Leaving the scene of a crash in New Jersey can cost you anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a decade in state prison, depending on whether anyone was hurt or killed. A hit and run in New Jersey is governed primarily by N.J.S.A. 39:4-129, which requires every driver who knows they were in an accident to stop, share their information, and help anyone who is injured. Fleeing on top of that triggers fines, jail or prison time, a license suspension, insurance points, and potential civil liability, all layered on whatever charges arise from the crash itself.
What the Law Requires You to Do
You must stop as close to the scene as possible without blocking traffic, then give your name, address, and vehicle registration to the other driver, any injured person, witnesses, and any responding officer. If someone is hurt, you must provide reasonable assistance, which usually means calling for emergency help or taking the injured person to a hospital when no ambulance is available.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 39:4-129 – Action in Case of Accident
Hit an unattended vehicle or property? Leave a visible written note with your contact information and notify police. Sideswiping an empty parked car and driving away counts as a hit and run the same as leaving a two-car crash.
N.J.S.A. 39:4-130 separately requires you to notify the nearest local, county, or state police by the fastest means available when anyone is injured or killed or property damage tops $500, and to file a written report with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission within 10 days.2Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 39:4-130 – Immediate Notice of Accident; Written Report If your own injuries prevent you from handling these steps, a passenger or the vehicle’s owner may do it for you. Giving false information in any accident report is its own offense under N.J.S.A. 2C:28-4.3Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:28-4 – False Reports to Law Enforcement Authorities
Penalties by Severity of the Crash
Property Damage Only
When no one is hurt, leaving the scene is a motor vehicle violation under N.J.S.A. 39:4-129(b). A first offense carries a fine of $200 to $400 and up to 30 days in jail. A subsequent offense raises the fine to $400 to $600 and 30 to 90 days in jail.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 39:4-129 – Action in Case of Accident
Injury
If someone is injured, penalties jump sharply. Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-129(a), a conviction brings a fine of $2,500 to $5,000 and up to 180 days in county jail.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 39:4-129 – Action in Case of Accident The offense sits in Title 39 rather than the criminal code, but the jail exposure and fines make it function much like a criminal charge, and a conviction can affect employment, housing, and professional licensing for years.
Prosecutors can stack additional charges if the underlying driving was reckless. Assault by auto under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(c), a fourth-degree crime, carries up to 18 months in prison and does not replace the hit-and-run charge.4Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:12-1 – Assault5Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:43-6 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Crime
Death
Leaving the scene of a fatal accident is a second-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.1. Second-degree crimes carry 5 to 10 years in state prison and fines up to $150,000.5Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:43-6 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Crime6Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:43-3 – Fines and Restitutions New Jersey applies a presumption of incarceration to second-degree convictions, meaning a judge must impose prison time unless the defendant can show that imprisonment would be a “serious injustice” outweighing the need for deterrence.7NJ Courts. Manual on NJ Sentencing Law First-time offenders rarely clear that bar.
If reckless driving contributed to the death, prosecutors can add vehicular homicide under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5. A leaving-the-scene conviction does not merge with vehicular homicide, and any prison sentence for leaving the scene must run consecutively with the homicide sentence.
License Suspension
Every hit-and-run conviction carries a Motor Vehicle Commission license suspension on top of any jail time or fine, set by N.J.S.A. 39:4-129.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 39:4-129 – Action in Case of Accident
- Property damage only, first offense: six-month suspension.
- Property damage only, subsequent offense: one-year suspension.
- Injury or death, first offense: one-year suspension.
- Injury or death, subsequent offense: permanent revocation.
New Jersey offers conditional or hardship licenses for some drug-related suspensions, but those generally aren’t available for a traffic suspension like a hit and run. During the suspension you cannot drive at all, even for work or medical needs.
Insurance and Points
A conviction also puts points on your driving record. The MVC assigns 8 points for leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and 2 points for a property-damage-only hit and run.8The State of New Jersey. NJ Points Schedule Eight points from a single violation sits at the top of the schedule and will almost certainly bring a surcharge, a rate increase, or both. Some insurers will drop coverage entirely.
New Jersey requires standard auto policies to include Personal Injury Protection, which normally pays your medical bills regardless of fault. But N.J.S.A. 39:6A-7 allows insurers to deny PIP benefits when injuries happen while the insured is committing a crime or fleeing to avoid arrest.9Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 39:6A-7 – Exclusion A driver charged with the second-degree offense under 2C:11-5.1 can find their own insurer refusing to cover their medical expenses from that crash. The exclusion is narrower for lower-level Title 39 violations that don’t rise to the level of a crime, but insurers still look for reasons to limit payouts.
Commercial Driver’s License Consequences
If you hold a CDL, federal regulations treat leaving the scene as a “major offense.” Under 49 CFR 383.51, a first conviction disqualifies you from operating a commercial vehicle for one year, or three years if hazardous materials were involved. A second qualifying major-offense conviction, in any vehicle, results in lifetime CDL disqualification. A state may reinstate a lifetime-disqualified driver after 10 years if the driver completes an approved rehabilitation program, but a third qualifying conviction after reinstatement makes the disqualification permanent.10eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers
If You Were Hit by a Driver Who Fled
You still have options for compensation even if the driver is never identified. Every standard New Jersey auto policy must include uninsured motorist coverage that specifically applies to hit-and-run vehicles. For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, the minimum UM limits are $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident for bodily injury.11Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 17:28-1.1 – Required Coverage; Uninsured, Underinsured, Hit and Run Motor Vehicle Many drivers carry higher limits. When the at-fault driver is never found, your UM coverage is typically the primary source of recovery for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering beyond what PIP pays.
If the driver is identified, a civil lawsuit can recover both economic damages (medical costs, lost income, rehabilitation, property repair) and non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of quality of life). Punitive damages are also available in New Jersey, but only on clear and convincing evidence that the driver acted with actual malice or wanton and willful disregard for the safety of others. Fleeing the scene can support that showing, though the court weighs the full circumstances.
Where the Case Is Heard and How Long Prosecutors Have
Property-damage-only violations under 39:4-129(b) are handled in municipal court, the same court that handles speeding tickets. You’ll get a summons and can pay the fine or contest the charge before a municipal judge.12NJ Courts. Municipal Court Self-Help
Hit-and-run charges involving injury also start in municipal court because they arise under Title 39, but the 180-day jail exposure means the case deserves the seriousness of a criminal defense. When prosecutors add criminal-code charges such as assault by auto or leaving the scene of a fatal accident, the case moves to Superior Court, where you may be arrested, required to post bail, and taken through discovery, motions, and possible trial. At trial the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you knew you were in an accident and chose to leave.
For indictable crimes under the criminal code, including leaving the scene of a fatal accident under 2C:11-5.1, prosecutors have five years to file charges.13Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:1-6 – Time Limitations Motor vehicle violations under Title 39 have shorter windows. The clock runs from the date of the accident, not the date the driver is identified, and investigations for serious crashes can stay open for years while surveillance footage, forensic evidence, or witness tips develop.