Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-26-3 (2026)

Duty to give information and render aid

✓ current as of July 2026
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(a) The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in the striking of, the injury to, or death of any person or damage to any vehicle which is driven or attended by any person shall, upon request, give his or her name, address, and the registration number of the vehicle the driver is driving and shall exhibit his or her operator’s or chauffeur’s license to the person struck, or to the driver or occupant, or to the person attending any vehicle collided with. The driver shall render to any person injured or struck in an accident reasonable assistance, and shall immediately, by the quickest means of communication known to the driver or which should have reasonably been known to the driver to be available in the locality, give notice of the accident to a nearby office of local or state police. In the event the office so notified does not have jurisdiction of the locale of the accident, it shall be the duty of the officer receiving the notice to immediately give notice of the accident to the office having jurisdiction.

(b) The officer receiving the notice set forth in subsection (a) of this section shall, if the circumstances reasonably require, immediately dispatch an ambulance or emergency medical service to the scene of the accident. Any police or fire department responding to a call for emergency medical service or assistance to a person injured in an accident shall continue to the locale of the accident even though it is outside the jurisdiction of the department and shall render any emergency service that is reasonably necessary.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1973–2014 · leading case: State v. Baker, 627 A.2d 835 (R.I. 1993).
State v. Baker, 627 A.2d 835 (R.I. 1993). · cites it 4× “1956 (1982 Reenactment) § 31-26-1 and § 31-26-3. On April 30, 1988, a bachelor party was held at the North Kingstown Country Club (club) in honor of the final days of bachelorhood of William Slater, Jr.”
State v. Smyth, 397 A.2d 497 (R.I. 1979). “1956 (1968 Reenactment) §31-26-3 (Supp. 1977), which states in pertinent part: “The driver * * * shall, upon request, give his name, address and the registration number of the vehicle he is driving and shall exhibit his operator’s or chauffeur’s license to the person struck or…”
State of Rhode Island ex rel. Town of Little Compton v. David Simmons, 87 A.3d 412 (R.I. 2014). · cites it 2× “1956 § 31-14-1; and failing to report an accident, in violation of G.L.1956 § 31-26-3. Before the District Court, the defendant moved to dismiss the case, contending that the officers had unlawfully arrested him in Tiverton, where they lacked the authority to do so.”
State v. Nidever, 390 A.2d 368 (R.I. 1978). “tment) § 31-26-1(a) which provides: "The driver of any vehicle knowingly involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident or as close thereto as possible but shall then forthwith return to and…”
State v. Rose, 311 A.2d 281 (R.I. 1973). “— (a) The driver of any vehicle knowingly involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident or as close thereto as possible but shall then forthwith return to and in every event shall remain at…”
State v. Bleau, 649 A.2d 215 (R.I. 1994). “is § 31-26-1, and it provides: “(a) The driver of any vehicle knowingly involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident or as close thereto as possible but shall then forthwith return to and…”
State v. Szarek, 433 A.2d 193 (R.I. 1981). “208, § 1, and it provides: “(a) The driver of any vehicle knowingly involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident or as close thereto as possible but shall then forthwith return to and in…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.