Hit and Run in New York: What to Do If Someone Hits Your Parked Car or Flees

You return to a caved-in door and no note. Or a car clips you on the Cross Bronx and accelerates away. In both cases the surveillance footage that could identify the driver has a shelf life measured in days — and if you were hurt, a 90-day clock may already be running.

Quick Answer

Photograph everything before moving your car, then report to the police and get a report number. In New York, leaving the scene of a property-damage accident is a traffic infraction under VTL § 600(1) — up to $250, up to 15 days in jail, and three points. Leaving after a personal injury is a crime under VTL § 600(2), escalating to a felony with serious physical injury or death. If the driver is never found, your mandatory uninsured motorist (UM) coverage typically pays. File MV-104 within 10 days if damage exceeds $1,000, and NF-2 within 30 days if anyone was injured.

📝 Record the scene now — the footage expires in days →

The Emergency Timeline

0–10 minutes: Before you touch anything

• Do not move your vehicle. Its position relative to the parking lines tells an insurer how the impact happened.
• Photograph: damage close and wide; your car's position; the adjacent spaces; paint transfer (a different colour on your panel identifies the striking vehicle); debris on the ground; any dislodged trim or plastic that is not yours.
• Look up. Photograph every camera you can see — storefronts, parking structures, doorbell cameras, DOT traffic cameras. Note their positions.
• Look for a note. Windshield, ground beneath it, and the far side of the car. Notes blow away.
• Ask. The bodega next door, the parking attendant, the person loading groceries two spaces over. Get a name and a phone number, not a promise.

10 minutes – 24 hours: Reporting and preservation

• Report to the police. In New York City, minor property-damage collisions are frequently filed at a precinct rather than by a dispatched unit. Get the report or incident number — most UM claims require it, and MVAIC claims certainly do.
• Send written preservation requests. Email or hand-deliver a letter to every business whose camera might have captured it. Name the date, time, camera location, and ask them to preserve the footage. Many systems overwrite within 7 to 30 days. A verbal request to a shift employee will not survive a shift change.
• Notify your insurer. Reporting is not the same as filing a claim.
• Write your recollection, dated today.

24–72 hours: Building the claim

• Follow up on footage in person, in writing, with the report number.
• Get a repair estimate. You need it to know whether the $1,000 MV-104 threshold is crossed.
• Ask the body shop about paint transfer analysis — it can often identify the make and colour of the striking vehicle.
• File Form MV-104 within 10 days if damage exceeds $1,000 or anyone was injured (VTL § 605).
• If anyone was injured, file the NF-2 with the appropriate no-fault insurer within 30 days.

📝 NowAccident timestamps every photo and note →

What does New York law require of the driver who hit you?

Property damage only — VTL § 600(1)

A driver who knows or has cause to know that another's property was damaged must stop and provide their name, residence address, insurance carrier, insurance identification information including policy number and effective dates, and licence number — exhibiting the licence and insurance card.

If the owner is not present — a parked car, a fence, a mailbox — the driver must report to the nearest police station or leave a written notice in a conspicuous place on the damaged property.

Failing to do so is a traffic infraction: a fine of up to $250, up to 15 days in jail, or both, plus a mandatory surcharge and three points on the DMV record. A CDL holder faces a one-year CDL suspension even where no injury occurred.

It is non-criminal. It is not minor. Many town courts calendar these cases on the criminal calendar, and the driver may also be liable for the cost of repair.

Personal injury — VTL § 600(2)

The statute builds an escalating ladder. The tier depends on what the driver failed to do, how serious the injury was, and whether there is a prior conviction:

• Merely failing to exhibit licence/insurance or exchange information → class B misdemeanor
• Failing to stop or report at all → class A misdemeanor
• A repeat violation, or one involving serious physical injury → felony classification
• Where death resulted, the highest tier applies

A conviction under VTL § 600(2) triggers mandatory licence revocation.

Statutory fine ranges have been amended and are reported inconsistently across secondary sources. Do not rely on any figure — including ours — in a real case. Read the current text of VTL § 600 on the New York State Senate site.

Two things people misunderstand

• Fault is irrelevant. The duty attaches to involvement, not blame. A driver who was rear-ended and drove off can be charged.
• Knowledge is an element. The prosecution must prove the driver "knew or had cause to know" that damage or injury occurred. That is the foundation of most defenses — and the reason a genuinely imperceptible contact is different from a scrape the driver felt.

