Didn't notice the accident and left what to do

How can you avoid punishment if you didn’t see how you hit the car and drove away?

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Accidents on the road happen frequently, and no one can predict them. You can collide with another vehicle in a parking lot, leaving your own garage, in your yard, or on the highway.

The driver does not have the right to leave the scene of the accident - this action is considered an administrative offense and is subject to deprivation of his license.

There are situations when leaving the scene of an emergency can be classified as unintentional. Is it possible to somehow avoid punishment in such situations?

How to prove unintentional leaving the scene of an accident

It is impossible to prove the fact of unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident if there are injured citizens or in the event of the death of one of the people.

According to Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, you have the right to start a conversation about proving the unintentionality of the accident only if minor damage was caused to another vehicle.

It should be remembered that in any situation it is worth finding a compromise solution with the injured party and during the trial you can safely appeal with these facts.

The most important thing to do is to decide how the procedure for compensation for damage caused will be carried out. This aspect can safely be considered as a desire to carry out a procedure for resolving this issue without the direct intervention of law enforcement agencies. This fact should be considered as mitigating circumstances.

The court must then be convinced:

that the citizen is aware of the gravity of the offense he committed;
the person responsible for the accident repents of his actions;
the driver admits his guilt.

If there is a lack of visibility, you can safely refer to bad weather conditions, but you will need to obtain a certificate from the nearest weather station in advance. However, the main issue is resolved with the victim.

Any administrative offense has its own statute of limitations; this is regulated by Art. 24.5 of the Administrative Code, and after it no charges should be brought.

The violation provided for in Art. 12.27 of the Administrative Code, that is, leaving the scene of an accident on the road has a statute of limitations, which is equal to 3 months.

When leaving the scene of an accident is considered unintentional

Leaving the scene of an emergency can be considered an unintentional action if for some reason the citizen did not pay attention to what happened.

These reasons include:

bad weather conditions due to which visibility on the roadway was impaired;
loud music in the car that interferes with hearing any other sounds;
The accident was minor, in which there were no characteristic sounds, grinding, knocking, etc.

It will be up to the driver himself or his lawyer to prove that the accident on the road was not intentional. The court makes a final verdict regarding the method of punishment and qualification of the offense.

It is allowed to leave the scene of an accident according to the law if:

This is a minor emergency situation when the decision to compensate for the damage caused was made on the spot without drawing up a protocol. This development of the situation may not turn out in favor of the culprit; the victim has the right to call traffic police officers to the scene of the accident and fill out all the necessary papers. It is unlikely that you will be able to prove that you are right in this situation, so you should discuss all the details with the victim on the spot and take a receipt. It indicates the place and time of the emergency on the road, a number of damages that were received, as well as the total amount of compensation for damage;

A European protocol is being drawn up, which serves as confirmation of an accident on the road. You can draw up this paper even without traffic police officers if two cars are involved in the accident and the damage is estimated at up to 50 thousand rubles. In this case, there should be no injuries and each driver has a compulsory motor liability insurance policy;
if the driver of one of the cars deliberately left the scene of the accident in order to take the injured person to the hospital for medical care. The citizen is obliged, after visiting the hospital, to return to the scene of the accident and take part, together with the traffic inspector, in completing all the necessary papers, as well as in conducting a small investigation, this is stated in clause 2.6 of the traffic rules;

There was a need to clear the road as quickly as possible from the congestion. Before removing the car to some other place, it is necessary to take a video or photo of the place where the accident occurred in the presence of witnesses, and only then draw up a diagram of each of the items that are of particular importance during the investigation procedure.

Each document must be signed by several witnesses of two to four people, indicating their contact information; this is stated in the traffic rules in paragraph 2.6.1. If the requirements to clear the roadway as soon as possible have not been met, the driver will be fined in the amount of 1,000 rubles. Other situations can be safely regarded as deliberately leaving the scene of an accident and the citizen will be punished according to the law of the Russian Federation.

What should you do if you left the scene of an accident without realizing that it was an accident?

When a driver can leave the scene of an accident, read here.

Punishment for unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident

What types of punishment are provided?

For leaving the scene of an accident, administrative punishment will be provided and it is usually assigned regardless of who exactly caused the accident on the road and what kind of punishment the culprit of the accident received.

Penalties

There is no fine for such a violation.

Detention

A citizen who deliberately left the scene of an accident, according to Art. 12.27 of the Administrative Code may be arrested for up to 15 days. Usually, a period of several days is determined before the court; if a relapse occurs, then it can be extended to ten days, but no more.

