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

The other driver hit you and drove off. You're standing at the side of a road in Washington with a damaged car, maybe an injury, and no plate number to hand your insurer. That's one of the more frustrating ways a crash can go, and Washington's rules for it are specific. Here's what state law actually says, both about the driver who left and about how you get paid when they're never found.

What Washington law requires a driver to do

Under RCW 46.52.020, any driver in a crash that injures or kills someone has to stop right at the scene, or as close as they safely can, and stay there.¹ While there, the driver has to give their name, address, insurance company, insurance policy number, and vehicle license number, show their driver's license, and give reasonable help to anyone who's hurt.¹ Leaving before doing those things is the "hit and run" the statute punishes.

Property-only crashes have their own rules. If the car that's struck is attended, meaning someone's with it, the same information-exchange duty applies under RCW 46.52.020.¹ If you hit an unattended car or damage property along the road (a fence, or a parked car with no one around), RCW 46.52.010 says you have to stop and either find the owner to give them your name and address or leave a written note with that information in a visible spot.²

The penalties depend on how bad the crash was

Washington grades hit-and-run by the harm caused, and the gap between the tiers is large.

If someone died and the driver fled, that's a class B felony under RCW 46.52.020(4)(a).¹ A class B felony carries up to ten years in prison and a fine up to twenty thousand dollars.³

If someone was injured, leaving is a class C felony under RCW 46.52.020(4)(b),¹ punishable by up to five years in prison and a ten-thousand-dollar fine.³ Think about what that means. A minor crash you could have cleared with a two-minute exchange of insurance cards turns into a felony the moment you drive away from an injured person.

Striking the body of someone who has already died and then leaving is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 46.52.020(4)(c).¹ Fleeing a crash that only damaged an attended vehicle or property is also a gross misdemeanor, under RCW 46.52.020(5),¹ which means up to 364 days in jail and a fine up to five thousand dollars.³ The lowest tier, leaving an unattended-vehicle or property crash under RCW 46.52.010, is a plain misdemeanor: up to 90 days and a thousand-dollar fine.²³

A conviction reaches the driver's license too. RCW 46.52.020(6) directs the Department of Licensing to revoke the license of anyone convicted of fleeing.¹ For a hit and run of an occupied vehicle, DOL sets that revocation at one year, requires an SR-22 (proof of financial responsibility) on file for three years, and charges a $75 reissue fee before a new license is granted.⁴

If you're the one who got hit

The person who left may never be identified. That doesn't leave you without a way to recover, and the coverage that matters most here is usually your own.

Washington is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused the crash is the one on the hook for your losses.⁵ When that driver runs, your uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage steps into their place. RCW 48.22.030 requires the UM/UIM coverage on every auto policy to protect you against "hit-and-run motor vehicles" alongside underinsured ones.⁶ A driver who fled and can't be found is treated as uninsured, so you bring the claim through your own insurer.

There's a Washington wrinkle worth knowing. If the other car never physically touched you, say it ran you off the road and kept going, state law calls it a "phantom vehicle," and the bar is higher. RCW 48.22.030 covers a phantom vehicle only if the facts are corroborated by competent evidence other than your own testimony (a witness, physical evidence at the scene) and the crash is reported to law enforcement within 72 hours.⁶ A crash with actual contact doesn't carry those two extra conditions, but reporting within 72 hours is smart either way.

UM/UIM isn't coverage the state forces you to buy. Insurers have to offer it on every new and renewed policy, and you or your spouse can reject it in writing under RCW 48.22.030.⁶ If you never signed a rejection, you very likely have it. Personal injury protection (PIP) follows the same offer-and-reject pattern under RCW 48.22.085,⁷ and if you kept it, PIP pays your medical bills quickly no matter who was at fault, which helps a lot when the at-fault driver has vanished. Washington's minimum liability limits are 25/50/10, meaning $25,000 per person, $50,000 per crash, and $10,000 in property damage, under RCW 46.29.090,⁸ though those only come into play if the driver is found and carried insurance.

What to do in the first hours and days

Call police from the scene and get a report started. Beyond being the sensible move, it's tied to your money: the 72-hour police-report window in RCW 48.22.030 is a hard condition for a no-contact phantom-vehicle claim,⁶ and a prompt report gives your insurer the corroboration a UM claim needs.

Washington also puts a reporting duty on drivers themselves. Under RCW 46.52.030, when a crash causes injury, death, or property damage at or above the threshold the State Patrol sets, a driver has to file a written report with police within four days.⁹ That threshold is $1,000 in property damage under WAC 446-85-010.¹⁰ The officer's collision report is a separate document; when you need the official crash report later, thatcarhitme.com's Washington crash report page covers getting a copy.

Write down what you remember while it's fresh: partial plate, color, make, direction of travel, the time, and anything a witness saw. Get medical attention even if you feel fine, both for your health and because a same-day record ties the injury to the crash. If your car is worth less now because its history shows a collision, that lost value can be its own claim; the Washington diminished value guide explains how that one works.

Watch the clock. In Washington you have three years to file a lawsuit for a personal injury or for damage to your property, counted from the date of the crash, under RCW 4.16.080(2).¹¹ That deadline covers a UM/UIM dispute with your own insurer too, so don't let a stalled claim slide past it. If you're deciding whether to pursue one, you can find a Washington attorney to review the facts.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Washington State Legislature, RCW 46.52.020, duty in case of personal injury, death, or damage to an attended vehicle or other property, and penalties. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.52.020

2. Washington State Legislature, RCW 46.52.010, duty on striking an unattended car or other property, and penalty. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.52.010

3. Washington State Legislature, RCW 9A.20.021, maximum sentences by classification. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.20.021

4. Washington State Department of Licensing, Hit and run (of an occupied vehicle). https://dol.wa.gov/driver-licenses-and-permits/suspended-license/types-driver-license-suspensions/hit-and-run-occupied-vehicle

5. Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, How auto insurance works. https://www.insurance.wa.gov/insurance-resources/auto-insurance/how-auto-insurance-works/learn-how-auto-insurance-works

6. Washington State Legislature, RCW 48.22.030, underinsured, hit-and-run, and phantom vehicle coverage. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.22.030

7. Washington State Legislature, RCW 48.22.085, personal injury protection coverage, offer and written rejection. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.22.085

8. Washington State Legislature, RCW 46.29.090, minimum motor vehicle liability amounts. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.29.090

9. Washington State Legislature, RCW 46.52.030, accident reports. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.52.030

10. Washington State Legislature, WAC 446-85-010, accident-reporting threshold. https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=446-85-010

11. Washington State Legislature, RCW 4.16.080(2), three-year limitation for injury to person or property. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.080