Justia Criminal Law Center California Criminal Jury Instructions (CALCRIM) (2025) Vehicle Offenses CALCRIM No. 2140. Failure to Perform Duty Following Accident: Death or Injury - Defendant Driver (Veh. Code, §§ 20001, 20003 & 20004)

CALCRIM No. 2140. Failure to Perform Duty Following Accident: Death or Injury - Defendant Driver (Veh. Code, §§ 20001, 20003 & 20004)

Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2025 edition)

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B. FAILURE TO PERFORM DUTY FOLLOWING

ACCIDENT

(i) Death or Injury

2140.Failure to Perform Duty Following Accident: Death or

Injury - Defendant Driver (Veh. Code, §§ 20001, 20003 & 20004)

The defendant is charged [in Count ] with failing to perform a

legal duty following a vehicle accident that caused (death/ [or]

[permanent] injury) to another person [in violation of

<insert appropriate code section[s]>].

To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must

prove that:

1. While driving, the defendant was involved in a vehicle accident;

2. The accident caused (the death of/ [or] [permanent, serious]

injury to) someone else;

3. The defendant knew that (he/she) had been involved in an

accident that injured another person [or knew from the nature of

the accident that it was probable that another person had been

injured];

AND

4. The defendant willfully failed to perform one or more of the

following duties:

(a) To immediately stop at the scene of the accident;

(b) To provide reasonable assistance to any person injured in the

accident;

vehicle collided with) or any peace officer at the scene of the

accident all of the following information:

•The defendant’s name and current residence address;

[AND]

•The registration number of the vehicle (he/she) was

driving(;/.)

[[AND]

1383

•The name and current residence address of the owner of

the vehicle if the defendant is not the owner(;/.)]

<Give following sentence if occupants of defendant’s vehicle were

injured.>

[AND

•The names and current residence addresses of any

occupants of the defendant’s vehicle who were injured in

the accident.]

[AND]

(d) When requested, to show (his/her) driver’s license if available

to (the person struck/the driver or occupants of any vehicle

collided with) or any peace officer at the scene of the

accident(;/.)

[AND

(e) The driver must, without unnecessary delay, notify either the

police department of the city where the accident happened or

the local headquarters of the California Highway Patrol if the

accident happened in an unincorporated area.]

Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it willingly or on

purpose. It is not required that he or she intend to break the law, hurt

someone else, or gain any advantage.

The duty to immediately stop means that the driver must stop his or her

vehicle as soon as reasonably possible under the circumstances.

To provide reasonable assistance means the driver must determine what

assistance, if any, the injured person needs and make a reasonable effort

to see that such assistance is provided, either by the driver or someone

else. Reasonable assistance includes transporting anyone who has been

injured for medical treatment, or arranging the transportation for such

treatment, if it is apparent that treatment is necessary or if an injured

person requests transportation. [The driver is not required to provide

assistance that is unnecessary or that is already being provided by

someone else. However, the requirement that the driver provide

assistance is not excused merely because bystanders are on the scene or

could provide assistance.]

The driver of a vehicle must perform the duties listed regardless of who

was injured and regardless of how or why the accident happened. It does

not matter if someone else caused the accident or if the accident was

unavoidable.

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You may not find the defendant guilty unless all of you agree that the

People have proved that the defendant failed to perform at least one of

the required duties. You must all agree on which duty the defendant

failed to perform.

[To be involved in a vehicle accident means to be connected with the

accident in a natural or logical manner. It is not necessary for the

driver’s vehicle to collide with another vehicle or person.]

[When providing his or her name and address, the driver is required to

identify himself or herself as the driver of a vehicle involved in the

accident.]

[A permanent, serious injury is one that permanently impairs the

function or causes the loss of any organ or body part.]

[An accident causes (death/ [or] [permanent, serious] injury) if the

(death/ [or] injury) is the direct, natural, and probable consequence of

the accident and the (death/ [or] injury) would not have happened

without the accident. A natural and probable consequence is one that a

reasonable person would know is likely to happen if nothing unusual

intervenes. In deciding whether a consequence is natural and probable,

consider all the circumstances established by the evidence.]

[There may be more than one cause of (death/ [or] [permanent, serious]

injury). An accident causes (death/ [or] injury) only if it is a substantial

factor in causing the (death/ [or] injury). A substantial factor is more

than a trivial or remote factor. However, it need not be the only factor

that causes the (death/ [or] injury).]

