§ 14-224 — Evasion of responsibility in operation of motor vehicles. Racing, contests, demonstrations of speed or skill or street takeovers. Required removal of motor vehicle from traveled portion of highway. Penalties.

Connecticut § 14-224

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 14: Motor Vehicles. Use of the Highway By Vehicles. Gasoline
• Ch. 248: Vehicle Highway Use

Text

(a) Each operator of a motor vehicle who is knowingly involved in an accident which results in the death of any other person shall at once stop and render such assistance as may be needed and shall give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to any officer or witness to the death of any person, and if such operator of the motor vehicle causing the death of any person is unable to give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to any witness or officer, for any reason or cause, such operator shall immediately report such death of any person to a police officer, a constable, a state police officer or an inspector of motor vehicles or at the nearest police precinct or station, and shall state in such report the location and circumstances of the accident causing the death of any person and such operator's name, address, operator's license number and registration number. (b) (1) Each operator of a motor vehicle who is knowingly involved in an accident which causes serious physical injury, as defined in section 53a-3 , to any other person shall at once stop and render such assistance as may be needed and shall give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to the person injured or to any officer or witness to the serious physical injury to person. If such operator of the motor vehicle causing the serious physical injury of any person is unable to give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to the person injured or to any witness or officer, for any reason or cause, such operator shall immediately report such serious physical injury of any person to a police officer, a constable, a state police officer or an inspector of motor vehicles or at the nearest police precinct or station, and shall state in such report the location and circumstances of the accident causing the serious physical injury of any person and such operator's name, address, operator's license number and registration number. (2) Each operator of a motor vehicle who is knowingly involved in an accident that causes physical injury, as defined in section 53a-3 , to any other person shall at once stop and render such assistance as may be needed and shall give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to the person injured or to any officer or witness to the physical injury. If such operator of the motor vehicle causing the physical injury is unable to give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to the person injured or to any witness or officer, for any reason or cause, such operator shall immediately report such physical injury of any person to a police officer, a constable, a state police officer or an inspector of motor vehicles or at the nearest police precinct or station, and shall state in such report the location and circumstances of the accident causing the physical injury of any person and such operator's name, address, operator's license number and registration number. (3) Each operator of a motor vehicle who is knowingly involved in an accident that causes injury or damage to property shall at once stop and render such assistance as may be needed and shall give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to the owner of the injured or damaged property, or to any officer or witness to the injury or damage to property, and if such operator of the motor vehicle causing the injury or damage to any property is unable to give such operator's name, address and operator's license number and registration number to the owner of the property injured or damaged, or to any witness or officer, for any reason or cause, such operator shall immediately report such injury or damage to property to a police officer, a constable, a state police officer or an inspector of motor vehicles or at the nearest police precinct or station, and shall state in such report the location and circumstances of the accident causing the injury or damage to property and such operator's name, address, operator's license number and registration number. (c) (1) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon any public highway or parking area for any race, contest, demonstration of speed or skill or street takeover. As used in this section, “street takeover” means taking over a portion of a public highway or parking area by blocking or impeding the regular flow of traffic with intent to cause disorder or create a nuisance for other users of such highway or parking area. (2) No person shall (A) possess a motor vehicle under circumstances manifesting an intent that it be used in a race, contest, demonstration or street takeover prohibited under subdivision (1) of this subsection, (B) act as a starter, timekeeper or judge at any such race, contest, demonstration or street takeover, or (C) wager on the outcome of any such race, contest, demonstration or street takeover, or (D) knowingly incite or recruit by any action, method, device or means, including, but not limited to, electronic or social media, in advance of any such race, contest, demonstration or street takeover, any person for participation in the performance of any such race, contest, demonstration or street takeover. (d) Each person operating a motor vehicle who is knowingly involved in an accident on a limited access highway which causes damage to property only shall immediately move or cause such person's motor vehicle to be moved from the traveled portion of the highway to an untraveled area which is adjacent to the accident site if it is possible to move the motor vehicle without risk of further damage to property or injury to any person. (e) No person who acts in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section may be considered to have violated subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of this section. (f) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) or subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section shall be guilty of a class B felony. (g) (1) Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section shall be guilty of a class D felony. (2) Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of this section or subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section shall be guilty of a (A) class A misdemeanor for a first offense, and (B) class D felony for any subsequent offense. (3) Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of this section shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor. (h) In addition to any penalty imposed pursuant to subsection (g) of this section: (1) If any person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section and the motor vehicle being operated by such person at the time of the violation is registered to such person, the court may order such motor vehicle to be impounded for not more than thirty days and such person shall be responsible for any fees or costs resulting from such impoundment; or (2) if any person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section and the motor vehicle being operated by such person at the time of the violation is not registered to such person, the court may fine such person not more than two thousand dollars, and for any subsequent offense may fine such person not more than three thousand dollars. See Sec. 14-107 re liability of owner, operator or lessee of vehicle. See Sec. 14-111(b), (h) re suspension or revocation of operator's license. See Sec. 14-111g re operator's retraining program. See Sec. 14-112(a) re proof of financial responsibility. See Sec. 14-226 re required reporting of injury to dog.

