AI-generated summary. We recommend consulting the bill text for important decisions.

Leaving the scene of a car accident — often called a "hit and run" — currently carries a flat class B misdemeanor penalty in Utah when only property damage is involved, but this bill creates a tiered penalty system based on a driver's prior record. Under the new structure, the offense becomes a class A misdemeanor if the driver was convicted within the past 10 years of a prior hit-and-run, a DUI, or related impaired-driving offense, and escalates to a third-degree felony for drivers with multiple prior convictions or a prior felony hit-and-run or DUI. A driver who voluntarily reports the accident to law enforcement within six hours can avoid the enhanced penalty, and self-reporting at any time — even later — counts as a mitigating factor at sentencing. The bill also extends the window for administrative driver's license hearings following a DUI arrest from 29 to 45 days, pushes back the date a suspension takes effect from the 45th to the 60th day after arrest, and specifies that a DUI license hearing cannot be dismissed simply because a peace officer fails to appear.