[If the accident caused the defendant to be unconscious or disabled so

that (he/she) was not capable of performing the duties required by law,

then (he/she) did not have to perform those duties at that time.

[However, (he/she) was required to do so as soon as reasonably

possible.]]

New January 2006; Revised August 2006, October 2010, February 2012, March

2019, September 2024*

* Denotes changes only to bench notes and other commentaries.

BENCH NOTES

Instructional Duty

The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the

crime. Give this instruction if the prosecution alleges that the defendant drove the

vehicle. If the prosecution alleges that the defendant was a nondriving owner present

in the vehicle or other passenger in control of the vehicle, give CALCRIM No.

2141, Failure to Perform Duty Following Accident: Death or Injury - Defendant

VEHICLE OFFENSES CALCRIM No. 2140

1385

Nondriving Owner or Passenger in Control.

If causation is at issue, the court has a sua sponte duty to instruct on proximate

cause. (People v. Bernhardt (1963) 222 Cal.App.2d 567, 590-591 [35 Cal.Rptr.

401].) If the evidence indicates that there was only one cause of death or injury, the

court should give the “direct, natural, and probable” language in the first bracketed

paragraph on causation. If there is evidence of multiple causes of death or injury,

the court should also give the “substantial factor” instruction in the second

bracketed paragraph on causation. (See People v. Autry (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 351,

363 [43 Cal.Rptr.2d 135]; People v. Pike (1988) 197 Cal.App.3d 732, 746-747 [243

Cal.Rptr. 54].)

If the defendant is charged under Vehicle Code section 20001(b)(1) with leaving the

scene of an accident causing injury, but not death or permanent, serious injury,

delete the words “death” and “permanent, serious” from the instruction. If the

defendant is charged under Vehicle Code section 20001(b)(2) with leaving the scene

of an accident causing death or permanent, serious injury, use either or both of these

options throughout the instruction, depending on the facts of the case. When

instructing on both offenses, give this instruction using the words “death” and/or

“permanent, serious injury,” and give CALCRIM No. 2142, Failure to Perform Duty

Following Accident: Lesser Included Offense.

Give bracketed element 4(e) only if the accident caused a death.

Give the bracketed portion that begins with “The driver is not required to provide

assistance” if there is an issue over whether assistance by the defendant to the

injured person was necessary in light of aid provided by others. (See People v.

Scheer (1998) 68 Cal.App.4th 1009, 1027 [80 Cal.Rptr.2d 676]; People v. Scofield

(1928) 203 Cal. 703, 708 [265 P. 914]; see also discussion in the Related Issues

section below.)

Give the bracketed paragraph defining “involved in a vehicle accident” if that is an

issue in the case.

Give the bracketed paragraph stating that “the driver is required to identify himself

or herself as the driver” if there is evidence that the defendant stopped and

identified himself or herself but not in a way that made it apparent to the other

parties that the defendant was the driver. (People v. Kroncke (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th

1535, 1546 [83 Cal.Rptr.2d 493].)

Give the bracketed paragraph that begins with “If the accident caused the defendant

to be unconscious” if there is sufficient evidence that the defendant was unconscious

or disabled at the scene of the accident.

On request, give CALCRIM No. 2241, Driver and Driving Defined.

AUTHORITY

• Elements. Veh. Code, §§ 20001, 20003 & 20004.

• Sentence for Death or Permanent Injury. Veh. Code, § 20001(b)(2).

• Sentence for Injury. Veh. Code, § 20001(b)(1).

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• Knowledge of Accident and Injury. People v. Holford (1965) 63 Cal.2d 74,

79-80 [45 Cal.Rptr. 167, 403 P.2d 423]; People v. Carter (1966) 243 Cal.App.2d

239, 241 [52 Cal.Rptr. 207]; People v. Hamilton (1978) 80 Cal.App.3d 124,

133-134 [145 Cal.Rptr. 429].

• Neither Voluntary Intoxication Nor Unconsciousness Caused by Voluntary

Intoxication Negates Knowledge Element in Vehicle Code Section 20001(a), (c).

People v. Suazo (2023) 95 Cal.App.5th 681, 703-704 [313 Cal.Rptr.3d 649].

