Hit-and-run laws and what to do in West Virginia

Getting hit by a driver who then speeds off leaves you with two problems at once: an injury or a wrecked car, and nobody standing there to trade information with. West Virginia treats leaving the scene as a serious offense, and the state also gives you a way to recover money even when the other driver is never found. Here is what the law actually says.

What West Virginia requires you to do at the scene

Every driver in a crash has to stop. Under West Virginia Code §17C-4-1, a driver involved in a crash that injures or kills someone must immediately stop at the scene, or as close to it as possible, and stay there until meeting the state's information and aid requirements.¹ The same duty covers crashes that only damage a vehicle or other property: §17C-4-2 tells you to stop and remain at the scene without blocking traffic more than necessary.²

Stopping is not the end of it. Section 17C-4-3 lists what you have to hand over: your name, a working phone number, the year, make, model, and last four digits of the vehicle identification number, plus proof of insurance including the insurer's name, contact information, and policy number.³ If someone is hurt, the same section requires you to render reasonable assistance, which can mean carrying the injured person, or arranging to carry them, to a doctor or hospital when treatment looks necessary or the person asks for it.³

There is also a reporting duty. When a crash causes injury, death, or property damage that appears to reach $1,000 or more, the driver has to give immediate notice by the quickest available means to local police inside a municipality, or to the sheriff or nearest State Police office outside one.⁴

Criminal penalties for leaving

West Virginia scales the punishment for a hit-and-run to how badly someone was hurt.

If the crash caused bodily injury and the driver left, it is a misdemeanor: a fine up to $1,000, up to a year in jail, or both.¹ If the crash caused serious bodily injury, it becomes a felony carrying a fine up to $2,500 and one to three years in a state correctional facility.¹ The statute defines serious bodily injury rather than leaving it to argument. It means an injury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes serious or prolonged disfigurement, prolonged impairment of health, prolonged loss or impairment of a bodily organ, loss of pregnancy, or illness or death from a preterm delivery.¹ If someone dies within a year of the crash, leaving the scene is a felony punishable by a fine up to $5,000 and one to five years in prison.¹ The state has to prove the driver knew, or had reason to believe, that another person was injured.¹

Leaving a property-damage-only crash is lighter but still a crime. It is a misdemeanor under §17C-4-2, penalized through the general traffic-penalty statute, §17C-18-1, which sets a first-offense fine of up to $100 or up to ten days in jail, rising to $200 or twenty days for a second conviction within a year, and $500 or up to six months for a third.²⁵

A hit-and-run also costs the driver a license. Section 17C-4-1 directs the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles to revoke a convicted driver's license for one year, measured from the date of conviction or release from incarceration, whichever comes later.¹ Failing to stop and render aid after an injury or fatal crash is one of the offenses that triggers mandatory revocation under §17B-3-5, so it is not left to discretion.⁶

If a hit-and-run driver hit you

Move fast, because West Virginia law ties your ability to recover to two deadlines.

Report the crash to police first. When the at-fault driver is unknown, §33-6-31 requires that you, or someone on your behalf, report the accident to a police, peace, or judicial officer within 24 hours of discovering it, if you are physically able.⁷ Then tell your own insurer. The same statute requires notice to your insurance company within 60 days that you have a claim against a person whose identity is unknown.⁷ Blow past those windows and the insurer has a reason to deny.

Uninsured motorist coverage is what pays in a hit-and-run when the driver is never identified. Every auto policy written in West Virginia has to include UM coverage at least at the state minimum of 25/50/25, which is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage.⁷⁸ A hit-and-run driver counts as "uninsured" under the statute, and you can sue the unknown driver directly as "John Doe" in the county where the crash happened.⁷

One West Virginia wrinkle matters here. To collect from your UM coverage for an unidentified vehicle, §33-6-31 requires actual physical contact between that vehicle and you or your car.⁷ A "phantom" driver who runs you off the road but never touches your vehicle generally will not support a UM claim under the statute's plain terms, which is one more reason to get the police report on file within 24 hours even when you are shaken up.

Your civil claim and the deadlines that control it

A hit-and-run does not change how long you have to sue, but the clock still runs. West Virginia gives you two years from the crash date to file a personal-injury lawsuit under §55-2-12, and the same two-year limit covers property damage.⁹ A discovery rule can delay when that clock starts if the injury was not reasonably discoverable at first, though it is not something to bank on.

The state follows modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar: you can recover only if you are 50% or less at fault, and your damages fall by your share of the blame.¹⁰ In a hit-and-run that is rarely the sticking point, since fleeing the scene tends to point at the other driver. There is no cap on ordinary compensatory damages in a car-crash case. Punitive damages, if a jury awards them, are capped at the greater of $500,000 or four times the compensatory award under §55-7-29.¹¹

If your car is worth less on the market even after a clean repair, that is a separate diminished value claim, and West Virginia's rules on it live on our West Virginia diminished value page.

What to do next

Get the official crash report, which the West Virginia State Police Traffic Records Section handles for state-investigated wrecks; you can start that from our West Virginia crash report page.¹² Photograph the damage and the scene, write down what you remember while it is fresh, keep every medical and repair bill, and get checked out even if you feel fine. If your injuries are significant or an insurer is slow-walking a UM claim, you can find a lawyer who handles these cases through our legal directory.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. West Virginia Code §17C-4-1, leaving the scene of a crash involving death or personal injury. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-4-1/

2. West Virginia Code §17C-4-2, leaving the scene of a crash involving damage to a vehicle. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-4-2/

3. West Virginia Code §17C-4-3, duty to give information and render aid. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-4-3/

4. West Virginia Code §17C-4-6, immediate notice of a crash and the $1,000 property-damage threshold. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-4-6/

5. West Virginia Code §17C-18-1, general penalty for misdemeanor traffic violations. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-18-1/

6. West Virginia Code §17B-3-5, mandatory license revocation for failure to stop and render aid. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17B-3-5/

7. West Virginia Code §33-6-31, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, John Doe claims, and the 24-hour and 60-day requirements. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/33-6-31/

8. West Virginia Code §17D-4-2, minimum motor vehicle liability limits (25/50/25). https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17D-4-2/

9. West Virginia Code §55-2-12, two-year limitation for personal injury and property damage. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-2-12/

10. West Virginia Code §55-7-13a, modified comparative fault. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-7-13A/

11. West Virginia Code §55-7-29, cap on punitive damages. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-7-29/

12. West Virginia State Police, Traffic Safety and Traffic Records Section. https://www.wvsp.gov/departments/trafficsafety/Pages/default.aspx