Hit-and-run

If you stayed and the other driver did not

Tell the dispatcher where you are, whether anyone is hurt, and any description you are sure about. Guessing a plate is worse than saying you did not see one. Inside the City of Houston, HPD’s phone directory lists a Hit and Run unit at (713) 247-4065 for follow-up. That number is not a substitute for 911 while the scene is still unsafe. Outside the city, use the agency on the Who to call page. Do not call Houston Police for a crash in another city’s limits and expect them to write the report.

Exchange nothing you do not have. If the other driver is gone, you cannot complete a two-driver exchange. Give the responding officer what you know. Later, ask how to get the report using the crash-reports page. TDI’s hit-and-run article says liability insurance does not repair your own car. It says collision coverage or uninsured/underinsured motorist property-damage coverage is what can pay for those repairs after a hit-and-run, if the policy includes it, and that UM/UIM often carries a lower deductible than collision and may include a rental. “Can pay” is TDI’s description of the coverage. It is not a decision on your claim. Read your declarations page and call your insurer. TDI’s Help Line is 800-252-3439 on weekdays.

What Chapter 550 requires of a driver who is involved

Section 550.021 requires a driver involved in a collision that results, or is reasonably likely to result, in injury or death to stop, return if needed, determine whether a person needs aid, and remain until the driver has complied with § 550.023. Section 550.022 requires a stop and the same information exchange when the crash results only in damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended. Section 550.024 requires a stop and notice when the car that was hit was unattended. Section 550.025 requires notice when the only damage is to a structure, fixture, or highway landscaping.

The statute makes failing to stop an offense. For injury or death, § 550.021 sets a second-degree felony if a person dies, and a third-degree felony if the injury is serious bodily injury as the statute’s cross-reference to Penal Code § 1.07 uses that term. This guide does not restate the Penal Code definition. For other injury, § 550.021 states a punishment of imprisonment for not more than five years or confinement in county jail for not more than one year, a fine not to exceed $5,000, or both. For attended-vehicle damage, § 550.022 sets a Class C misdemeanor under $200 of damage to all vehicles and a Class B misdemeanor at $200 or more. Unattended vehicles and highway fixtures use the same $200 line in §§ 550.024 and 550.025. These are the classifications written in the statute. They are not a statement of what a prosecutor will do, what a defense might be, or what will happen to a particular driver.

Insurance is a separate question from the criminal statute

Whether your policy pays does not decide whether someone committed an offense, and an offense classification does not decide whether a coverage applies. Give your insurer the facts you know, including that the other driver left. Keep your photos in your own files.