A hit and run in Nebraska is a criminal offense that starts as a Class II misdemeanor when only property is damaged and climbs to a Class III felony when someone suffers serious bodily injury or dies. Penalties include jail or prison, fines as high as $25,000, and license revocation lasting up to fifteen years. The law applies whether the crash happens on a highway, a private road, or a parking lot, and it applies regardless of who caused the collision.
What the Law Requires After a Crash
Any driver involved in an accident that damages another vehicle or property must stop at the scene, or as close to it as safely possible, and give the other driver or owner their name, address, phone number, and driver’s license number. If the property you hit is unattended, such as a parked car or a mailbox, you have to leave a written note with the same information in a visible spot and call the nearest police agency without unnecessary delay.1Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-696 – Motor Vehicle; Accident; Duty to Stop; Information to Furnish; Report; Powers of Peace Officer; Violation; Penalty A quick tap in a parking lot triggers the same duty as any other crash.
When someone is hurt or killed, the obligations expand. You must stop, identify yourself to the other people involved or to responding officers, show your license on request, and give your name, address, and vehicle registration number. You also have to provide reasonable assistance to anyone injured, which can mean calling 911, staying with the injured person until paramedics arrive, or driving them to a hospital if the situation is urgent enough and the person asks for help or clearly needs it.2Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-697 – Accident; Driver’s Duty; Penalty
Criminal Penalties by Severity
Nebraska tiers the charge to the harm caused.
Property Damage Only
Leaving the scene of a property-damage-only crash is a Class II misdemeanor. The maximum is six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.1Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-696 – Motor Vehicle; Accident; Duty to Stop; Information to Furnish; Report; Powers of Peace Officer; Violation; Penalty3Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 28-106 – Misdemeanors; Classification of Penalties A prior conviction under the same statute within the previous twelve years elevates the charge to a Class I misdemeanor, which carries up to one year in jail and the same $1,000 fine ceiling.
Injury Short of Serious Bodily Injury
Fleeing a crash that injures someone, without reaching the threshold of serious bodily injury, is a Class IIIA felony. The maximum sentence is three years in prison followed by eighteen months of post-release supervision, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.4Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-698 – Accident; Failure to Stop; Penalty5Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 28-105 – Felonies; Classification of Penalties
Serious Bodily Injury or Death
When a victim suffers serious bodily injury or dies, leaving the scene is a Class III felony. That carries up to four years in prison with two years of post-release supervision, a fine of up to $25,000, or both.4Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-698 – Accident; Failure to Stop; Penalty5Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 28-105 – Felonies; Classification of Penalties It is the heaviest sentence Nebraska imposes specifically for hit and run.
License Revocation and Reinstatement
For a property-damage-only hit and run, the court may revoke your license for up to one year, but the revocation is discretionary. The judge decides whether to impose it.1Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-696 – Motor Vehicle; Accident; Duty to Stop; Information to Furnish; Report; Powers of Peace Officer; Violation; Penalty
For an injury or fatal hit and run, revocation is mandatory. The court must order you not to drive for at least one year and can extend the ban up to fifteen years, with your license revoked for the same period.4Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-698 – Accident; Failure to Stop; Penalty The Department of Motor Vehicles also assesses six points against your driving record for leaving the scene, and twelve points within two years triggers an additional suspension on top of any court-ordered revocation.6Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Nebraska Point System
Reinstatement is not automatic once the revocation period ends. You have to pay a $125 reinstatement fee to the DMV before you can get a new license.7Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-694.01 – Reinstatement Fee
If You Are the Victim of a Hit and Run
What you do in the first few minutes shapes whether the driver is ever identified. Call 911 so a police report is created; your insurer will need it to open a claim. If you can do so safely, photograph the fleeing vehicle’s license plate, make, model, and color. If the car is already gone, photograph the damage to your own vehicle, skid marks, debris, and the surrounding area. Leave any physical evidence the other driver left behind, such as broken headlight plastic or paint transfer, undisturbed for the responding officers.
Get names and phone numbers from eyewitnesses before they leave. If a witness has to go before police arrive, ask them to write down a short description of what they saw. Look around for security cameras on nearby buildings; many businesses overwrite footage within days, so someone needs to ask quickly.
Insurance When the Driver Is Not Found
Every auto liability policy issued in Nebraska has to include uninsured motorist coverage with minimum limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury.8Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 44-6408 – Uninsured and Underinsured Motor Vehicle Insurance Coverages When a hit-and-run driver is never identified, that coverage on your own policy is usually the primary route to recovering medical costs and lost wages. Contact your insurer as soon as you have a police report number.
One boundary to know: the state-mandated uninsured motorist coverage applies to bodily injury, not property damage. Unless you carry collision coverage or added uninsured motorist property damage coverage separately, repairs to your vehicle come out of your own pocket when the other driver cannot be found. Checking your policy before you ever need it is the only way to know where the gap is.
Civil Lawsuits and the Four-Year Deadline
Criminal charges are only part of the exposure. A driver who leaves the scene also faces civil liability for the injuries and damage they left behind. Nebraska sets the statute of limitations for both personal-injury and property-damage lawsuits from a car accident at four years from the date of the crash.9Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 25-207 – Actions for Trespass, Conversion, Other Torts, and Frauds Miss that deadline and the court will almost certainly dismiss the case, no matter how strong the evidence.
For victims, the practical challenge is that you cannot sue a driver you cannot identify. The four-year window gives law enforcement and your attorney time to track down the responsible party through license plate fragments, surveillance footage, paint-transfer analysis, and witness statements. If the driver is identified after charges are filed, evidence developed in the criminal case can carry over into a civil suit.