State v. Scaturro Clarifies Duties of Drivers Involved in Injury Crashes

The general rule for a driver involved in a crash in which a person is injured or at least $1,000 in property damages occurs is this: The driver must stop his vehicle at the scene and must remain there with the vehicle until a law enforcement officer completes the crash investigation or authorizes the driver to leave and the vehicle to be removed. There is, however, an exception to this rule. That exception led to yesterday’s court of appeals opinion in State v. Scaturro, reversing a driver’s conviction on charges that he left the scene of a crash. What is the exception? A driver may leave a crash scene in his vehicle to call for a law enforcement officer, to call for medical assistance or treatment, or to remove himself or others from significant risk of injury. G.S. 20-166. A driver who leaves for one of these purposes must return with the vehicle to the accident scene within a reasonable period of time, unless otherwise instructed by a law enforcement officer. An additional responsibility. In addition to stopping and remaining at the scene, the driver of a vehicle involved in a crash must provide reasonable assistance to any person injured in the crash. Reasonable assistance includes calling for medical assistance. What happened in State v. Scaturro? The defendant in Scaturro was driving his car in Wilmington, NC when he struck a boy riding a bicycle, who was making a U-turn around a median in the road. The boy was thrown from [...]