Court: drivers in accidents can leave scene if info provided

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A driver involved in an accident can leave the scene if the driver is unaware that police have been or will be called, as long as the driver provides proper contact information, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The court’s 6-1 decision overturned the conviction of a man found guilty of leaving an accident scene in Hamilton County in southwestern Ohio in 2017.

The accident happened when the man hit the driver’s side of another car while passing on the left, the court’s ruling said. After the drivers pulled into a parking lot, the man left after nearly an hour during which he asked the woman not to call police because he’d been drinking, though she refused the request, the ruling said.

Eventually, after the man left, the woman called police and a tow truck, according to the court.

The man was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident, a ruling upheld by an appeals court. But Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision said the man properly provided the other driver his complete name, address, and phone number and let her photograph his state ID.