What Counts as a Hit-and-Run Vehicle Under Oregon UM Law

When a driver leaves the scene of a crash and is never identified, there is no known driver and no known liability insurer behind the vehicle. Oregon's required uninsured motorist (UM) coverage reaches that situation through a defined term. ORS chapter 742 gives "hit-and-run vehicle" its own meaning, with specific conditions attached.

Where uninsured motorist coverage comes from

ORS 742.502(1) requires every motor vehicle liability policy that insures against a loss a natural person suffers from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death arising out of owning, maintaining or using a motor vehicle to provide uninsured motorist coverage, in the policy or by indorsement, if the policy is either issued for delivery in Oregon or issued or delivered by an insurer that does business in Oregon with respect to any motor vehicle then principally used or principally garaged in Oregon.¹ Under ORS 742.502(2)(a), "A motor vehicle bodily injury liability policy must have the same limits for uninsured motorist coverage as for bodily injury liability coverage unless a named insured in writing elects lower limits."¹

The terms of that coverage are set by the next section. ORS 742.504 opens with this sentence: "Every policy required to provide the coverage specified in ORS 742.502 shall provide uninsured motorist coverage that in each instance is no less favorable in any respect to the insured or the beneficiary than if the following provisions were set forth in the policy."² The section then adds: "However, nothing contained in this section requires the insurer to reproduce in the policy the particular language of any of the following provisions".²

The central promise is in ORS 742.504(1)(a): "Notwithstanding ORS 30.260 to 30.300, the insurer will pay all sums that the insured or the heirs or legal representative of the insured is legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured vehicle because of bodily injury sustained by the insured caused by accident and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the uninsured vehicle."²

A hit-and-run vehicle is one kind of uninsured vehicle

The coverage is triggered by an "uninsured vehicle," and ORS 742.504(2)(k) defines that term by listing several kinds of vehicles, subject to the exclusions in paragraph (L). The list includes, in paragraph (k)(A), a vehicle with no collectible motor vehicle bodily injury liability insurance in at least the amounts prescribed under ORS 806.070, and a vehicle whose liability insurer denies coverage, is declared bankrupt, has a receiver appointed or becomes insolvent. It separately lists "A hit-and-run vehicle" in paragraph (k)(B), a phantom vehicle in (k)(C), and a stolen vehicle in (k)(D).²

The definition in ORS 742.504(2)(b)

The definition sits in ORS 742.504(2)(b). It begins: "“Hit-and-run vehicle” means a vehicle that causes bodily injury to an insured arising out of physical contact of the vehicle with the insured or with a vehicle the insured is occupying at the time of the accident, provided:"²

Two defined terms in that sentence come from the same subsection. "Bodily injury" means "bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death resulting therefrom."² "Occupying" means "in or upon or entering into or alighting from."² The physical contact can therefore be with the injured person directly or with a vehicle the insured is occupying at the time of the accident.

The word "provided" introduces three conditions, and the definition lists all three.

Condition (A): identity cannot be ascertained. Paragraph (2)(b)(A) reads: "The identity of either the operator or the owner of the hit-and-run vehicle cannot be ascertained;"²

Condition (B): a report and a sworn statement. Paragraph (2)(b)(B) reads in full: "The insured or someone on behalf of the insured reported the accident within 72 hours to a police, peace or judicial officer, to the Department of Transportation or to the equivalent department in the state where the accident occurred, and filed with the insurer within 30 days thereafter a statement under oath that the insured or the legal representative of the insured has a cause or causes of action arising out of the accident for damages against a person or persons whose identities are unascertainable, and setting forth the facts in support thereof; and"²

The report can be made by the insured or by someone on the insured's behalf. The 72-hour report can go to any one of several recipients: a police, peace or judicial officer, the Department of Transportation, or the equivalent department in the state where the accident occurred. The second step is a statement under oath filed with the insurer "within 30 days thereafter", and the paragraph describes what that statement says: that the insured or the insured's legal representative has a cause or causes of action arising out of the accident against a person or persons whose identities are unascertainable, together with the supporting facts.

