Hit and Run in California: What to Do When the Driver Who Hit You Flees

Most car accident claims start with a simple step: you go after the driver who caused the crash, and their insurance company pays. A hit and run takes that step away. The person responsible is gone, and unless someone finds them, there is nobody to send the bill to.

That doesn’t mean there’s no money. It means the money comes from somewhere else, usually your own insurance, and California attaches strict conditions to it. After a hit and run in California, whether you get paid tends to come down to three things: whether the other car actually touched you, whether you reported the crash fast enough, and what coverage you carry. The clock on the reporting starts the moment the other car drives away.

This is not a rare problem. A March 2026 study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that about 15 percent of police-reported crashes nationwide in 2023 involved a driver who fled, and roughly 1 in 4 pedestrians killed that year were hit by a driver who left the scene. In the City of Los Angeles, 98 people died in hit-and-run crashes in 2024, according to LAPD data reported by Crosstown.

What to do after a hit and run in California: the first hour

If you’re hurt, call 911 and stay where you are. Don’t chase the other car. It’s dangerous, and nothing you learn at 80 miles an hour is worth the risk.

While it’s fresh, write down or record a voice memo of everything you remember about the other vehicle: the license plate, even a partial one, the make, model, and color, any damage or distinctive features, and which direction it went. A plate number turns out to matter more than almost anything else, for reasons covered below.

Photograph your car, the scene, and anything the other vehicle left behind, like paint transfer, broken pieces of trim or headlight, and skid marks. Get names and phone numbers from anyone who stopped. Witnesses tend to drift away once the ambulance arrives, and a witness who saw the plate can be the difference between a claim that works and one that doesn’t.

Make sure a police report is made and write down the report number. Then get medical care the same day, even if you feel fine, because adrenaline hides injuries and gaps in treatment get used against you later. If you don’t have health insurance, there are still ways to get treated, which we explain in our guide to getting medical treatment after a car accident with no insurance.

One variation catches people off guard. Sometimes the other driver does stop, hands over a name and phone number, and it later turns out to be fake. That can become a hit and run too, but you may not realize it until the reporting window has closed. If a driver stops, photograph their driver’s license, insurance card, and license plate rather than relying on what they tell you.

Who pays when there’s no one to sue

In California, a driver who flees and is never identified is generally treated as an uninsured motorist. That makes the main source of recovery the uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your own auto policy, which can pay for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering, up to your policy limits.

California insurers must offer this coverage, and it’s part of your policy unless you rejected or reduced it in writing. Check your declarations page before assuming either way. If an adjuster tells you that you don’t have UM coverage, ask for a copy of the signed form where you turned it down. We cover how these claims work in more depth in our guide to being hit by an uninsured driver in California.

It is still a claim you have to prove. Your insurer pays what you would have been legally entitled to recover from the driver who fled, so the usual questions about fault and the extent of your injuries still apply. It’s also your own insurance company on the other side of the table, and it does not always act like it. On top of that, the law adds conditions that an ordinary car accident claim doesn’t have.

Rule one: the other car has to make contact

Under Insurance Code section 11580.2, when the other driver is unknown, uninsured motorist coverage applies only if your injuries arose out of physical contact between that vehicle and you or the car you were in. The rule is meant to prevent fraud, specifically claims that a mystery car caused a crash that was really the insured driver’s own mistake.

The contact doesn’t have to be direct. In Inter-Insurance Exchange v. Lopez (1965) 238 Cal.App.2d 441, an unidentified car struck a second car and threw it into the insured’s vehicle, and the court held that counted as physical contact. Chain-reaction crashes like that are common on freeways, and they generally qualify when there’s an unbroken chain of impacts leading back to the car that fled.

What usually doesn’t qualify is a near miss. If a car cuts you off and you swerve into a pole or off the road without it ever touching you, the physical contact requirement generally isn’t met, even if witnesses saw the whole thing. The statute has no exception for eyewitnesses. Cases involving debris or cargo thrown from the other vehicle are less settled and turn heavily on the facts.

That can feel unfair, and sometimes it is. But it is the rule, and it’s why a careful, accurate description of how the crash happened matters from the very first police report.

Rule two: 24 hours and 30 days

The same statute sets two reporting deadlines for hit and run claims, and they are far shorter than anything else in a typical injury case.

First, you or someone acting for you has to report the crash within 24 hours to the police department of the city where it happened or, in an unincorporated area, to the county sheriff or the local California Highway Patrol office. Second, within 30 days you have to file a statement under oath with your own insurance company, saying you have a claim against someone whose identity can’t be determined and laying out the facts.

