road. You are hurt, or your car is wrecked, and the one person responsible just disappeared. Pennsylvania law treats leaving the scene as a serious crime, and it gives you a way to get paid even if that driver is never caught.
Here is what the statutes actually say, and what to do next.
What the law requires every driver to do
Pennsylvania does not have a single statute called "hit-and-run." Four sections of the Vehicle Code spell out what a driver must do after a crash, and leaving before you finish those steps is the offense.
If anyone is hurt or killed, the driver has to stop right away, stay at the scene, and meet the duties in section 3744.1 Section 3744 is the checklist: give your name, address, and the vehicle's registration number, show your driver's license and proof of insurance if asked, and get reasonable help for anyone injured, including arranging a ride to a hospital when it is obvious someone needs treatment.2
If the crash only damaged another occupied car or someone's property, you still have to stop and hand over the same information under section 3743.3 Clip a parked car or a mailbox with no one around, and section 3745 requires you to find the owner or leave a written note with your name, address, insurance information, and registration, then tell the nearest police station.4 Driving off after any of these is the crime people call hit-and-run.
What leaving the scene costs
The penalty depends entirely on what got hurt.
Leave the scene of a crash that injured or killed someone and you face a first-degree misdemeanor at a minimum.5 If the victim suffered serious bodily injury, section 3742 raises the charge to a third-degree felony, with a mandatory minimum of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine that a judge cannot reduce or waive.5 If someone died, it becomes a second-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum of three years in prison and a $2,500 fine, and the court has no power to grant probation or a lighter sentence instead.5 "Serious bodily injury" here means an injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes permanent disfigurement or long-term loss of a body part or organ.5
Leaving after damaging an occupied vehicle or property is a third-degree misdemeanor under section 3743, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.3 The unattended-property version under section 3745 is a summary offense, with a fine of $300 or up to 90 days.4
On top of the criminal case, PennDOT takes your license. A conviction under section 3742 costs you your driving privilege for a full year. A section 3743 conviction costs six months.6
If you are the victim, start here
Call 911. After a hit-and-run in Pennsylvania, a police report is a legal requirement if you ever want to use your own insurance to recover from an unknown driver, a point I come back to below.7
While you wait, write down or photograph anything you noticed about the car that fled: a partial plate, the make, the color, the damage, the direction it went, the time. Photograph your own vehicle and the scene. Get names and numbers from anyone who saw it. Small details, like three digits of a plate, are often what lets police or your insurer identify the driver later.
Then get checked out, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and in Pennsylvania your own medical coverage pays no matter who caused the crash.
How you get paid when the driver is never found
This is where Pennsylvania's insurance rules matter most for hit-and-run victims, because the person who owes you may never be identified.
Every Pennsylvania auto policy includes first-party medical benefits, often called PIP, of at least $5,000. Those benefits pay your accident-related medical bills regardless of fault, so a fleeing driver does not stop your treatment from being covered.8 Your insurer has 30 days to pay a bill once it gets reasonable proof. Miss that window and the overdue amount collects 12% annual interest.9
For everything past medical bills, meaning lost wages and pain and suffering, the answer is usually uninsured motorist coverage. Pennsylvania folds a hit-and-run driver into the definition of an "uninsured motor vehicle." An unidentified vehicle that causes injury counts as uninsured, so you can bring a UM claim against your own policy, but only if two things are true: the accident was reported to police, and you notify your insurer within 30 days, or as soon as practicable, that you have a claim from the crash.7 That is why the police report and a prompt call to your carrier are not optional.
You have UM coverage unless you signed a form rejecting it. Insurers must offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with every policy, and a rejection only counts if it is a separate written waiver you actually signed. If your insurer cannot produce that signed rejection, your UM coverage defaults to the same limit as your bodily injury liability.10
One Pennsylvania wrinkle catches hit-and-run victims off guard. When you bought your policy, you chose "full tort" or "limited tort."11 Limited tort is cheaper but gives up most of your right to sue for pain and suffering. Exceptions restore full recovery, including when the at-fault driver was drunk, drove a vehicle registered in another state, or carried no insurance at all.11 The catch is that proving the fleeing driver fits one of those exceptions is hard when nobody knows who they are. If you carry limited tort, a hit-and-run often leaves you limited.
Deadlines you cannot miss
Pennsylvania gives you two years from the crash to file a lawsuit for your injuries, and two years for the damage to your vehicle.12 That clock runs whether or not the driver has been caught, so a UM claim against your own insurer is bound by it too. If you share some of the blame, Pennsylvania's modified comparative negligence rule still lets you recover as long as you were not more than 50% at fault, with your damages reduced by your share.13
If your car was repaired but is now worth less on paper because of its accident history, that lost value is a separate claim from the repair bill. Our Pennsylvania diminished value guide explains how that works. When you are ready to order the official record of your crash, our Pennsylvania crash report page walks through it.
A hit-and-run feels like the other side holds all the cards because they ran. Under Pennsylvania law, they do not. Your medical coverage pays now, your UM coverage stands in for the driver who fled, and the deadlines are the main thing between you and a full claim. If the injuries are serious or your insurer is slow to pay, find an attorney who handles these cases.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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75 Pa.C.S. § 3742, Accidents involving death or personal injury (duty to stop). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.037.042.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 3744, Duty to give information and render aid. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.037.044.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 3743, Accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.037.043.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 3745, Accidents involving damage to unattended vehicle or property. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.037.045.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 3742(b), Penalties (misdemeanor of the first degree; felony of the third degree with 90-day minimum and $1,000 fine for serious bodily injury; felony of the second degree with three-year minimum and $2,500 fine for death). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.037.042.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1532, Suspension of operating privilege (one year for a § 3742 conviction; six months for § 3743). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.015.032.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1702, Definitions (an unidentified motor vehicle causing injury is an "uninsured motor vehicle" if the accident is reported to police and the insurer is notified within 30 days or as soon as practicable). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.002.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1711, Required benefits ($5,000 minimum first-party medical benefit, paid regardless of fault). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.011.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1716, Payment of benefits (benefits overdue after 30 days draw 12% annual interest). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.016.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1731, Availability, scope and amount of coverage (UM/UIM must be offered; rejection requires a separate signed waiver). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.031.000..HTM
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75 Pa.C.S. § 1705, Election of tort options (full tort vs. limited tort; subsection (d) exceptions restoring full recovery). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.017.005.000..HTM
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42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, Two year limitation (personal injury and property damage). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.055.024.000..HTM
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42 Pa.C.S. § 7102, Comparative negligence (recovery barred only above 50% fault). https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.071.002.000..HTM