Hit-and-run laws and what to do in South Carolina

Getting hit by a driver who then speeds off leaves you with two problems at once: an injury or a wrecked car, and no one standing there to trade insurance information with. South Carolina treats leaving the scene as a serious crime, and the state also gives you a way to recover money even when that driver is never identified. Here is what the law actually requires and the steps that protect your claim.

What South Carolina requires every driver to do

Under S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1210, any driver in a crash that injures or kills someone must stop immediately at the scene, or as close to it as possible, and stay until they have met the duties in Section 56-5-1230.¹ Those duties are specific: give your name, address, and vehicle registration number, show your driver's license on request, and render reasonable assistance to anyone hurt, including arranging transport to a hospital if it is needed or asked for.²

If the crash only damaged another occupied vehicle, S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1220 imposes the same stop-and-exchange duty.³ Hit a parked, unattended car, and Section 56-5-1240 still requires you to find the owner or leave a written note in a visible spot with your name, address, and what happened.⁴ Driving off without doing these things is what turns a crash into a hit-and-run in South Carolina.

The criminal penalties for leaving

The punishment scales with how badly someone was hurt. When a person is injured but not seriously, leaving is a misdemeanor carrying 30 days to one year in jail, or a fine of $100 to $5,000, or both.¹

If the crash caused great bodily injury, leaving becomes a felony punishable by 30 days to 10 years in prison plus a $5,000 to $10,000 fine.¹ The statute defines great bodily injury as an injury that creates a substantial risk of death, or causes serious permanent disfigurement or lasting loss of the function of a body part or organ.¹

If someone died, the driver who left faces a felony with one to 25 years in prison and a fine of $10,000 to $25,000.¹ On top of any of these, the SCDMV must revoke the convicted driver's license.¹ Property-damage-only hit-and-runs are misdemeanors under Section 56-5-1220, with up to a year in jail and a $100 to $5,000 fine.³

Report the crash, and do it promptly

Call 911 from the scene. Beyond being the sensible move, South Carolina expects a crash that injures someone or does $1,000 or more in property damage to be reported. If law enforcement did not investigate it, the driver or owner has 15 days to send a written report to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles under S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1270.⁵ For a hit-and-run, a prompt police report does more than satisfy that rule. It creates the official record you will need to make an insurance claim, and, as explained below, it is a legal precondition to collecting from your own policy when the other driver vanishes.

Once an officer works the scene, you can order the collision report from the SCDMV for $10, online or with Form FR-50; online lookups reach back to crashes on or after March 22, 2012.⁶ For the full how-to, see our South Carolina crash report page.

Getting paid when the driver is never found

This is where South Carolina law matters most to a hit-and-run victim. Every auto policy issued in the state must include uninsured motorist coverage at least equal to the 25/50/25 minimum: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for injuries, and $25,000 for property damage.⁷⁸ A hit-and-run driver counts as uninsured for this purpose, so your own UM coverage is what pays.

But you cannot simply say a phantom car ran you off the road. S.C. Code Ann. 38-77-170 sets three conditions before you can recover UM benefits from an unknown driver.⁹ First, you, or someone acting for you, must report the accident to an appropriate police authority within a reasonable time.⁹ Second, you have to back up that an unknown vehicle caused it in one of three ways: physical contact between that vehicle and you or your car, an independent witness (someone other than you or your passengers) who signs an affidavit, or an electronic recording such as dashcam video showing the unknown vehicle caused the harm.⁹ Third, you cannot have been negligent in failing to determine the other driver's identity.⁹ That last point is practical: note the plate, the make, and the direction of travel, and look for cameras or witnesses before everyone leaves.

South Carolina insurers must also offer underinsured motorist coverage up to your liability limits, though you are allowed to reject it in writing.¹⁰ UIM will not help against a completely unidentified driver, but it matters when a hit-and-run driver is later caught and turns out to carry only the bare minimum.

Deadlines and fault on the civil side

Criminal charges against the driver are the state's business. Your compensation comes through a civil claim, and the clock is running. South Carolina gives you three years from the date of injury to sue, and the same three years from the date of damage for a property claim, both under S.C. Code Ann. 15-3-530.¹¹ The deadline pauses while an injured person is a minor or under a legal disability.¹¹

South Carolina follows a modified comparative negligence rule from Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co.: you can recover as long as you are not more than 50 percent at fault, and your award is reduced by your share.¹² In a hit-and-run you are usually the blameless party, but insurers still probe fault, which is another reason the police report and any witness statements carry weight.

The state puts no cap on the compensatory damages you can recover in an ordinary crash case, so medical bills, lost wages, and pain are recoverable in full. South Carolina is an at-fault (tort) state,¹³ and it does not require personal injury protection under S.C. Code Ann. 38-77-144, so there is no no-fault deadline to worry about.¹⁴ If your car lost market value even after a solid repair, that is a separate diminished value claim, and our South Carolina diminished value page covers how to pursue it.

A short checklist for the scene

• Get to safety, call 911, and ask for medical help if anyone is hurt.
• Write down or photograph anything about the fleeing car: plate, color, make, damage, direction of travel.
• Find witnesses and get their names and numbers before they leave.
• Take photos of your vehicle, the road, and your injuries, then order the collision report and tell your own insurer about a possible UM claim.

If the driver is caught, or you are fighting your own insurer over a UM claim, an attorney who handles South Carolina crash cases can help, and you can find one through our legal directory.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1210 (duty to stop for injury or death accidents; penalties; license revocation), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php

2. S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1230 (duty to give information and render aid), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php

3. S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1220 (accident resulting in damage to an attended vehicle), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php

4. S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1240 (accident with an unattended vehicle), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php

5. S.C. Code Ann. 56-5-1270 (written accident report to the SCDMV), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php

6. South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Collision Reports, https://www.dmv.sc.gov/Vehicle-Owners/Collision-Reports

7. S.C. Code Ann. 38-77-150 (mandatory uninsured motorist coverage), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php

8. S.C. Code Ann. 38-77-140 (minimum liability limits), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php

9. S.C. Code Ann. 38-77-170 (conditions to recover under uninsured motorist coverage when the driver is unknown), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php

10. S.C. Code Ann. 38-77-160 (underinsured motorist coverage offer and written rejection), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php

11. S.C. Code Ann. 15-3-530 (three-year statute of limitations for personal injury and property damage), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c003.php

12. Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243, 399 S.E.2d 783 (S.C. 1991), https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1265650/nelson-v-concrete-supply-company/

13. South Carolina Department of Insurance, Auto Insurance FAQ, https://online.doi.sc.gov/Eng/Public/faqs/autofaq.aspx

14. S.C. Code Ann. 38-77-144 (no personal injury protection required), https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c077.php