The procedure for deprivation of rights

Instead of detention, the driver may be deprived of his license for a period of 1.5 years. As judicial practice shows, today this punishment is more common than ordinary arrest. Detention can be carried out if the citizen does not have a driver’s license with him.

But in each individual case, the judge can choose at his own discretion the punishment that he considers the most fair measure of influence.

What grounds could there be for holding someone accountable?

A citizen can be arrested for up to 15 days only if he fled the scene of an accident for an unexcused reason and his number was remembered by another participant in the conflict situation or witnesses.

What happens to leaving the scene of an accident on the roadway?

There are two main types of administrative punishment for leaving the scene of an accident, but for the driver of the car (participant in the accident) it is important to look at the situation from the outside, as well as in conjunction with other conditions of the incident that the court will pay attention to when passing a sentence. We will look at the main situations that can usually be found on the roads.

The driver unintentionally left the car on the road

A citizen has the right to unintentionally leave the scene of an accident only if he did not notice a collision with another car and did not understand that an accident had occurred. If it is proven in court that the driver was simply inattentive while driving, then no administrative punishment will follow.

On the other hand, unintentional leaving of an accident on the road can only be proven if minor damage was caused to the car, there are no witnesses or injured people who could confirm the opposite.

Minor damage

If an emergency situation occurs with minor damage, in such a situation the driver has every right to leave the scene of the accident and not even call the patrol. This is only possible if the parties entered into a written agreement, which identified one culprit and the other participant in the accident, and spelled out the issue regarding the procedure for paying for material damage.

The agreement can be called valid and at the same time undisputed if the parties to the conflict have found a compromise solution. If there is no agreement and compensation for losses has not been made, then the driver who left the scene of the accident will bear administrative responsibility for the actions committed.

In a situation with a stranger in a parking lot

If an unknown person in the parking lot damaged your vehicle, there may be two scenarios:

you were not driving at that moment, then you can safely leave the scene of the accident;
if you were driving a car at the immediate moment of the collision, then you should call the traffic police.

But if the driver who caused damage to the car fled the scene of the crime, you should contact the traffic police to restore a complete picture and find out all the circumstances of the case, starting with the identity of the offender. These actions are necessary to obtain monetary compensation for the damage caused.

No damage

As a result of the emergency, no property was damaged, except for the personal vehicle of the person responsible for the accident, then you should contact the traffic police, but it is not at all necessary to remain at the scene of the accident. If the fact of an emergency is noticed and a trial is held in open order, the driver will still not be punished for such an offense.

In the courtyard

An accident can happen in the courtyard of a house; in such a situation, you cannot leave the scene of the accident. However, depending on the severity of the consequences of the accident, you can have a conversation with your neighbor and decide without drawing up a European protocol.

No injuries

There are no casualties in the emergency. This increases several times the chances of the culprit avoiding responsibility and punishment under the law. You can safely discuss drawing up a European protocol or call the traffic police if something doesn’t suit you.

Examples from judicial practice on leaving the scene of an accident

Modern judicial practice knows many different examples that have been associated with the consideration of a number of offenses called leaving the scene of an accident. Here are a few.

Example 1 (proves that it is always necessary to conduct a dialogue between participants in an accident)

The situation occurred in St. Petersburg.

An emergency situation occurred on one of the city streets between two vehicles that belonged to individuals. The damage turned out to be minor, and one of the drivers left the scene because he did not pay attention to the fact of the accident.

Another driver called the traffic police. An investigation was carried out, an independent examination was carried out and the second participant in the accident was found. The court sentenced the inattentive driver to deprive the driver of the right to drive a car for 1 year.

The accused filed a cassation appeal and during the retrial, the accused admitted guilt and compensated for material damage to the party who suffered.

In court, the driver of the damaged car announced that he had no claims against the culprit, and he did not mind at all if the citizen was released from administrative punishment. The city court decided to overturn the magistrate's decision and limit the issue to a verbal warning.

Example 2 (when the accident scene was left unintentionally)

The situation occurred in the city of Novosibirsk.

A regular bus with a total capacity of one hundred passengers and a passenger car collided on a busy street. The bus driver drove on, not paying attention to the fact of the accident, but the driver of the car called the traffic police.

As a result of this action, the bus driver was held accountable and a criminal case was opened against him. The victim was the driver of the car, who did not appear at the court hearing and allowed the case to be preliminarily considered without him.

The bus driver managed to prove the fact that he simply did not notice the accident, since the bus was large and the driver of the car did not give him any signals to stop.

