VTL 600: Leaving the Scene of an Accident in New York

VTL 600 splits into two very different offenses depending on one fact: whether anyone was hurt. Property damage alone is a traffic infraction. Personal injury starts at a misdemeanor and climbs to a felony. Around 220 leaving-the-scene cases a year run through Nassau and Suffolk County District Court. If you have been charged, call Hochhauser Criminal & DWI Defense at 516-939-1529.

VTL 600 penalties

Note what that table means in practice. A parking lot scrape is an infraction. If the other driver later reports a soft tissue injury, the same conduct becomes a criminal charge — and the driver who left had no way of knowing which one it would be.

What VTL 600 actually requires you to do

The statute imposes a specific duty on any operator who knows or has cause to know that damage has been caused. You must stop, exhibit your license and insurance identification card, and give your name, residence including street and number, insurance carrier and insurance identification information, and license number to the party who sustained the damage.

If that party is not present — the parked, unattended car — you must report the incident as soon as physically able to the nearest police station or judicial officer. Leaving a note is not what the statute asks for, though it helps enormously with the knowledge question and with how a prosecutor views the case.

Knowledge is the defense

The phrase “knows or has cause to know” is doing all the work, and it is the most winnable element in the ordinary case. Low-speed contact in a crowded lot, a sideswipe on a noisy road, a mirror clipped in traffic — drivers genuinely do not always perceive contact, and the People have to prove you did.

On the injury side the same element applies twice over: you must have known or had cause to know that a personal injury occurred. Where the other driver walked away, declined treatment at the scene, and reported pain the following day, that element is squarely in issue — and defeating it drops the case a full tier or out of the criminal statute entirely.

Other defenses

• Substantial compliance. Information was actually exchanged, or you stopped and waited before leaving.
• You were not the operator. Registration is not proof of who was driving.
• No personal injury occurred, which moves the case from VTL 600(2) to VTL 600(1).
• The reporting duty was satisfied — you did contact police as soon as you were able.
• Identification, particularly in cases built on a partial plate or a witness description.

Where leaving the scene cases are heard

We handle these across Nassau County and Suffolk County. Where the stop also produced an impaired driving charge, see our DWI defense practice.

VTL 600 frequently asked questions

Is leaving the scene a crime in New York?

Only if personal injury was involved. Property damage alone under VTL 600(1)(a) is a traffic infraction carrying 3 points, not a crime.

I did not know I hit anything.

Then the People cannot prove an element. The statute reaches drivers who know or have cause to know of the damage, and that is contested in a large share of parking lot and sideswipe cases.

I left a note. Is that enough?

It is not exactly what the statute requires, which is a report to police when the other party is not present. But it is strong evidence that you were not trying to avoid responsibility, and it changes the conversation with a prosecutor substantially.

The other driver says they are hurt now.

That converts an infraction into a criminal charge, so the injury claim itself becomes a fact worth examining — medical records, the mechanism of the collision, and what was reported at the scene.

Speak with a Long Island traffic and criminal defense lawyer

Richard Hochhauser handles leaving the scene cases in Nassau and Suffolk County District Court at every level, from the parking lot infraction to the felony. These cases turn on what a driver actually perceived, and that is a question worth answering with evidence rather than assumption.

This page provides general information about VTL 600 in New York and is not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Contacting our firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.