Who pays if the driver is never identified?

New York gives victims a better answer than most states, because uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory here.

1. Your no-fault (PIP) benefits. If you were injured while occupying a covered vehicle, PIP pays your medical bills and 80% of wages (up to $2,000/month) regardless of whether the other driver was ever found. File the NF-2 within 30 days.

2. Your UM coverage. A hit-and-run driver is treated as an uninsured motorist. Every New York policy carries at least $25,000 / $50,000 in UM bodily injury coverage. This is where pain and suffering comes from — subject to the § 5102(d) serious injury threshold.

The catch: hit-and-run claims typically require prompt police reporting and independent corroboration that another vehicle caused the damage. This is exactly why the report number and the witness's phone number matter so much.

3. Collision coverage. Pays for your vehicle's damage regardless of fault, subject to your deductible. This is what most parking-lot hit-and-run victims actually use. Some carriers reduce or waive the deductible for a documented hit and run — ask.

4. MVAIC. If you have no auto policy and no household policy covering you — most commonly a pedestrian or cyclist — the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation may be your only route. A Notice of Intention to Make Claim must generally be filed within 90 days of the accident. Missing it can permanently bar recovery.

Does a hit-and-run claim raise your premium?

A not-at-fault claim should not be surcharged as an at-fault accident. New York law also prohibits insurers from raising premiums solely because a policyholder filed a no-fault claim for an accident they did not cause. Whether a collision claim affects a claims-free discount is a carrier-by-carrier question worth asking before you file. Weigh the deductible against the estimate.

What if a note was left, but the details are wrong?

A note with a name and a disconnected phone number is not a defense for the driver — but it changes the practical situation. Give it to the police, photograph it, preserve the original. Handwriting and registered-owner records can be traced.

What if you got a partial plate?

Report it. New York police can trace vehicles through DMV records using partial plate data combined with make, model, and colour, and VTL § 600 applies to any driver on New York roads regardless of where the licence was issued. A partial plate plus a colour plus a make is often enough.

Note that VTL § 601 permits an officer to arrest without a warrant for a violation of § 600 committed outside the officer's presence, where there is reasonable cause.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is hitting a parked car and leaving a crime in New York? Leaving after a property-damage-only accident is a traffic infraction, not a crime, under VTL § 600(1) — but it carries up to $250, up to 15 days in jail, and three points. You must leave a written notice in a conspicuous place if the owner is absent, and report to the nearest police station.

Will the police investigate a parking lot hit and run? Many agencies take a report but do not actively investigate a low-damage, no-injury property crime. Your best route to identification is surveillance footage and witnesses — both of which you must secure yourself, quickly.

Does insurance cover a hit and run in New York? Typically yes: PIP for injuries, mandatory UM coverage for bodily injury caused by an unidentified driver, and collision coverage for the vehicle subject to a deductible.

Do I file an MV-104 if I was the victim? Yes, if anyone was injured or property damage exceeded $1,000. The obligation attaches to involvement, not fault.

I was hit as a pedestrian by a driver who fled. What now? Report to police immediately. If no auto policy in your household covers you, MVAIC may be your route — and the Notice of Intention deadline is generally 90 days.

What should I do if I hit a parked car? Stop. Try to find the owner. If you cannot, leave a written notice in a conspicuous place with your name, address, and insurance information, and report to the nearest police station. That is the difference between an insurance claim and a summons.

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Sources

• New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 600, 601, 603, 603-a, 605
• New York Insurance Law §§ 5102, 5104; Article 52 (MVAIC)
• 11 NYCRR § 65-1.1
• 15 NYCRR § 131.3 (DMV point schedule)
• New York State Department of Financial Services — Minimum Auto Insurance Requirements

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about New York law as of the last updated date. It is not legal advice, not insurance advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. VTL § 600 penalty tiers and fine ranges have been amended and are reported inconsistently by secondary sources; verify the current statutory text before relying on any figure. MVAIC eligibility and notice deadlines should be confirmed with MVAIC directly. Coverage depends entirely on your policy language. If you have been accused of leaving the scene of an accident, consult a licensed New York criminal defense attorney before making any statement.