UCMJ Article 111: Leaving the Scene of a Vehicle Accident
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Article 111 is the military hit-and-run offense. It punishes a driver who knows the vehicle was in an accident causing injury or property damage and wrongfully leaves without helping an injured person or without giving identification. It also reaches a senior passenger who orders, causes, or permits the driver to leave. The maximum is a bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 6 months of confinement.
The two subsections of § 911
10 U.S.C. § 911 has two parts.
(a) Driver. A person subject to the UCMJ who is the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident that results in personal injury or property damage, and who wrongfully leaves the scene:
- without providing assistance to an injured person; or
- without providing personal identification to others involved in the accident or to appropriate authorities.
(b) Senior passenger. A person subject to the UCMJ who is a passenger in such a vehicle, is “the superior commissioned or noncommissioned officer of the driver of the vehicle or is the commander of the vehicle,” and “wrongfully and unlawfully orders, causes, or permits the driver to leave the scene” without assistance or identification.
Elements the government must prove
The Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 48.b:
| Driver | Senior passenger |
|---|---|
| The accused was the driver of a vehicle | The accused was a passenger in a vehicle involved in an accident |
| While the accused was driving, the vehicle was involved in an accident | The accused knew the vehicle had been in an accident |
| The accused knew the vehicle had been in an accident | The accused was the driver's superior commissioned or noncommissioned officer, or the vehicle's commander |
| The accused left the scene without providing assistance to the injured victim, or without providing identification | The accused wrongfully and unlawfully ordered, caused, or permitted the driver to leave without assistance or identification |
| The leaving was wrongful |
Which accidents count
The Manual describes the offense as covering “hit and run” situations where there is damage to property other than the driver’s vehicle, or injury to someone other than the driver or a passenger in the driver’s vehicle (¶ 48.c(1)). Damage only to one’s own car, or injury only to one’s own passengers, falls outside it.
The article also “covers accidents caused by the accused, even if the accused’s vehicle does not contact other people, vehicles, or property.” Forcing another car off the road and driving on can qualify even without contact.
Knowing there was an accident
“Actual knowledge that an accident has occurred is an essential element of this offense. Actual knowledge may be proved by circumstantial evidence” (¶ 48.c(2)). A driver who genuinely did not know a collision occurred has not committed the offense; the government may prove knowledge through the circumstances rather than an admission.
Bad-conduct discharge and 6 months
Under ¶ 48.d, the maximum for either the driver or the senior passenger offense is a bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 6 months of confinement.
Other passengers and the driving itself
A passenger who is not a senior passenger “may also be liable under this paragraph” as a principal (¶ 48.c(3)), through the aiding and abetting rules of Article 77.
Article 111 punishes leaving, not the driving that caused the accident. Drunken, impaired, or reckless driving is charged separately under Article 113, and an unlawful killing “by culpable negligence” is involuntary manslaughter under Article 119 (10 U.S.C. § 919(b)(1)).
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 911, Article 111, Leaving scene of vehicle accident (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. § 919, Article 119, Manslaughter (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 48
General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.