Tennessee § 55-10-101 - Accidents involving death or personal injury.

§ 55-10-101. Accidents involving death or personal injury.

The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close to the scene as possible, but shall then return to and in every event shall remain at the scene of the accident until the driver has fulfilled the requirements of § 55-10-103. The stop shall be made without obstructing traffic more than is necessary. The requirements in this subsection (a) apply to accidents occurring upon highways and the premises of any shopping center, trailer park or any apartment house complex, or any other premises that are generally frequented by the public at large. A violation of subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. It is a Class E felony for any person to fail to stop or to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) when the person knew or should reasonably have known that death resulted from the accident. If, as a result of the same course of conduct, a person who is charged with a violation of subdivision (b)(2)(A) is also charged with the offense of vehicular assault under § 39-13-106, vehicular homicide under § 39-13-213 or aggravated vehicular homicide under § 39-13-218, any sentence imposed for a violation of subdivision (b)(2)(A) shall be served consecutive to any sentence imposed for the applicable assault or homicide offense. The commissioner shall revoke the license or permit to drive and any nonresident operating privilege of the person convicted of a violation of this section. As used in this part, “accident” includes any collision or crash, regardless of the degree of care exercised by the drivers involved or whether it was the result of criminal conduct. With respect to an ADS-operated vehicle, as defined by § 55-30-102, the requirements of subsection (a) are satisfied if the motor vehicle's owner, or a person on behalf of the motor vehicle's owner, promptly contacts a law enforcement officer or agency to report the accident and the ADS-operated vehicle remains on the scene of the accident as otherwise required by law. Acts 1955, ch. 329, § 78; 1976, ch. 674, § 1; T.C.A., § 59-1001; Acts 1984, ch. 758, § 1; 1988, ch. 788, § 1; 1989, ch. 323, § 1; 1989, ch. 591, §§ 1, 6, 111; 2008, ch. 1167, § 1; 2015, ch. 164, § 1; 2017, ch. 474, § 10. Code Commission Notes. The felony in this section has been designated as a Class E felony by authority of § 40-35-110 , which provides that an offense designated a felony without specification as to category is a Class E felony. See also § 39-11-113 . Compiler's Notes. Acts 2015, ch. 164 § 2 provided that the act, which added (d), shall apply to offenses occurring on or after July 1, 2015. Cross-References. Additional fine for accidents involving death or personal injury to be paid into general fund reserve for traumatic brain injury fund, § 68-55-305 . Appearance before magistrate required, 55-10-203. Criminal injuries compensation fund, § 40-24-107 . Enumeration of offenses as state offenses in areas with metropolitan governments, § 7-3-312 . Penalty for Class A misdemeanor, § 40-35-111 . Penalty for Class E felony, § 40-35-111 . Use of highways as appointment of agent for service of process, § 20-2-203 . Textbooks. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 4 Tenn. Juris., Automobiles, §§ 8, 32, 32.1, 35. Law Reviews. Civil Procedure and Evidence — Tennessee Survey 1970 (Jerry J. Phillips), 38 Tenn. L. Rev. 127. Attorney General Opinions. Collection of judgments due municipalities, OAG 97-029, 1997 Tenn. AG LEXIS 28 (3/31/97).