Witnesses confirmed this information, moreover, the damage to the car was completely insignificant and the bus driver is ready to carry out the compensation procedure. The court closed the case due to the lack of corpus delicti.

Leaving the scene of an accident may be considered minor if a minor accident occurs.

If there are injuries or deaths, leaving the scene of the accident can be considered intentional and is a significantly aggravating factor that has a negative impact on the court's verdict. A skillful approach helps mitigate the court's decision.

What to do if you didn’t notice the accident and drove away

Road traffic accidents are those unwanted situations that happen more and more every year.

Dear readers! The article talks about typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to find out how to solve your particular problem , contact a consultant:

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They can catch up not only on the road, but also in the yard, in parking spaces, when leaving the yard, and the list goes on for a long time.

Leaving the scene of an accident by one of the motorists is a fairly serious violation of the regulations of the Code of Administrative Offenses, for which there is a risk of punishment.

But it should be borne in mind that leaving the scene of an accident is not always regarded as intentional, because even the law in certain cases allows motorists to leave.

This article is devoted to such situations when a motorist unintentionally leaves the scene of an accident. We will talk about penalties, when there are consequences, how you can prove your innocence, and also give an example from judicial practice.

The information provided will be useful for all drivers, because no one is immune from unforeseen situations, so you should know how to deal with them correctly.

What is considered unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident?

Unintentional leaving the scene of a traffic accident is considered when a motorist accidentally causes an accident.

The reason for this could be objective factors:

bad weather conditions affecting visibility;
listening to loud music in the car, which interferes with hearing other sounds;
a minor collision, when it was not felt, there was no grinding, knocking or other signs.

The motorist proves the unintentionality of his actions independently or with the help of a car lawyer. Only a judicial authority can classify a driver’s actions as an offense.

Leaving the scene of a traffic accident (according to the current Code of Administrative Offenses) is possible in the following cases:

The accident was minor, the drivers agreed peacefully to smooth out the conflict and went their separate ways. But if the victim changes his mind and calls the police, then the situation will turn against the culprit. Then he will not be able to prove oral agreements, so it is appropriate to take a signature indicating all the circumstances of the accident and the terms of compensation, as well as draw up a European protocol (Article 2.6 of the Traffic Regulations).
One of the drivers left the scene of the incident in order to hospitalize the victim in a medical facility for emergency care. But even after this, he is obliged to return to assist in the investigation.
If necessary, clear traffic on the road. But before this, you should take a photo or video to draw up a diagram of the accident; such measures will further facilitate a correct and quick investigation. If the requirements for clearing the roadway are not met, then this will result in a fine of 1,000 rubles (Article 12.27 of the Administrative Code).

If the reasons for deprivation of the scene of the incident are not indicated in the list, then they are unlawful and are punishable by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Is there a penalty for involuntary deprivation of the scene of an accident? Yes, it is provided for by Article 12.27 of the Administrative Code. The concept of “unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident” does not exist in the legislation.

Such a violation of administrative law is punishable by:

But if you use the help of an experienced car lawyer, you have a chance to prove that your actions were unintentional and receive a fine of up to 1,000 rubles. But the correctness of an action can only be proven in court.

With minor

To avoid any serious penalties for unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident punishment in 2019, it is necessary to justify the insignificance of the scale of the incident, that is, show that the vehicles received minimal damage, and people did not suffer any injuries.

In such cases, you should use the opinion of an independent expert, which determines the amount of damages. Most situations end with the court issuing only a verbal warning.

It is recommended to seek help from auto lawyers who can competently build a line of defense. You can prove your innocence on your own, but this will require certain knowledge and effort.

With the victims

An accident on the road, as a result of which people were injured and the driver left the scene of the accident, is considered a serious crime.

There is practically no need to prove the unintentionality of your actions, because it is quite difficult. The only mitigating aspect may be the victims' need for emergency medical care.

If there is no such reason for the motorist who left the scene of the accident, then he faces deprivation of his driver's license. The period of confiscation also depends on other circumstances that arose during the accident.

The following may also mitigate the circumstances:

Sincere confession and repentance of the offender at the stage of preliminary investigation.
Independent statement to law enforcement officers about their own actions.
Assistance to the investigation.
Voluntary compensation for losses to victims before the trial, but with a receipt.
Convey that all actions after the attack were under the influence of strong excitement - in a state of passion.
The crime was committed by a minor driver, or a pregnant woman, or a young mother.

But it should be taken into account that it will not be possible to completely avoid punishment in any of the above cases, but there is hope for mitigating the consequences.