• Willful Failure to Perform Duty. People v. Crouch (1980) 108 Cal.App.3d Supp.

14, 21-22 [166 Cal.Rptr. 818].

• Duty Applies Regardless of Fault for Accident. People v. Scofield, supra, 203

Cal. at p. 708.

• “Involved” Defined. People v. Bammes (1968) 265 Cal.App.2d 626, 631 [71

Cal.Rptr. 415]; People v. Sell (1950) 96 Cal.App.2d 521, 523 [215 P.2d 771].

• “Immediately Stopped” Defined. People v. Odom (1937) 19 Cal.App.2d 641,

646-647 [66 P.2d 206].

• Duty to Render Assistance. People v. Scofield, supra, 203 Cal. at p. 708; People

v. Scheer, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th at p. 1027.

• “Permanent, Serious Injury” Defined. Veh. Code, § 20001(d).

• Statute Does Not Violate Fifth Amendment Privilege. California v. Byers (1971)

402 U.S. 424, 434 [91 S.Ct. 1535, 29 L.Ed.2d 9].

• Must Identify Self as Driver. People v. Kroncke, supra, 70 Cal.App.4th at p.

1546.

• Unanimity Instruction Required. People v. Scofield, supra, 203 Cal. at p. 710.

• Unconscious Driver Unable to Comply at Scene. People v. Flores (1996) 51

Cal.App.4th 1199, 1204 [59 Cal.Rptr.2d 637].

• Offense May Occur on Private Property. People v. Stansberry (1966) 242

Cal.App.2d 199, 204 [51 Cal.Rptr. 403].

• Duty Applies to Injured Passenger in Defendant’s Vehicle. People v. Kroncke,

supra, 70 Cal.App.4th at p. 1546.

LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES

• Failure to Stop Following Accident - Injury. Veh. Code, § 20001(b)(1).

• Misdemeanor Failure to Stop Following Accident - Property Damage. Veh. Code,

§ 20002; but see People v. Carter, supra, 243 Cal.App.2d at pp. 242-243.

RELATED ISSUES

Constructive Knowledge of Injury

“[K]nowledge may be imputed to the driver of a vehicle where the fact of personal

injury is visible and obvious or where the seriousness of the collision would lead a

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reasonable person to assume there must have been resulting injuries.” (People v.

Carter, supra, 243 Cal.App.2d at p. 241 [citations omitted].)

Accusatory Pleading Alleged Property Damage

If accusatory pleading alleges property damage (Veh. Code, § 20002), see People v.

Carter, supra, 243 Cal.App.2d at pp. 242-243.

Reasonable Assistance

Failure to render reasonable assistance to an injured person constitutes a violation of

the statute. (People v. Limon (1967) 252 Cal.App.2d 575, 578 [60 Cal.Rptr. 448].)

“In this connection it must be noted that the statute requires that necessary

assistance be rendered.” (People v. Scofield, supra, 203 Cal. at p. 708 [emphasis in

original].) In Scofield, the court held that where other people were caring for the

injured person, the defendant’s “assistance was not necessary.” (Id. at p. 709

[emphasis in original].) An instruction limited to the statutory language on rendering

assistance “is inappropriate where such assistance by the driver is unnecessary, as in

the case where paramedics have responded within moments following the accident.”

(People v. Scheer, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th at p. 1027.) However, “the driver’s duty to

render necessary assistance under Vehicle Code section 20003, at a minimum,

requires that the driver first ascertain what assistance, if any, the injured person

needs, and then the driver must make a reasonable effort to see that such assistance

is provided, whether through himself or third parties.” (Ibid.) The presence of

bystanders who offer assistance is not alone sufficient to relieve the defendant of the

duty to render aid. (Ibid.) “[T]he ‘reasonable assistance’ referred to in the statute

might be the summoning of aid,” rather than the direct provision of first aid by the

defendant. (People v. Limon, supra, 252 Cal.App.2d at p. 578.)

SECONDARY SOURCES

2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against Public

Peace and Welfare, §§ 313-319.

5 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 91,

Sentencing, §§ 91.60[2][b][ii], 91.81[1][d] (Matthew Bender).

6 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 140,

Challenges to Crimes, § 140.03, Ch. 145, Narcotics and Alcohol Offenses,

§ 145.02[3A][a] (Matthew Bender).

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Page last reviewed April 2025