Quick answer: A Montgomery County hit and run lawyer can help because leaving the scene of any accident is a crime in Maryland, even a minor one. Under Md. Code, Transp. § 20-103, a property-damage hit and run is a misdemeanor carrying up to 2 months in jail and a $500 fine; under § 20-102, leaving an injury crash is a misdemeanor up to 1 year and $3,000, and a serious-injury or fatal crash can be a felony with up to 5 or 10 years in prison. Most of these cases turn on whether the driver even knew a collision happened, and a lawyer can often get the charge reduced or resolved with probation before judgment.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic cases, including hit and run charges in the Montgomery County District and Circuit Courts in Rockville.
What Counts as a Hit and Run in Montgomery County?
Maryland calls it “leaving the scene of an accident,” and the offense isn’t the collision itself, it’s what you do afterward. Skip the duties the law puts on you after a crash and a fender-bender becomes a criminal charge — even if the other driver was at fault, and even if all that happened was a scraped bumper in a Rockville parking lot.
Under Md. Code, Transp. § 20-104, after any accident involving injury, death, or damage to an attended vehicle or property, a driver has to:
- Stop at once, as close to the scene as it is safe to get
- Give their name, address, and vehicle registration number, and show a driver’s license on request
- Render reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including arranging a ride to medical care when it’s needed
- If no one is there to receive that information, report the accident to the nearest police authority
The duties that create criminal exposure are stopping, identifying yourself, and helping the injured — not, contrary to a common belief, handing over insurance details, though exchanging those is still smart. Damage to an attended car or property falls under § 20-103; a crash that injures or kills someone is governed by the tougher § 20-102. A separate rule covers clipping an unattended, parked car, where you have to leave a note if you can’t track down the owner. For the full statewide picture, our Maryland hit and run lawyer hub ties these together.
What Are the Penalties for Leaving the Scene in Maryland?
The penalty depends entirely on what the accident caused. A parking-lot scrape and a crash that seriously hurts someone are charged under different statutes and sit worlds apart. Here’s the ladder from the code:
| Accident outcome | Statute | Classification | Maximum penalty | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage to attended vehicle/property | § 20-103 | Misdemeanor | 2 months jail + $500 fine | 8 |
| Bodily injury | § 20-102(a) | Misdemeanor | 1 year jail + $3,000 fine | 12 |
| Serious bodily injury (knew or should have known) | § 20-102 | Felony | 5 years + $5,000 fine | 12 |
| Death (knew or should have known) | § 20-102 | Felony | 10 years + $10,000 fine | 12 |
The felony tiers kick in when the driver knew, or reasonably should have known, that the crash might cause serious injury or death and it actually did. “Serious bodily injury” has a specific statutory meaning: an injury that creates a substantial risk of death, or serious permanent or protracted disfigurement or loss of function. On points, failing to stop after a property-damage crash adds 8, and after an injury or fatal crash 12 under § 16-402 — enough for the MVA to move toward suspending or revoking your license. See how points add up in Maryland’s point system in a nutshell.
The line between a minor charge and a serious one is where these cases are won or lost — our breakdown of Maryland hit and run: property damage vs. injury digs into that split.
“It was minor, so leaving was no big deal.” It was. In Maryland the crime is leaving the scene, not the size of the dent. Every injury, serious-injury, and fatal hit and run is a must-appear charge with no prepay option, so if anyone was hurt, that’s a court date, not a mailed-in fine. Even a property-damage citation that looks payable is a trap: paying it is a guilty plea that becomes a conviction and forecloses probation before judgment. Requesting the court date keeps every option open.
How a Montgomery County Hit and Run Lawyer Defends the Charge
Hit and run cases are usually built on assumptions — a damaged car, a plate a witness half-remembered, or a driver who “came in to explain” and talked their way into a charge. The State still has to prove you were the driver, that you knew a reportable accident happened, and that you failed a specific legal duty, and each of those is a place to push back. The defenses I lean on most often are:
- You didn’t know a crash occurred. This is the big one. Knowledge is an element of the offense, so a low-speed bump or an unnoticed clip in Beltway traffic can genuinely leave a driver unaware. If you didn’t know, you didn’t knowingly leave.
