How Texas Charges Leaving the Scene
Failure to Stop and Render Aid (Transportation Code §§550.021–550.024) scales with the harm: an accident involving death is a second-degree felony (2–20 years); serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony (2–10 years); any injury, up to 5 years; damage to an occupied vehicle, a misdemeanor scaling with damage amounts; and striking an unattended vehicle or fixture without leaving your information, a Class B or C misdemeanor. The duty is to stop, return, provide information, and render reasonable aid.
The Legislature deliberately matched FSRA-death penalties to intoxication manslaughter to close the “flee and sober up” incentive — which is why prosecutors treat every serious hit-and-run as a hidden DWI. But the State must prove the driver knew a collision occurred and knew it involved a person: night crashes, glancing contact, debris strikes, and single-thump impacts leave genuine doubt about knowledge, and panic after the fact is not the same as criminal intent at the moment.
It's worth naming the property-damage-only version of this charge specifically: when the collision involves an occupied vehicle or other property but no injury, Texas charges it as Failure to Stop and Give Information (FSGI) under Transportation Code §550.023, a separate, lesser statute from FSRA — not a reduced version of the same charge. FSGI still requires providing name, address, registration, and (if requested) a driver's license to the other party or investigating officer, and it still scales from a Class C to Class B misdemeanor based on the dollar amount of property damage. Understanding which statute actually applies — FSRA for any injury, FSGI for property damage alone — changes both the exposure and the defense from the outset.
The State must prove you knew you hit something — and for felony FSRA, that injury was reasonably apparent. No knowledge, no crime. This is the core of most defenses.
Returning to the scene, calling in later, or cooperating once aware changes both the legal posture and the negotiation dramatically. How the next 48 hours are handled matters enormously.
Plate readers and paint transfer identify cars, not drivers. Who was behind the wheel is a real element the State must prove — especially in household-vehicle cases.
Hit-and-run detectives call 'just to hear your side.' Every statement fills the knowledge gap in their case. All contact should run through counsel — without exception.
FSRA and DWI — The Dangerous Combination
When a suspected drunk driver leaves a scene, charges stack: DWI (or intoxication assault/manslaughter) plus FSRA, each with its own range. Prosecutors also use flight as consciousness-of-guilt evidence. The defense sequence matters: statements are the State’s shortcut to proving knowledge and identity, so silence plus counsel is the foundation; then the physics (visibility, impact severity, vehicle damage pattern) is developed to contest knowledge; then, where responsibility is clear, structured cooperation and restitution reshape outcomes. Related reading: leaving the scene of a DWI accident, failure to render aid in DWI cases, and how Texas raised hit-and-run sentences.
This page covers Failure to Stop and Render Aid as a general charge — a driver involved in an accident who leaves, with or without any intoxication allegation at all. A sober driver who panics after a fender-bender and drives away faces the same FSRA/FSGI penalty tiers described above. When the driver was also allegedly intoxicated and specifically fled to avoid a DWI investigation, that fact pattern is handled on the dedicated leaving the scene of a DWI accident page, which addresses the consciousness-of-guilt argument prosecutors raise in that specific combination. FSRA is also distinct from evading arrest — evading is fleeing a police officer's lawful order to stop, while FSRA is failing to stop after causing a collision; the two statutes address different conduct and are sometimes, but not always, charged from the same incident.
Hit & Run / FSRA Questions
Knowledge at the time is the element — discovering damage the next morning is evidence you did NOT knowingly flee. What you do next matters: contact counsel before making any report or statement, so the situation is presented accurately without creating a case against you.
Do not call the detective yourself. That conversation has one purpose: getting you to admit driving and knowledge. Retain counsel and let the attorney make contact — it preserves every option and often results in charges never being filed.
Any injury: up to 5 years. Serious bodily injury: third-degree felony, 2–10 years. Death: second-degree felony, 2–20 years — deliberately equal to intoxication manslaughter. Property-only cases are misdemeanors based on damage amounts.
Yes — on knowledge (you didn't know a collision or injury occurred), identity (the State can't prove who drove), or compliance (you did stop and exchange information, or returned within a reasonable time). Early defense work, before charging decisions, produces the best dismissal odds.
The civil claim and criminal case run separately. Restitution arranged through the defense can resolve the damage and materially improve the criminal outcome — but insurance statements are discoverable, so coordinate everything through counsel.
Leaving your name, address, and vehicle information satisfies the statute for an unattended vehicle — that is compliance, not a crime. Problems arise when the note is missing, blows away, or lacks required information; photo-document everything you leave.
Related Pages
Leaving the Scene (DWI), Intoxication Assault, Intoxication Manslaughter, Evading Arrest, Criminal Defense Overview