A classical treatment of inelastic collisions between neutral atoms and charged particles is presented. Detailed balance between the rates for the forward and reverse transitions is satisfied. The theory is used to calculate the cross sections for ionization of atomic hydrogen by electron and proton impact, and for the excitation by electrons of various levels of hydrogen. Comparison of the results with the Born cross sections and experimental data shows that the theoretical description is fairly successful for inelastic transitions to the continuum or to a discrete level sufficiently close to the continuum.