Utah committee advances substitute bill increasing penalties for hit-and-run crashes and shortens DLD hearing timelines

Representative Eliason introduced a first substitute to House Bill 423, which combines earlier proposals and seeks to reduce the incentive for drivers to flee crash scenes by aligning hit-and-run penalties with the state's DUI code. Eliason told the committee the substitute was intended to remove a perverse incentive in the current code that could make leaving the scene less risky than remaining there if a driver anticipated their blood-alcohol concentration might fall below an impairment threshold.

Brett Robinson, chief policy adviser for the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, told lawmakers that Utah has seen thousands of hit-and-run crashes annually and that the national share of fatal hit-and-run crashes has increased. "If somebody does flee from an accident resulting in injury, if it's a death, it'll result in a second-degree felony.…