Hit and Run

The act of a motor vehicle driver leaving the scene of a traffic collision that has caused injury, death, or property damage without stopping to identify themselves, render aid, or exchange the legally required information with the other party or with police, an offense codified separately from the underlying collision itself in most jurisdictions specifically to deter a driver from fleeing to avoid liability, sobriety testing, or prosecution. Hit and run is documented by traffic-safety researchers as disproportionately involving a driver who is intoxicated, driving without a valid license, or driving an uninsured or stolen vehicle at the time of the collision, and a number of jurisdictions impose a substantially harsher penalty for a hit and run causing death or serious injury than for an equivalent collision in which the driver remained at the scene.