Hit and Run Bail Bonds

“Hit and run” covers two separate California statutes, and the difference decides everything about the bail. The offence is leaving the scene without fulfilling the statutory duties — stopping, identifying yourself and exchanging information. It is not about who caused the collision.

The two sections

The practical trigger between them is whether anyone was hurt. That is also why people misjudge these cases: a driver who genuinely did not realise someone was injured is still looking at the more serious section.

What families get wrong

• Fault is not the offence. You can be entirely not at fault for the collision and still be charged for leaving.
• “I went back later” is not a defence in itself, though it matters.
• A parked car counts. Leaving a note is part of the statutory duty, not a courtesy.
• The DMV runs separately from the criminal case, on its own timetable.

Where it overlaps with other charges

A hit and run with injury very often arrives alongside a DUI causing injury under Vehicle Code § 23153, and the DUI charge is usually the one driving the bail figure. Where the driver is alleged to have fled from police as well, an evading charge can attach — see evading police.

How the bail figure is built

Where a felony section has no individual entry in the Orange County schedule, the county prices it from the state prison top term using its guideline table — $20,000 at a three-year top term, rising through $55,000 at ten years to $100,000 at sixteen, with all life-term offences at $1,000,000. That is why two people booked the same night on similar-sounding charges are quoted very different numbers. See the Orange County bail schedule explained and how California bail schedules work.

Two multipliers apply across the board: one documented strike prior enhances bail to $100,000 and two to $200,000, and in Orange County felony bails do not stack count by count — the highest single felony amount plus enhancement governs.

In Los Angeles County, read the protocol column before assuming a bond is needed at all — LA County bail amount lookup. Serious and violent felonies are excluded from the county’s $0 pre-arraignment release.

What to do first

1. Get the exact section and subdivision as booked, not a description of what happened.
2. Ask whether any enhancement is attached, and whether there are strike priors on the record.
3. Check for warrants and holds before anyone pays — how to check for a warrant.
4. Ask whether § 1270.1 applies, because it decides whether a reduction is even possible tonight.

Questions we get asked most

Is hit and run a felony in California?

It depends on the section. Vehicle Code 20002, property damage only, is a misdemeanour. Vehicle Code 20001, where injury or death is involved, is a wobbler and is frequently filed as a felony.

What if the collision was not my fault?

Fault for the collision is a separate question. The offence is failing to stop and fulfil the statutory duties before leaving.

Does hitting a parked car count?

Yes. Leaving identifying information is part of the statutory duty.

Does the DMV get involved?

The DMV process runs separately from the criminal case and on its own timetable. Ask a defence lawyer about it early.

Related resources

All bail services · Felony bail · Orange County bail schedule · How bail schedules work · Bail reduction hearings · Can bail be denied? · Find an inmate