Legislative History

(1949 Rev., S. 2410; September, 1957, P.A. 11, S. 8; P.A. 81-268, S. 2; P.A. 82-472, S. 45, 183; P.A. 83-135; 83-534, S. 10; P.A. 94-188, S. 9; P.A. 97-291, S. 3, 5; P.A. 06-173, S. 2; P.A. 09-120, S. 1; P.A. 14-130, S. 25; P.A. 15-211, S. 28; P.A. 16-94, S. 1 ; P.A. 19-53, S. 3; P.A. 21-175, S. 23; P.A. 23-135, S. 39; 23-203, S. 4.) History: P.A. 81-268 amended Subsec. (c) by increasing the minimum fine from $50 to $75 and the maximum fine from $100 to $200 for first offenses, and increasing the maximum fine for subsequent offenses from $200 to $600; P.A. 82-472 made a technical correction; P.A. 83-135 amended Subsec. (c) by increasing the maximum fine from $200 to $600 for a first offense and from $600 to $1,000 for a subsequent offense; P.A. 83-534 inserted new Subsecs. (a) and (d) re evading responsibility in an accident causing serious physical injury or death and the penalty therefor, redesignated the former Subsecs. and limited the former provisions re evading responsibility to accidents causing “physical injury as defined in section 53a-3” or injury or damage to property; P.A. 94-188 inserted new Subsecs. (d) and (e) re removal of vehicle from traveled portion of highway and redesignated the former Subsecs. (d) and (e) as (f) and (g); P.A. 97-291 amended Subsec. (f) to increase the maximum fine from $5,000 to $10,000 and the maximum term of imprisonment from 5 to 10 years; P.A. 06-173 amended Subsec. (c) to designate existing provision as Subdiv. (1) and add Subdiv. (2) prohibiting a person possessing a motor vehicle under circumstances manifesting an intent that it be used in a race or event prohibited under Subdiv. (1), acting as a starter, timekeeper, judge or spectator at such a race or event or wagering on the outcome of such a race or event; P.A. 09-120 added Subsec. (h) re motor vehicle impoundment or fine for violation of Subsec. (c)(1), effective July 1, 2009; P.A. 14-130 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provisions re serious physical injury, amended Subsec. (b) by designating existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and amending same by replacing provisions re physical injury with provisions re serious physical injury and deleting provisions re injury or damage to property, adding Subdiv. (2) re accident that causes physical injury and adding Subdiv. (3) re accident that causes injury or damage to property, and made technical and conforming changes; P.A. 15-211 amended Subsec. (f) by increasing maximum fine from $10,000 to $20,000, minimum term of imprisonment from 1 year to 2 years and maximum term of imprisonment from 10 years to 20 years; P.A. 16-94 amended Subsec. (g) by designating existing provision re person who violates provisions of Subsec. (b)(2) or (3) or Subsec. (c) as Subdiv. (1) and amending same to delete references to Subsec. (b)(3) and Subsec. (c) and replace “one year” with “five years”, and by adding Subdiv. (2) re person who violates provisions of Subsec. (b)(3) or Subsec. (c), and made technical and conforming changes; P.A. 19-53 amended Subsec. (g) by adding new Subdiv. (2) re violation of Subsec. (c)(1), redesignating existing Subdiv. (2) as Subdiv. (3) and making a conforming change; P.A. 21-175 amended Subsec. (c) to replace provisions re wager or making a speed record with provisions re contest or demonstration of speed or skill in Subdiv. (1) and replace “or event” with “contest or demonstration of speed or skill” in Subdiv. (2); P.A. 23-135 amended Subsec. (c)(1) to add reference to parking area, street takeover and motor vehicle stunt and define “street takeover”, amended Subsec. (c)(2) to add reference to street takeover and motor vehicle stunt, remove reference to spectator in Subpara. (B) and add Subpara. (D) re knowingly encouraging, promoting, instigating, assisting, facilitating or aiding or abetting, amended Subsec. (g) to move provisions re violation of Subsec. (b)(3) from existing Subdiv. (3) to new Subdiv. (2), redesignate existing Subdiv. (2) as new Subdiv. (3), delete provision re penalty for subsequent offense of Subsecs. (b)(3) and (c)(2), and add Subdiv. (4) to make violation of Subsec. (c)(2) a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for 6 months or more or both, and made technical and conforming changes; P.A. 23-203 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting language re motor vehicle stunt and making conforming changes throughout, replacing “for the purpose of causing disorder or creating a nuisance to” with “with intent to cause disorder or create a nuisance for” in Subdiv. (1) and replacing “encourage, promote, instigate, assist, facilitate or aid or abet any person” with “incite or recruit by any action, method, device or means, including, but not limited to, electronic or social media, in advance of any such race, contest, demonstration or street takeover, any person for participation” in Subdiv. (2), replaced penalties in Subsec. (f) by making the violation a class B felony, amended Subsec. (g) by replacing penalties in Subdiv. (1) by making the violation a class D felony, adding a violation of Subsec. (c)(1) and replacing penalties in Subdiv. (2) by making the violations a class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a class D felony for any subsequent offense, deleting Subdiv. (3) re a violation of Subsec. (c)(1), redesignating existing Subdiv. (4) as Subdiv. (3) and therein replacing penalties by making violation a class B misdemeanor. Failure to stop and assist is not actionable negligence. 