Each car owner is responsible for numerous actions in the process of driving. Therefore, he must know the basic rules of behavior in the event of an accident. Often people for various reasons leave the scene of an accident, although this is a significant offense for which serious sanctions are imposed. If there are any casualties in such an accident, then the culprit who left the place where the accident occurred may be prosecuted. Therefore, one should understand when it is possible to leave the accident site for a short period of time, and when serious penalties will be applied to the offender.
Highlights
Before receiving a driver’s license, each driver carefully studies traffic rules, so he should be well aware of what actions they should take when an accident occurs. In Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation indicates that if the driver for any reason leaves the scene of an accident, this is a serious violation. Therefore, the correct sequence of actions in case of an accident is taken into account:
- initially the car must be stopped;
- the emergency light turns on and the warning triangle is displayed;
- the safety of the full picture of the incident is ensured, for which it is not allowed to move various elements and objects;
- if there are victims, then you must immediately call an ambulance;
- police officers are called to properly register the incident ;
- if the driver has the skills, he provides assistance to the injured, and in severe cases, you can stop the passing car to ask the driver to take the injured people to the nearest hospital;
- if the cars that were damaged as a result of the accident block the road, therefore, an obstacle is created for the movement of other cars, then the location of the cars and all the details related to the accident are recorded on the video camera or camera, after which the passage is released;
- then you need to wait until the traffic police come to the place, and at this time you can find eyewitnesses to the accident to take their contract data if necessary.
Therefore, it is not allowed for various reasons to leave the accident scene. Judicial practice on these issues suggests that drivers under such conditions are searched quickly enough, and at the same time not only administrative measures, expressed in fines and deprivation of rights, can be applied to them, but also criminal liability in the presence of victims.
The concept of accident
A traffic accident is represented by an event taking place on a road involving cars. The result of the accident should cause some damage to property or citizens.
Mandatory accident conditions include:
- must certainly participate in the accident car;
- the accident should occur on the road or other part of the cover intended for the movement of cars;
- the car must move before the accident.
Initially, traffic police officers establish whether there was a traffic accident, and later they reveal whether there are any injured persons and whether damage to cars and other property has been caused.
After fixing the accident, the culprit of the accident is determined. It is he who is responsible if an accident occurred in case of non-compliance with traffic rules. If the culprit has completely left the scene of the accident, then it is taken into account whether this was done intentionally or not. In any case, leaving a place of an accident is a serious violation for which a deprivation of an identity card or arrest is assigned. If a citizen took the victims to the hospital, and then returned to the scene of the accident, then different penalties will not be applied to him.
Legislative regulation
Information about what actions the driver leads to leaving the scene of an accident are prescribed in Art. 12.27 Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. This article has three parts. The first part lists all the actions on the basis of which the driver does not fulfill his basic duties in an accident.
The second part is designed specifically to leave a place of an accident. The third part lists the penalties for drivers who, before undergoing a medical examination, took alcohol or prohibited substances in order to calm down.
For what reasons do drivers leave the scene?
There are many reasons why drivers often try to leave the scene of an accident. In this case, there may be unintentional abandonment of the accident scene or intentional. In the first case, with evidence of lack of guilt, serious punishment can be avoided.
Most often, leaving the scene of an accident is carried out for reasons:
- The lack of desire of a citizen to bear responsibility. In this case, there is an intentional abandonment of the accident scene. Article CAO 12.27 includes serious measures of liability for such a violation of the law. Usually this situation occurs in a collision with parked cars. The main reason for this behavior is the desire to avoid punishment and the need to compensate for the damage.
- Hit a pedestrian. If after the incident it is revealed that the person is unconscious, then the driver can decide on the need to hide from the scene of the accident. This is to prevent liability. Often, the driver does not even care to call the doctors or the police. Under such conditions, the punishment will be more severe for leaving the scene of an accident, and it even involves prosecution.