The statute doesn’t spell out what happens if you’re a day late, and there’s no general excuse for missing these deadlines. Courts have shown some flexibility in unusual situations, like the fake-name scenario above, where the victim had no reason to know it was a hit and run until later (Beck v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. (1976) 54 Cal.App.3d 347). Don’t plan on being the exception. If you’re in the hospital, have a family member make the police report for you.

Reporting quickly helps in one more way that most people don’t expect: it can protect your insurance rates. Under California’s rating regulations, 10 CCR section 2632.13, you are not considered principally at fault when your car was damaged by contact with a hit-and-run driver and the accident was reported to the authorities within a reasonable time. It’s still worth asking your insurer how the claim will be classified.

Rule three: what your coverage actually pays

Several kinds of coverage can come into play after a hit and run, and each has its own catch.

Coverage	What it can cover after a hit and run	The catch
Uninsured motorist bodily injury	Medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering, up to your policy limits	Requires physical contact and the 24-hour and 30-day reports, and you still have to prove your damages
Medical payments (MedPay)	Medical bills, regardless of who was at fault	Optional coverage, and limits are often only a few thousand dollars
Collision	Repairs to your car	You pay the deductible
Uninsured motorist property damage	Repairs to your car, up to $3,500 or the car’s value, whichever is less	Applies only if the driver or the license plate is identified
Health insurance	Medical treatment	Your plan may seek reimbursement from any later recovery

Look at the property damage row again. Under Insurance Code section 11580.26, uninsured motorist property damage coverage pays only when the at-fault driver is identified or the vehicle is identified by its license plate, and the same requirement applies to waiving your collision deductible. Without a plate, your car is generally covered only by your own collision coverage, and you pay the deductible even though the crash wasn’t your fault. That is why a plate number, even one a witness caught, is worth so much.

Your coverage doesn’t stop at your car, either. California’s UM statute covers you, your spouse, and relatives who live with you whether you’re in a vehicle or not, which means you may be covered if you were hit as a pedestrian or on a bike. Other people are generally covered only while they’re in your insured vehicle. The exact terms depend on your policy, and if you don’t own a car, it’s worth checking whether a relative you live with has a policy that covers you. Pedestrians and cyclists are especially exposed to hit-and-run drivers, a problem we discuss in our guide to pedestrian accidents in California.

The two-year deadline that ends UM claims

Separate from the 24-hour and 30-day rules, section 11580.2(i) requires you to do one of three things within two years of the crash: file a lawsuit for your injuries against the uninsured driver, reach an agreement with your insurer on the amount owed, or formally demand arbitration in writing, sent by certified mail. If you and your insurer can’t agree on what the claim is worth, the dispute generally goes to arbitration rather than to a jury.

Negotiating with an adjuster, sending medical records, or waiting on an offer does not count. People lose claims this way, usually after months of back and forth that felt like progress. The statute does allow a court to excuse a missed deadline based on estoppel, waiver, impossibility, impracticality, or futility, but those are narrow, fact-specific arguments that you have to win. Treat two years as a hard stop.

If there’s any chance the driver will be identified, the ordinary two-year statute of limitations for personal injury, Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, matters too. Not knowing who hit you doesn’t pause that clock. A lawsuit can be filed against a “Doe” defendant and amended later to name the real driver, as long as you genuinely didn’t know who it was, but it still has to be filed on time. That lawsuit is a separate step from protecting your UM claim, so don’t assume that taking care of one takes care of the other. Our guide to the California statute of limitations for car accidents goes through these deadlines in detail.

Here are the deadlines in one place:

Deadline	What you have to do	Source
24 hours	Report the crash to police (city police, or the sheriff or CHP in unincorporated areas)	Ins. Code 11580.2(b)
30 days	File a sworn statement with your own insurer	Ins. Code 11580.2(b)
2 years	File suit, reach an agreement with your insurer, or demand arbitration by certified mail	Ins. Code 11580.2(i)
2 years	File a lawsuit against the driver, or against a Doe defendant if the driver is not yet known	CCP 335.1
7 years	Apply to the California Victim Compensation Board	CalVCB

If the driver is found

Sometimes police do find the driver, through a plate, a camera, a tip, or a damaged car that turns up later. When that happens, the case can shift back toward a normal claim against that driver and their insurer.

If the driver has insurance but less coverage than you carry, you may be able to make an underinsured motorist claim, though California subtracts what the other driver’s insurance paid from your own coverage limit. Be careful here. You generally have to collect the at-fault driver’s full policy limits before that coverage kicks in, and settling for less can jeopardize it. Talk to a lawyer before you sign any release.

