Legal Question in Traffic Law in Virginia

Re: Hit & Run Summons

Paying the repair costs will show taht you are taking responsibility. There is no automatic relevance of repair costs. However, if you are arguing that the hit and run was a misunderstanding, that you did not run away, but simply had a miscommunication of something and left, the fact that you are taking responsibility would tend to prove that, and show that you had no intention of running away.

The most likely result of paying the repair costs might be to persuade the victim that everything is okay. If the victim does not want to press charges, the prosecutor MIGHT be guided by the wishes of the victim. Technically, the prosecutor is not required to do what the complainting witness wants. But in most cases, they do pay attention to that.

In general, people need to be very careful about paying someone to drop a criminal charge. You can get into even more trouble doing this if it looks like you are bribing someone not to press charges.

However, I believe that this is one of those cases where restitution is entirely proper. What you propose to do is to repair the car (which you are going to end up doing anyway, if they sue for repair costs) WITHOUT demanding an agreement as part of a deal to drop the charges. You surely cannot be criticized for that. And I think it would be helpful.

Re: Hit & Run Summons

Under Virginia law, there are 4 classes of Misdemeanors, with 4 being the least serious, and 1 being the most serious.

A class 1 misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of 1 year in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. Some violations may also include additional penalties specific to that violation, such as a suspension of your drivers license, referal to classes, drug treatment, etc.

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