Hit and Run Lawyer in Greensboro, NC
Charges often arrive days after the crash, not at the scene. If you have been contacted by an investigator and nothing has been filed yet, that gap is the most useful time in the whole case, and it closes.
What has happened?
Tell us roughly when the crash was, whether anyone was hurt, and whether anyone has contacted you.
Sending this form does not make us your lawyer yet.
Do not call the investigating officer to explain. The offense turns on what you knew or reasonably should have known at the time. A call intended to clear things up is the State's evidence on exactly that element.
Do not have the car repaired yet. Repairing it before anyone has looked at it is read as concealment, and it destroys evidence that may help you about speed, angle and contact.
Call before you are charged. Charges in these cases frequently come days later, after footage and witnesses are gathered. What happens in that window is the part a lawyer most affects.
Felony or misdemeanor
G.S. 20-166 is not a single offense. It is a ladder, and where you sit on it depends on what the crash caused.
| What the crash caused | Statute | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Serious bodily injury or death, and the driver willfully failed to stop | 20-166(a) | Class F felony |
| Injury, and the driver willfully failed to stop | 20-166(a1) | Class H felony |
| Property damage only | 20-166(b) | Class 1 misdemeanor |
| Failing to render reasonable assistance to an injured person | G.S. 20-166 | Class 1 misdemeanor |
| Failing to report the crash to the DMV within five days where a report is required | G.S. 20-166 | Class 1 misdemeanor |
Note what sits at the bottom. Leaving a parking lot after scraping a parked car is a Class 1 misdemeanor, not a felony. People conflate the whole statute with its worst tier and conclude their situation is hopeless when it is not.
And note the last two rows. You can stop, exchange details, and still be charged for failing to render reasonable assistance or failing to make the DMV report. Those are separate Class 1 misdemeanors.
What the law actually requires you to do
The statute requires a driver who knows or reasonably should know the vehicle was in a crash to stop immediately at the scene, remain there, and give the required information. Where there is injury it also requires reasonable assistance, which the statute says includes calling for medical help if it is apparent that help is needed or if the injured person asks for it.
There is a narrow allowance for leaving to seek assistance or to remove yourself or others from significant risk of injury, and if you leave for one of those reasons you must return to the scene with the vehicle within a reasonable period of time, unless a law enforcement officer instructs otherwise. That return requirement is the part people miss.
The element the case turns on
Almost every contested hit and run case is an argument about knowledge, not about whether the contact happened.
The statute reaches a driver who knows or reasonably should know that the vehicle was involved in a crash, and that it caused injury or damage. The felony tiers also require that the failure to stop was willful.
That matters because real situations are genuinely ambiguous:
- Minor contact in a parking lot at low speed, with music on
- Contact with a parked vehicle that produced little sound and no felt impact
- A driver who stopped, saw nothing, and left
- A driver who was unaware anyone had been struck at all
- A driver who believed details had been exchanged by someone else at the scene
None of those are excuses to offer an investigator on the phone. They are arguments, and they need the evidence collected before they are made.
How these cases get built
Knowing how the file is assembled is what makes the timing argument concrete.
- Camera footage. Business, doorbell and traffic cameras near the scene, almost all of it on a retention schedule that overwrites within days or weeks.
- Partial plates. A witness remembers three or four characters, and a database search produces a list of candidate vehicles.
- Physical evidence. Paint transfer, debris matched to a make and model, and damage patterns compared to the other vehicle.
- The repair trail. Body shops and insurance claims filed shortly after the date.
- Your own statement, which is frequently the strongest piece of evidence the State ends up with, and the only one you control.
Has an officer contacted you but no charge has been filed?
That is the call to make today rather than next week. Footage is still recoverable now and will not be later.
Call (336) 379-0539Free consultation, answered 24/7If you have not been charged yet
This is the situation where a lawyer is worth the most and where people most often wait.
- Someone speaks to the investigator for you. You are not obliged to give a statement, and silence is not an admission.
- Footage gets preserved while it still exists, including footage that helps you.
- The vehicle is documented before any repair, which protects evidence about speed, angle and whether contact would have been felt.
- Surrender can be arranged if a charge does come, at a time when a judicial official is available rather than on a Friday night.
Your license and your insurance
Hit and run carries four DMV points under G.S. 20-16(c) where the conviction is for property damage only, which is the same as reckless driving. The Division may suspend a license at 12 points within three years, and at 8 points in the three years after a reinstatement.
The insurance consequence runs separately and lasts longer than the court case. And on a felony tier the issue is not points at all, it is a felony conviction with everything that carries.