Condition (C): the vehicle inspection. Paragraph (2)(b)(C) reads: "At the insurer’s request, the insured or the legal representative of the insured makes available for inspection the vehicle the insured was occupying at the time of the accident."²

The phantom vehicle: no contact, added corroboration

A later paragraph in the same subsection covers a different situation. Under ORS 742.504(2)(g), a "phantom vehicle" is "a vehicle that causes bodily injury to an insured arising out of a motor vehicle accident that is caused by a vehicle that has no physical contact with the insured or the vehicle the insured is occupying at the time of the accident," again followed by the word "provided" and three conditions.²

Those conditions overlap with the hit-and-run conditions only in part. Paragraph (2)(g)(A) repeats the requirement that the identity of either the operator or the owner cannot be ascertained, and paragraph (2)(g)(C) repeats the same 72-hour report and 30-day sworn statement. Paragraph (2)(g)(B) adds a condition with no counterpart in the hit-and-run definition: "The facts of the accident can be corroborated by competent evidence other than the testimony of the insured or any person having an uninsured motorist claim resulting from the accident; and"² The phantom-vehicle definition does not include the vehicle-inspection condition found in paragraph (2)(b)(C).

The line between the two definitions is physical contact: paragraph (2)(b) requires it, and paragraph (2)(g) applies where there was none.

A time rule in the same section

The definition is not the only part of ORS 742.504 that bears on a hit-and-run claim. Another provision in the same section sets a time rule for UM claims generally.

ORS 742.504(12)(a) provides: "The parties to this coverage agree that no cause of action shall accrue to the insured under this coverage unless within two years from the date of the accident: (A) Agreement as to the amount due under the policy has been concluded; (B) The insured or the insurer has formally instituted arbitration proceedings; (C) The insured has filed an action against the insurer; or (D) Suit for bodily injury has been filed against the uninsured motorist and, within two years from the date of settlement or final judgment against the uninsured motorist, the insured has formally instituted arbitration proceedings or filed an action against the insurer."²

How UM coverage interacts with underinsurance coverage and with offsets is covered in the site's guide to PIP, UM and UIM coverage and in the post on why Oregon UIM coverage does not offset the at-fault driver's liability insurance.

The fleeing driver's duties under ORS chapter 811

The insurance definition in ORS 742.504 is separate from the statute that sets out the duties of the driver who left. ORS 811.705 describes the offense of "failure to perform the duties of a driver to injured persons".³ Under ORS 811.705(1), a driver "who knows or has reason to believe that the driver’s vehicle was involved in a collision" commits that offense if the collision results in injury or death to a person and the driver does not perform all of the listed duties.³ Those duties include stopping immediately at or as close as possible to the scene and reasonably investigating, remaining at the scene, giving the driver's name and address and, for a motor vehicle, registration and insurance information, and rendering reasonable assistance to any person injured in the collision.³

Under ORS 811.705(3)(a), the offense is a Class C felony except as provided in paragraph (b).³ Paragraph (3)(b) makes it a Class B felony where "a person suffers serious physical injury … or dies as a result of the collision".³

A separate reporting statute also uses a 72-hour window. Under ORS 811.725(1)(a), a driver commits the offense of driver failure to report a collision if the driver is driving a vehicle involved in a collision required to be reported under ORS 811.720 and does not, within 72 hours of the collision, complete a report of the collision in a form approved by the Department of Transportation and submit the report to the department.⁴ That paragraph is one of three ways subsection (1) describes the offense.⁴ The Department of Transportation is also one of the recipients listed in ORS 742.504(2)(b)(B).²

An overview of other parts of a hit-and-run case is in the post on hit and run accidents in Oregon, and the broader claim process is described on the Oregon car accident page.

This article is educational

This article describes Oregon law in general terms. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Time limits matter. Most Oregon personal-injury and auto-accident claims must be filed within two years of the injury or accident. Medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years of when you knew or reasonably should have known of the negligence, with an outer limit of five years from the act itself (with a fraud exception). Wrongful death claims must be filed within three years of the date of death. Claims against public bodies (cities, counties, state agencies, public hospitals) require a notice of claim within 180 days. Missing these deadlines typically ends a case.

If you think you may have a claim, call Huegli Law at 971-317-6436 for a free case review. Todd Huegli is licensed in Oregon and consults on cases in Oregon only.

Footnotes

1. ORS 742.502, Uninsured motorist coverage; underinsurance coverage (ORS chapter 742). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors742.html ↩ ↩²

2. ORS 742.504, Required provisions of uninsured motorist coverage (ORS chapter 742). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors742.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

3. ORS 811.705, Failure to perform duties of driver to injured persons; penalty (ORS chapter 811). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors811.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. ORS 811.725, Driver failure to report collision to Department of Transportation; penalty (ORS chapter 811). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors811.html ↩ ↩²