Hit-and-Run Accidents in Washington: What to Do and How Coverage Works

Hypothetical example: a driver is stopped at a light when another car rear-ends them and speeds away. The driver's neck hurts, and nobody got a plate number.

When the other driver leaves, the usual path of claiming against their insurance may not be available. This article explains what Washington law requires of drivers, how to report the crash, and how your own UIM coverage treats hit-and-run and phantom vehicles. It is general education, not advice about any one crash.

What the Law Requires of Every Driver

RCW 46.52.020(1) says a driver involved in an accident resulting in injury or death must immediately stop at or as close as possible to the scene. The driver must return to and remain at the scene until the duties in subsection (3) are fulfilled.

Subsection (3) requires the driver to give their name, address, insurance company, policy number, and vehicle license number, and to show their driver's license. The driver must also render reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including arranging transport for treatment when it is apparent that treatment is necessary or it is requested.

The statute adds that rendering assistance or otherwise complying is not evidence of liability for the accident. So stopping to help does not, by itself, admit fault.

Subsection (7) covers the case where no injured person is in condition to receive the information and no officer is present. Then the driver must, after doing what else they can, report the accident to the nearest police authority and give the same information.

Parked cars have their own rule. Under RCW 46.52.010(1), a driver who hits an unattended vehicle must stop and either locate and notify the owner or leave a written notice with their name and address in a conspicuous place in the vehicle.

Penalties for Leaving the Scene

Leaving is a crime under the statute, and the level depends on the harm. The table summarizes the penalty provisions.

Under RCW 46.52.020(6), the Department of Licensing must revoke the license of a person convicted of failing to stop and give information or render aid. A criminal case is separate from your civil claim for compensation, and you do not need a conviction to pursue a claim.

Reporting the Crash

RCW 46.52.030(1) requires a driver involved in an accident resulting in injury or death to make a written report within four days. The report goes to the city police if the crash was in a city or town, or to the county sheriff or State Patrol outside them.

That requirement does not apply if a law enforcement officer must make the report under subsection (3). In a hit-and-run, calling police right away also matters for coverage, as the next sections explain.

How UIM Covers Hit-and-Run and Phantom Vehicles

RCW 48.22.030(2) says a motor vehicle liability policy may not be issued for a vehicle registered or principally garaged in Washington unless it includes coverage for insured persons legally entitled to recover from owners or operators of "underinsured motor vehicles, hit-and-run motor vehicles, and phantom vehicles."

A named insured or spouse may reject that coverage in writing under subsection (4). Subsection (2) also carves out persons operating or occupying a motorcycle. Our PIP and UIM article explains UIM limits and how the coverages fit together.

The statute lists hit-and-run motor vehicles but does not separately define them. It does define a phantom vehicle in detail.

The Phantom Vehicle Rules

Under RCW 48.22.030(8), a "phantom vehicle" is a motor vehicle that causes bodily injury, death, or property damage to an insured and has no physical contact with the insured or the vehicle the insured is occupying. Two conditions must both be met.

First, the facts of the accident must be corroborated by competent evidence other than the testimony of the insured or anyone with a UIM claim from the accident. Second, the accident must have been reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency within seventy-two hours.

Hypothetical example: a car swerves into a driver's lane, the driver leaves the road to avoid it, and the other car never touches them. An independent witness's statement and a police report made the same day are the kinds of facts the definition looks for.

Subsection (7)(a) allows a policy to include a deductible of up to three hundred dollars for property damage caused by a hit-and-run driver or a phantom vehicle. Read your policy for its own notice and proof requirements, and our article on insurance claim handling rules explains how insurers must respond.

Evidence to Gather

Evidence identifies the driver if possible and corroborates what happened if not. Collect it early, because it disappears quickly.

• Photographs of the scene, vehicle damage, debris, paint transfer, and your injuries.
• Names and contact details for witnesses, and their own written or recorded accounts.
• Locations of nearby businesses or homes that may have cameras, noted the same day.
• Dashcam footage, phone data, and any partial plate number.
• The police report number, medical records, and repair estimates.

Our guide on what to do after a car accident in Washington covers more of the early steps. Pedestrians and cyclists struck by a fleeing driver can see our pedestrian and bicycle article.

Fault and Deadlines

Fault still matters even when the other driver fled. Under RCW 4.22.005, any contributory fault chargeable to the injured person reduces damages proportionately but does not bar recovery. Our comparative fault article explains how that works.

RCW 4.16.080(2) requires an action for injury to the person to be commenced within three years. That is the general rule, not a calculation for any one person, and your policy may set its own notice requirements.

To talk through a hit-and-run crash, visit our personal injury practice page or contact us. Nelson Allen Walk & Scott, PLLC is at 1103 Shaw Road, Puyallup, WA 98372, and the phone is (253) 845-8895.

Written by Nathan D. Sukhia, Of Counsel.