Veh. Code, § 20002 · Chapter 1. Accidents and Accident Reports
Veh. Code, § 20002
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting only in damage to any property, including vehicles, shall immediately stop the vehicle at the nearest location that will not impede traffic or otherwise jeopardize the safety of other motorists. Moving the vehicle in accordance with this subdivision does not affect the question of fault. The driver shall also immediately do either of the following:
(1) Locate and notify the owner or person in charge of that property of the name and address of the driver and owner of the vehicle involved and, upon locating the driver of any other vehicle involved or the owner or person in charge of any damaged property, upon being requested, present his or her driver’s license, and vehicle registration, to the other driver, property owner, or person in charge of that property. The information presented shall include the current residence address of the driver and of the registered owner. If the registered owner of an involved vehicle is present at the scene, he or she shall also, upon request, present his or her driver’s license information, if available, or other valid identification to the other involved parties.
(2) Leave in a conspicuous place on the vehicle or other property damaged a written notice giving the name and address of the driver and of the owner of the vehicle involved and a statement of the circumstances thereof and shall without unnecessary delay notify the police department of the city wherein the collision occurred or, if the collision occurred in unincorporated territory, the local headquarters of the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(b) Any person who parks a vehicle which, prior to the vehicle again being driven, becomes a runaway vehicle and is involved in an accident resulting in damage to any property, attended or unattended, shall comply with the requirements of this section relating to notification and reporting and shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to the penalties of this section for failure to comply with the requirements.
(c) Any person failing to comply with all the requirements of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 825, Sec. 16. Effective January 1, 2002.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH§ionNum=20002.
- Text hash
- sha256 6a0eb783deb38b933ee713aae5c590db1890acf476e245a2cc2c8856c8c5805e
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Cited by 11 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Veh. Code, § 20002. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Vehicle Code
- Veh. Code, § 11110Printed as Section 14606, 20001, 20002, 20003, 20004, 20006, 20008, 23103, 23104, 23105, 23152, or 23153 of this code
- Veh. Code, § 11215Printed as Section 20001, 20002, 20003, 20004, 20006, 20008, 23103, 23104, 23105, 23152, or 23153 of this code
- Veh. Code, § 12810Printed as Section 20001 or 20002
- Veh. Code, § 13201Printed as Section 20002
- Veh. Code, § 13351Printed as Section 20001, 20002, 23103, 23104, or 23105
- Veh. Code, § 13361Printed as Section 20002
- Veh. Code, § 22655Printed as Sections 20002 to 20006, inclusive
- Veh. Code, § 40000.13Printed as Sections 20002 and 20003
- Veh. Code, § 40303Printed as Section 20002 or 20003
- Veh. Code, § 41610Printed as Section 14601.2, 14601.3, 20002, 23103, 23104, 23105, 23152, or 23153
- Veh. Code, § 42005Printed as Section 20001, 20002, 23103, 23104, 23105, 23140, 23152, or 23153
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.