123 C. 609. Cited. 136 C. 264; 145 C. 709; 203 C. 305; 219 C. 371; 222 C. 672; 240 C. 639. Cited. 9 CA 686; 13 CA 638; 26 CA 145; 36 CA 710; 38 CA 685; 42 CA 460; 45 CA 303. Charge of evading responsibility dismissed where it could not be ascertained whether pedestrian was dead or alive at time of impact. 18 CS 367. To be convicted, defendant must have been knowingly involved in an accident, and accident must have involved injury to some person other than defendant or damage to property other than his. 22 CS 317. Cited. Id., 361, 386. Only intention necessary for violation of section is the doing of the acts prohibited. 23 CS 284. Cited. Id., 413, 421. An error in judgment or lack of intention is not an excuse for failure to follow the directives of statute. 24 CS 374. Cited. Id., 397; 32 CS 650. Cited. 2 Conn. Cir. Ct. 19. Even with no communication between the parties, circumstances can indicate a competitive trial of speed where a conviction of racing will lie. Id., 75. If operator knew there was an accident, it is immaterial that he believed no damage resulted. Id., 236. Cited. Id., 503; Id., 588. An error in judgment or lack of intention is not an excuse for failure to follow the directives and mandates of statute; where defendant who was involved in automobile accident stopped his car but failed to give the required information, it was not error to find him guilty of evading responsibility and whether he was at fault is irrelevant. 3 Conn. Cir. Ct. 101. Cited. Id., 229. Knowledge of damage caused by accident is not an element within terms of statute; it is enough for state to prove defendant was knowingly involved in the accident and the accident caused damage to person or property of another. Id., 304, 305. To comply with statute, defendant must, after the accident, render such assistance as is needed and give his operator's license and registration numbers, as well as his name and address, to the other driver. Id., 305, 306. Cited. Id., 353; Id., 461; 4 Conn. Cir. Ct. 408. History of statute reviewed; intent is to punish evasion of responsibility whether accident occurs on private property or public highway; statute applied where accident occurred in service station. Id., 495. Defendant's admission he struck a living object he thought to be a dog and had not stopped established his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in absence of other evidence. 5 Conn. Cir. Ct. 316. When violation of section occurred, Sec. 14-107 made proof of registration in defendant's name of car involved prima facie evidence that he was operator and trial court could conclude defendant's unsupported alibi did not rebut presumption statute created. Id., 561. Slight damage to plaintiff's car was sufficient where the elements also existed to sustain defendant's conviction for evading responsibility. 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 6. Defendant properly arrested in another precinct 2 hours after violation of section where local officer acted on speedy information of 2 witnesses. Id., 55. Subsec. (a): Cited. 12 CA 294; 22 CA 142. No authority for defendant's argument that court is required to charge the jury that compliance with remaining duties of Subsec. are legally excused if defendant was arrested by police while trying to render such assistance as defendant deemed reasonably necessary. 99 CA 233. Statute does not provide an operator an excuse for failing to stop for any reason when such operator has satisfied the predicate elements of statute; because it is undisputed that defendant did not stop his vehicle and render assistance to the victim, jury reasonably could have concluded defendant violated Subsec. 125 CA 489. Subsec. (b): Cited. 154 C. 23; 176 C. 451; 224 C. 911. To establish a violation of statute, the state is not required to prove defendant knew that the accident in which he was involved caused injury or damage to property. 227 C. 534. Cited. 234 C. 301. Cited. 28 CA 708. Whether defendant has knowledge that an accident caused injury or damage is irrelevant to crime of evading responsibility; rather, it is a mandatory stop, ascertain and assist statute which provides criminal penalties for the failure to do so; after proving that defendant was knowingly involved in an accident, further proof that defendant failed to stop at the scene would be sufficient to support conviction under statute. 88 CA 90. Defendant, despite initially assisting injured passenger in his vehicle after hitting a telephone pole, did not render assistance as required by Subsec. because he then ran away from the accident scene, leaving the passenger in the car, and failed to call police or other emergency personnel. 107 CA 717. Subsec. not unconstitutionally vague as applied to defendant, and requirement to report identifying information set forth in Subsec. does not violate right against self-incrimination. 124 CA 294. Evidence was sufficient to conclude that collision was result of unintentional conduct of defendant, therefore constituting an “accident” under section. 126 CA 52. Evidence of removal of bark from tree struck by defendant's vehicle in accident was sufficient to prove damage to property under Subsec. 146 CA 701. Although a race involves a trial of speed, a person can be found guilty of racing but not guilty of speeding; total strangers can race on the spur of the moment. 24 CS 59.