Related: traffic tickets · reckless driving · license restoration · felony charges · DWI
How to choose a hit and run lawyer in Greensboro
No lawyer in North Carolina is permitted to advertise as the best, and a firm
that does is telling you something about how it reads the rules. The State Bar
treats self-laudatory claims as a compliance problem, not a selling point.
So judge on answers instead. Every question below has an exact answer. A firm
that handles these cases every week will give you one on the phone, for free, in
a few minutes. A firm that gives you a brochure answer is telling you something too.
- Which subsection am I facing?
G.S. 20-166 runs from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class F felony depending on what the crash caused. That is the first thing to establish. - Have I been charged yet, or is this still an investigation?
If no charge has been filed, that is the point where a lawyer changes most. Ask what the firm does before charges rather than after. - Should I talk to the investigating officer?
Not before you have a lawyer. What is said in that call becomes the knowledge element the State has to prove. - What does the State have to prove I knew?
The statute turns on what you knew or reasonably should have known. That is contestable, and it is usually the whole case. - What is the flat fee, and what does it not cover?
A number on the first call, with the exclusions named.
Ask us the same questions. (336) 379-0539.
Your attorney
Chad D. Garrett
Hit and Run · Traffic and Criminal Traffic · Guilford County Courts
Chad started the firm and defends criminal cases in state and federal court. He wrote ABC's of Traffic Law, ABC's of DWI and DWI Essentials.
- Continuing Legal Education Instructor of the Year, North Carolina Bar Association
- Former President, Greensboro Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
- Board Member, Criminal Justice Section, North Carolina Bar Association
Chad D. GarrettFounder
Jason AycothPartner
Sean OlsonPartner
Brandon GoldsboroughCriminal Defense
Stephanie GoldsboroughCriminal Defense
Rebecca ElliottCriminal Defense
Patrick BidwellCriminal Defense
Samantha HeplerCriminal DefenseWhat clients say
4.9 out of 5 from 587 Google reviews. A few recent ones:
Where we practice
Our office is two minutes from the Guilford County Courthouse.
Guilford County: Greensboro · High Point · Jamestown · Gibsonville · Summerfield · Oak Ridge · Pleasant Garden · Stokesdale · Whitsett · McLeansville · Sedalia
Also serving: Randolph, Forsyth, Alamance, Rockingham and Davidson Counties
Questions people ask
Is hit and run a felony in North Carolina?
It depends on what the crash caused. Under G.S. 20-166, a willful failure to stop where there was serious bodily injury or death is a Class F felony, and where there was injury it is a Class H felony. Property damage only is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Failing to render reasonable assistance, and failing to make the required DMV report within five days, are separate Class 1 misdemeanors.
What if I did not know I hit anything?
That goes to the central element. The statute reaches a driver who knows or reasonably should know the vehicle was in a crash, and the felony tiers also require that the failure to stop was willful. Low speed contact, a parked vehicle, and contact that produced little sound are all real arguments, but they are arguments to make with evidence rather than explanations to offer an investigator.
An officer called me. Should I explain?
Not before you have a lawyer. The call is about what you knew, which is the element the State has to prove, and a cooperative explanation frequently supplies it. You can decline politely and have someone speak for you.
Can I be charged days after the crash?
Yes, and it is common. Investigators gather footage, witnesses and physical evidence first. That interval is the most useful time in the case, because footage is still recoverable and your vehicle has not been repaired.
Should I get my car fixed?
Not yet. Repairing it before anyone has documented it reads as concealment and destroys evidence that may support you on speed, angle and whether contact would have been felt. Have it photographed properly first.
I stopped and exchanged details. Can I still be charged?
Possibly. The statute also requires reasonable assistance to an injured person, which includes calling for medical help where it is apparently needed or requested, and a report to the DMV within five days where a report is required. Each is a separate Class 1 misdemeanor.
What if I left to get help?
The statute allows leaving to seek assistance, or to remove yourself or others from significant risk of injury. It then requires you to return to the scene with the vehicle within a reasonable period of time unless an officer directs otherwise. The return requirement is where people get caught out.
What will this do to my license?
A conviction for property damage hit and run carries four DMV points, the same as reckless driving, and the Division may suspend at 12 points within three years. The insurance consequence is separate and lasts longer. On a felony tier the license is not the main issue.
Talk to a Greensboro hit and run lawyer
Free consultation. Call before you speak to the investigator.
Garrett, Walker, Aycoth & Olson, Attorneys at Law
317 South Greene St, Greensboro, NC 27401
(336) 379-0539 · answered live, 24 hours
Free consultation · Se habla español
This page explains North Carolina law in general terms as of October 2026. It is not legal advice about your case, and penalties and statutes change. Figures come from N.C.G.S. 20-166 and 20-16.