Leaving the Scene of an Accident in Florida: Penalties and Lawsuits

The penalties for leaving the scene of an accident in Florida run from a second-degree misdemeanor when only property was damaged to a first-degree felony when someone dies. The charge, and everything that flows from it, tracks the harm caused: jail or prison time, thousands in fines, six points on your license, likely revocation, sharply higher insurance costs, and civil exposure on top.

Criminal Penalties by Severity of the Crash

Florida sorts hit-and-run offenses into four tiers. Which one applies depends entirely on what happened to the other people and property involved.

Property Damage Only

If nobody was hurt and the crash caused only damage to a vehicle or other property, leaving is a second-degree misdemeanor.¹²³ The court can also order restitution to the owner of whatever you damaged.

Hitting an unattended vehicle, fence, mailbox, or similar property and driving off falls under the same misdemeanor classification if you don’t leave your information or notify police.⁴

Non-Serious Bodily Injury

Once anyone is injured, the case becomes a felony. If the injury doesn’t rise to “serious bodily injury,” leaving is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in state prison and a fine up to $5,000.⁵³

Serious Bodily Injury

Serious bodily injury means an injury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes serious disfigurement, or produces long-term loss of function of a body part or organ. Leaving that scene is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.⁵²

Death

When someone dies, the offense is a first-degree felony with a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A judge cannot go below a four-year mandatory minimum, no matter the circumstances. That same four-year floor applies if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time.⁵²

What Prosecutors Have to Prove

All three felony tiers require the state to show the driver “willfully” failed to stop. That word does real work. Prosecutors have to establish that you knew a crash occurred and left anyway. A driver who genuinely didn’t realize a collision happened, such as someone who clipped a cyclist at night without feeling the impact, has a potential defense, because you cannot willfully leave a scene you don’t know exists.⁵

The property-damage misdemeanor statute contains no such requirement. Simply failing to stop and exchange information is enough for a conviction.¹

Points and License Revocation

Criminal court and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles run on separate tracks, and the DHSMV imposes its own penalties on top of anything a judge orders.

A conviction for leaving the scene of a crash involving more than $50 in property damage adds six points to your driving record. That is the highest single-offense point assessment Florida issues. Twelve points in 12 months brings a 30-day suspension; 18 points in 18 months brings a three-month suspension.⁶

Felony hit-and-run convictions involving injury or death can trigger extended license revocation under Florida’s licensing statutes. Anyone designated a habitual traffic offender faces a minimum five-year revocation.⁷

Insurance Fallout

A hit-and-run conviction is one of the most damaging entries an insurer can see on a driving record. Premiums often rise sharply, and some drivers see their rates triple or quadruple. Carriers may cancel the policy or refuse to renew, pushing you into the high-risk market with fewer choices and higher costs.

Florida may also require an SR-22 filing after a serious driving conviction. That’s a certificate your insurer sends to the state confirming you carry the minimum required liability coverage. SR-22 status typically comes with higher premiums, because the filing itself flags you as high-risk. The requirement generally lasts three years, and any lapse in coverage during that window can trigger an immediate license suspension.

Civil Lawsuits and Punitive Damages

A criminal case and a civil suit are separate proceedings, and leaving the scene can expose you to both. The injured person, or the family of someone killed, can sue for compensatory damages covering medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses tied to the crash.

Fleeing can also open the door to punitive damages. Florida courts award those only when a defendant acted with intentional misconduct or gross negligence, and a driver who knowingly left an injured person without calling for help or offering assistance fits that standard more readily than a driver who stayed. Punitive damages are designed to punish rather than compensate, and they can significantly increase the final judgment.

One boundary worth keeping in mind: fleeing does not automatically prove you caused the underlying crash. Fault for the collision and the decision to leave are separate legal questions. As a practical matter, though, jurors tend not to look kindly on a driver who left an injured person behind, and that tends to color the whole trial.

How Long Prosecutors Have to File Charges

The window depends on the offense level. A fatal hit-and-run has no statute of limitations, because Florida allows prosecution at any time for felonies resulting in death. Second-degree and third-degree felony hit-and-run charges must be filed within three years of the crash.⁸

So if you caused serious bodily injury and left, prosecutors have three years to bring charges. If someone died, the clock never stops.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 316.061 – Crashes Involving Damage to Vehicle or Property
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties and Applicability of Sentencing Structures
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
4
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 316.063 – Duty Upon Damaging Unattended Vehicle or Other Property
5
Justia Law. Florida Code 316.027 – Crash Involving Death or Personal Injuries
6
Florida DHSMV. Points and Point Suspensions
7
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 322.27 – Authority of Department to Suspend or Revoke License
8
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 775.15 – Time Limitations