- The driver does not notice the incident. Under such conditions, it is considered unintentional to leave a place of an accident. The driver did not notice a shock or other signs of an accident - such situations are common, and usually this occurs with minor damage. Damage to mirrors or other small parts of cars is usually done. But even under such conditions, the driver who left the scene of the accident is considered an intruder, and therefore held accountable.
Many drivers are confident that if they tell the traffic police that they simply did not notice a blow, they can avoid responsibility. But in fact, according to Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, leaving a place of an accident regardless of the cause is a serious violation. Only certain strictly defined grounds are fixed in the article, allowing to leave this section of the road for a short period of time in order to take the injured to the hospital or perform other significant actions.
Such crimes are often disclosed, since they use video from cameras or eyewitness accounts, so finding the culprit in an accident is usually not difficult for experienced traffic police.
Under what conditions can I leave the scene of an accident with impunity?
There are certain situations where drivers are allowed to leave the scene, but there must be good reason for this. Clause 2.6.1 of the SDA contains the following conditions:
- Self-preparation of documents by accident participants. They fix automobiles and the scene of the incident onto the camera or camera. At the same time, drivers must have a Euro protocol. There should not be any dispute between them who is responsible for such an incident. At Europrotocol, a maximum of 50 thousand rubles is returned, but in the capital and St. Petersburg this value has been increased to 400 thousand rubles. Such leaving a place of an accident without injuries is allowed, and if damage was caused to people, then in any case it will be necessary to use the help of the traffic police.
- One of the participants wants to immediately cover the damage to the injured party. This method is suitable for situations in which an accident does not cause damage to human life or health. Damage to cars is minor, therefore, the culprit of the accident wants to compensate for the damage without drawing up any documents. Under such conditions, a receipt is necessarily formed, confirming that citizens have come to a peace agreement, so not one of them has left the scene of the accident.
- Moving a car to clear the way. If an accident occurs on a busy highway, then cars located on the carriageway may interfere with the movement of other cars. Under such conditions, drivers can take a picture of the scene of the accident and take the help of eyewitnesses to draw up a diagram of the accident. After that, they can rearrange their cars on the sidelines. But at the same time, it is important to prove that indeed cars blocked the movement of cars. If this requirement is not met, then a fine will be imposed for leaving the accident scene without injuries in the amount of 1 thousand rubles.
- There is a need to take the person injured in the accident to the hospital. This is required in emergency cases when it is impossible to use the help of others. Therefore, the accident participant himself decides to take the victim to the nearest hospital. In the front desk, you must name your name and car number. Next, the driver must return to the scene. Often the question arises with such leaving the place of an accident - how to prove innocence? Under such conditions, you can take advantage of the testimony of eyewitnesses and employees of a medical institution. For such actions, the driver is not held liable due to the absence of an accident at the scene.
But how to avoid responsibility for leaving a place of an accident? For this there must be good and significant reason for such an act. All of them are listed above, but under other conditions, you will have to bear responsibility for the violation.
What is the punishment
Any accident is a stress for the participants, but this cannot become an excuse for illegal actions. Fear for the consequences cannot be a good reason for the culprit of the accident to simply leave the place where the accident occurred.
For leaving the scene of an accident, the punishment is considered significant. If a citizen has no good reason for such actions, he will be held accountable. The main penalties include:
- the car owner is deprived of the right to leave the accident scene for a period of one year to one and a half years;
- arrest up to 15 days;
- if, immediately after the accident, the participant in the accident takes alcoholic or prohibited psychotropic substances, which does not allow him to determine his condition at the time of the accident, then a fine of up to 30 thousand rubles will be imposed. and deprivation of the certificate for a period of 1.5 to 2 years.
Thus, each driver must take a responsible approach to how to behave properly after getting into an accident. It depends on what the consequences will be. Leaving the scene is considered a significant violation for which truly serious penalties are imposed.
Are violators quickly found?
Many drivers are confident that if they leave the scene of the accident, then it will be almost impossible to find them. In fact, the traffic police and the police use different methods to find participants in an accident in a short period of time.
