Texas failure to stop and render aid — Transportation Code § 550.021

Texas failure to stop and render aid is a criminal offense under Transportation Code § 550.021. Punishment ranges depending on the specific subsection, prior-conviction enhancements, and statutory aggravators. Below: the controlling statute text, the full punishment range, common defense theories, and what to do if you have been charged in Collin, Dallas, Denton, or Tarrant County.

The controlling statute

Texas Transportation Code § 550.021 requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in personal injury or death to stop at the scene, return to the scene, or remain until they have rendered reasonable assistance and exchanged required information. Commonly called hit-and-run or failure to stop and render aid (FSRA), the offense is graded by severity of the resulting injury. Texas adopts a strict approach: even minor injuries trigger felony exposure, and intoxication-manslaughter level facts can produce a parallel hit-and-run-death felony in addition to manslaughter charges.

Classification & punishment range

Elements the State must prove

To convict on a Texas § 550.021 charge, the State must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. Defendant was the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident
2. The accident resulted in injury or death to another person
3. Defendant failed to stop and remain or return to the scene
4. Defendant failed to render reasonable assistance and exchange information per § 550.023

Defense strategies

L and L Law Group, PLLC develops the following defense strategies on every Failure to Stop and Render Aid case:

• Lack of knowledge that an accident occurred or that injury resulted (Goss v. State)
• Necessity under § 9.22 — defendant left to seek help or due to imminent threat at scene
• Mistaken identity — the wrong driver was charged (forensic and surveillance defenses)
• Compliance with § 550.023 — driver did provide information at scene before departure
• Defendant was incapacitated and unable to comply (medical records, body-cam footage)
• Constitutional challenge to Fifth Amendment self-incrimination compulsion

Enhancements & collateral consequences

Section 550.021(c) tiers penalties by injury: Class C for no injury (subject to property-damage statute § 550.022); state jail felony for any injury under § 550.021(c)(2); third-degree felony for serious bodily injury; and second-degree felony for death. Intoxication assault under § 49.07 and intoxication manslaughter under § 49.08 routinely run alongside FSRA charges in DWI-involved hit-and-run cases.