- You complied, or tried to. Drivers who stopped, exchanged information, or waited while the other party drove off first aren’t guilty of leaving the scene, even when they’re the one who ends up charged.
- Identity. A plate number is not proof of who was behind the wheel. Grainy video, a guessed description, or a car several people in a household drive can leave real doubt about the driver.
- A weak investigation. Statements taken without counsel, damage patterns that don’t line up, and inconsistent witness accounts all get tested before a judge.
- No injury, or no serious injury. On the § 20-102 tiers, challenging whether an injury was truly “serious,” or whether the driver should have known it might be, can knock a felony down to a misdemeanor.
If Montgomery County police call and ask you to “come in and tell your side,” decline to give a statement until you’ve spoken with a lawyer. That call is part of the investigation, and helpful-sounding answers are how the State fills the gaps in its case. I also defend the charges that often ride along with a hit and run, including reckless driving in Montgomery County, DUI, and driving on a suspended license.
Can I Get Probation Before Judgment for a Hit and Run?
Often, yes, especially on the lesser tiers. Probation before judgment under Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 6-220 lets a judge withhold a conviction and place you on probation instead; finish it and there’s no conviction, no points, and no criminal record for the offense. Hit and run isn’t subject to the DUI-style bar on PBJ, so it’s a genuine option, though the felony serious-injury and fatal tiers are much harder to resolve that way.
That matters in a county where many drivers hold federal jobs or security clearances, and a criminal conviction can trigger a background review that a PBJ or dismissal avoids. The other common goals are a reduction — from an injury charge down to a property-damage count — or a dismissal where the State can’t prove knowledge or identity. Early restitution and a clean record give a judge real reasons to go easy. Our guide to what happens after a hit and run charge in Maryland walks through the process, and because a conviction can raise premiums, our page on insurance and hit and run is worth reading early.
Where Are Montgomery County Hit and Run Cases Heard?
Hit and run charges from across Montgomery County are handled in Rockville, the county seat. Misdemeanor leaving-the-scene cases start in the District Court, while felony serious-injury and fatal cases, and any case where you pray a jury trial, move to the Circuit Court. We represent drivers throughout the county, from Rockville and Silver Spring to Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Wheaton, and Takoma Park.
Many of these crashes happen on the county’s busiest routes: I-270 through Gaithersburg and Rockville, the I-495 Capital Beltway, US-29 toward Silver Spring, and MD-355 (Rockville Pike). Whether it’s a merge on 270 or a bump in a Bethesda garage, the legal duty to stop is the same. For any traffic matter beyond hit and run, start with our Montgomery County traffic lawyer page, and if you’re weighing whether to just pay a citation, read payable vs. must-appear tickets in Maryland first.
Yes. In Maryland the crime is leaving the scene, not the amount of damage. Even a low-speed or parking-lot crash that damages an attended vehicle is a misdemeanor under Transp. 20-103, carrying up to 2 months in jail, a $500 fine, and 8 points. You have to stop, identify yourself, and render aid no matter how minor it looks.
It can be. A property-damage or bodily-injury hit and run is a misdemeanor, but under Transp. 20-102 leaving the scene of a crash that causes serious bodily injury or death is a felony when the driver knew or reasonably should have known serious harm might result. Those tiers carry up to 5 or 10 years in prison and fines up to $5,000 or $10,000.
It can. Montgomery County has many drivers who hold federal jobs or security clearances, and a criminal conviction can prompt a background review or reporting obligation. That is a major reason to avoid a conviction where possible. Probation before judgment under Crim. Proc. 6-220 results in no conviction, and a lawyer may also be able to get the charge reduced or dismissed, which keeps the incident off your criminal record.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Transp. §§ 20-102, 20-103, 20-104, 16-402; Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 6-220. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.