Most often there are eyewitnesses or it is possible to find video recordings from cameras. Leaving the scene of the accident will certainly lead to the fact that the investigation begins by the traffic police. For this, other participants in the accident and eyewitnesses are interviewed. All available recordings from cameras are carefully studied, after which a description of the car is compiled.
If there are details, it will not be difficult to find a car, for which the traffic police database is used. The found car is evacuated to a special parking lot until the car owner is found. Rather rarely it is possible to escape from the scene of an accident, so it is advisable to stay in place and cope with the existing consequences yourself.
Disagreement
Often, two disagreements arise between the two participants in an accident, which even traffic police cannot understand. Under such conditions, problems are resolved through the courts. Judicial involvement is required even in the event of a serious accident.
The trial process is divided into stages:
- Initially, an investigation is carried out, for which the accident pattern, the testimonies of witnesses and other data are assessed to determine why one of the participants left the place where the accident occurred;
- the court examines all the evidence and data;
- a guilty verdict is passed, and deprivation of rights for leaving a place of an accident is necessarily carried out, and an arrest for 15 days is often awarded.
The driver who left the scene of the accident will be wanted not only by the traffic police, but also by operatives. There are only two types of consequences for violators, represented by deprivation of their license and arrest up to 15 days.
What changes can be introduced?
A bill is being considered in the State Duma, on the basis of which it is planned to apply the punishment represented by criminal liability for drivers who simply leave after the accident without completing an accident. For this, 2 to 5 years in prison can be assigned.
Now criminal liability may be provided for this violation provided that the driver is hit by a pedestrian or significantly injured in the health or life of the driver of another car. Under such conditions, such behavior is qualified as leaving a citizen in danger - under Art. 125 of the Criminal Code.
Other consequences of violation
If a person simply did not notice the incident, then another participant in the accident when communicating with the traffic police may intentionally distort the picture of the incident. Eyewitnesses may not pay attention to some significant conditions.
All this can lead to the fact that really severe penalties will be imposed. A person can be found guilty of an accident or even harm the health of another person.
Additionally, according to paragraph 78 of the OSAGO Rules, in order to receive compensation from an insurance company, each participant in the accident must remain at the scene of the accident, otherwise compensation will be denied.
When is an arrest scheduled?
A decision is made to arrest solely by the court, as the traffic police have no such authority. If the case of leaving the scene of an accident is considered, then the culprit must be present at the meeting.
In judicial practice, arrest is used in situations where the accident has serious negative consequences, which include the death of citizens or causing substantial harm to human health.
Is a fine imposed?
If the driver leaves the scene of the accident, then either arrest or deprivation of rights for leaving the scene of an accident can be applied to him. Not available in Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses on the possibility of imposing additional penalties. But at the same time, the driver may be fined for related violations.
For example, if the driver does not put an emergency stop sign, and if the car is rearranged without good reason to another place, then a fine of 1 thousand rubles is imposed.
If the cause of the accident was a violation of traffic rules by the perpetrator of the accident, which led to damage to property, health or life of citizens, then a fine of 2.5 to 25 thousand rubles is imposed.
Driving on a sign prohibiting movement, for crossing a double solid line or for driving a car without the presence of an insurance policy also imposes a penalty of fines. Therefore, it is difficult to say exactly what kind of penalty the offender will have to pay, since initially all the circumstances of the situation should be studied.
Limitation period
A car hiding from the place where the accident with its participation was, will be wanted only for three months. According to Art. 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses this period is represented by the limitation period for this violation. After this period, an administrative case will not be opened.
If after three months the culprit of the accident is not found, then the case will be closed.
Conclusion
Leaving the place where the accident occurred is considered a significant violation for which an arrest is ordered, and the driver may also lose his license for a long time. It is allowed to leave only if there are good reasons, for example, when it is required to deliver the victim to the hospital.
The court considers all the circumstances of the case. If the damage caused to another car is minor, then the driver can prove in court that he really did not notice the accident. This may be a mitigating circumstance. Additionally, for various traffic violations, the perpetrator of the accident must pay significant fines.