The driver may also face criminal charges. Leaving the scene of a crash that injures someone is a crime under Vehicle Code section 20001, and it can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. When the crash causes death or permanent, serious injury, it carries up to four years in state prison, and the deadline to file charges can stretch to one year after the driver is identified, though never more than six years after the crash (Penal Code section 803(j)).

A criminal court can order restitution, but that’s not a replacement for a civil claim. Restitution generally covers economic losses like medical bills and lost wages, not pain and suffering, and collecting it depends on whether the defendant has the money to pay.

If the driver is never found

Many never are. Your UM coverage is still the main path, but there are two other resources worth knowing about.

The California Victim Compensation Board lists hit and run as a covered crime. The driver doesn’t have to be caught or convicted, but you do have to report the crime and cooperate with law enforcement. The Board can pay up to $70,000 toward expenses like medical care, mental health treatment, and lost income. It doesn’t cover property damage, and it pays only what insurance and other sources don’t, so it works as a backstop rather than a first stop. You generally have seven years from the crime to apply. For someone with little or no insurance of their own, it can matter a great deal.

In Los Angeles, the city also offers rewards of up to $50,000 for information that leads to a hit-and-run driver, with the largest amounts reserved for the most serious crashes. A reward can bring out a witness who would otherwise never come forward.

Evidence that disappears in days

When hit-and-run drivers are identified, it’s often because of a camera or a witness. Both disappear quickly.

• Business surveillance systems commonly record over themselves within days, and sometimes faster. Retention varies by system, so ask nearby businesses to save their footage the same day or the next.
• Doorbell and home security cameras on residential streets often catch plates. Knock on doors, or post in neighborhood groups asking for footage.
• Paint transfer and broken parts can help identify the make and color of the other vehicle. Photograph them before your car is towed or repaired.
• Don’t repair your car until it has been thoroughly photographed and your insurer has had a chance to inspect it.
• Keep the police report number and follow up with the investigating officer. Anything new you find should go to them.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do right after a hit and run in California?

Call 911, get medical attention, and record everything you can about the other vehicle, especially the license plate. Photograph the scene and your car, and get contact information from witnesses. Make sure the crash is reported to police within 24 hours, and file a sworn statement with your own insurer within 30 days.

Does uninsured motorist coverage cover a hit and run with no physical contact?

Generally no, if the driver is never identified. California requires physical contact between the unknown vehicle and you or your car. That contact can be indirect, as when the fleeing car hits another car that is pushed into yours. But swerving to avoid a car that never touches you generally doesn’t qualify, even with witnesses.

How long do I have to report a hit and run in California?

For an uninsured motorist claim, the crash must be reported to police within 24 hours and a sworn statement filed with your insurer within 30 days. Separately, within two years you have to file suit, reach an agreement with your insurer, or demand arbitration in writing.

Will a hit and run claim raise my insurance rates?

California’s rating regulations say you are not principally at fault when your car was damaged by contact with a hit-and-run driver and you reported the accident to the authorities within a reasonable time. That protection is one more reason to report quickly. Ask your insurer how your claim will be classified.

Who pays for my car if I didn’t get the license plate?

Usually your own collision coverage, minus your deductible. Uninsured motorist property damage coverage and collision deductible waivers apply only when the driver or the vehicle’s license plate is identified.

Am I covered if I was hit while walking or riding a bike?

Often, yes. California’s uninsured motorist statute covers the named insured, their spouse, and relatives living in the same household whether or not they were in a vehicle at the time. The details depend on your policy, so check it or have a lawyer review it.

Can I get money if the driver is never found?

Yes, potentially. Your own uninsured motorist coverage is the main source, and MedPay can help with medical bills. The California Victim Compensation Board can also cover certain expenses up to $70,000 even if the driver is never caught, as long as you reported the crime and cooperate with law enforcement.

Is a hit and run a felony in California?

It can be. Leaving the scene of a crash that injures someone can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. When someone is killed or permanently and seriously injured, the penalty can reach four years in state prison. A hit and run involving only property damage is a misdemeanor under Vehicle Code section 20002.

Get help before the deadlines run

The hardest part of a hit and run is that the rules deciding your claim kick in while you’re still dealing with the crash itself. The 24-hour and 30-day deadlines can pass before most people have even thought about calling a lawyer.

If you were hurt by a driver who fled in Los Angeles or anywhere in Southern California, Power Legal Group can help you meet those deadlines, deal with your own insurance company, and look for every available source of recovery. Contact us for a free consultation. Every case is different and nothing here guarantees a particular result, but acting early almost always leaves you with more options.