Where to get an international driver's license in 2019, read here.

Fatal

Road traffic accidents that result in the death of one or more participants are considered a serious crime for the perpetrator of the accident, so these persons, in order to circumvent the impending punishment, leave the scene of the incident.

But after they are discovered by law enforcement, they face arrest and even harsher punishment.

After this, it will not be possible to prove the unintentionality of escaping from the crime scene, because this will be a clear attempt to hide from responsibility. As a result, the term of imprisonment may increase.

How to prove

You should immediately understand that it is absolutely impossible to prove the unintentionality of your actions related to deprivation of the scene of an accident if there are people injured or killed as a result of the collision.

Therefore, Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is triggered only in cases where minor damage is caused to the vehicle.

Then it is recommended to come to an agreement with the victims, jointly contribute to the investigation, so that during the trial, they are guided by common facts.

First, you need to agree on compensation for losses resulting from the accident and pay compensation before the court hearing.

Such actions will certainly be regarded as the desire of the guilty party to peacefully resolve the issue that has arisen without the intervention of authorized law enforcement agencies. This is regarded as a mitigating circumstance.

Next, the hearing must be convinced of the following:

in the awareness by the culprit of the incident of the seriousness of his own offense;
in the repentance of the guilty party for what was committed;
in full recognition of his own guilt in the case.

It is better to use the services of an experienced car lawyer who can competently build a line of defense.

It is necessary to remember not only that only the human factor was involved in the incident, but it is important to take into account the weather conditions that deteriorated at the time of the collision and deprivation of the accident site, based on information from the local meteorological station.

But the most important thing is to come to an agreement with the injured party. According to Article 24.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, each violation has its own statute of limitations; when it expires, it is impossible to file a lawsuit for such an offense.

Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses states that hiding from the scene of a road accident has a statute of limitations of up to 3 months. You should take this into account and delay the proceedings in every possible way.

Examples from judicial practice

Nowadays, judicial practice is regularly updated with new examples. And they are not unique, but rather typical. Many of them relate to deprivation of the scene of an accident. Let's consider and analyze several examples.

Situation 1

There was a traffic accident with minor consequences. Both vehicles are privately owned.

One of the motorists “fled” from the scene of the crime because he did not notice what had happened. The second motorist called authorized law enforcement officers.

The investigation and examinations contributed to the discovery of the escaped vehicle. The goal has been achieved. During the trial, a sentence would be imposed in the form of confiscation of the driver's license for a period of 12 months.

The accused exercised his right to appeal. When the case was reconsidered, he admitted his own guilt in the crime and made compensation for damages.

During the court hearing, the injured party did not make any claims against the culprit and did not object to his acquittal of an administrative offense. As a result, the culprit received only a verbal warning.

Situation 2

The minor collision involved a regular bus with hundreds of passengers and a passenger vehicle. The bus driver left the scene because he did not even notice the incident.

The victim called the law enforcement officers to the scene of the accident, as a result of which they filed a case and brought it to a court hearing. The injured party was not present at the hearing on the administrative offense.

The culprit of the accident built a line of defense based on the parameters of his vehicle, and also proved that the victim himself did not give signals to attract his attention. The case was closed according to the judge's verdict, because there was no corpus delicti in it.

It is possible to leave the scene of a traffic accident with impunity only if there are minor losses to the property of the participants, in the absence of injury to human health.

If the reason for leaving the scene of an accident is not included in the list of articles of the Code of Administrative Offences, and the consequences are serious.

It is possible to mitigate the penalty only if there is evidence that factors were at work that prevented the fact of the incident from being recognized, or that there was an urgent need to leave the scene of the road accident.

To guarantee more effective protection, it is advisable to use the qualified services of a car lawyer, assist in the investigation, and agree on peaceful compensation for all consequences.

For a breakdown of the categories of the new 2019 driver's license, see the page.

Find out where to go to replace your driver's license from this information.

Video: If you are accused of leaving the scene of an accident (05.25.12)

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Left the scene of the accident without noticing

An accident occurred and the culprit left the scene of the accident? Today this situation is not uncommon. This is usually a deliberate act on the part of the perpetrator. But it also happens when a car owner leaves the scene of an accident without noticing that his car caused damage. The difficulty is that since such behavior of the participants in the accident is considered an administrative offense, the liability for it will be quite serious. Our company knows what to do if you ignored an accident without noticing the moment of the incident. And so that leaving an accident without attention does not entail serious sanctions, you should contact us.

Is it possible to leave the scene of an accident without noticing the accident?

A road accident seems to most ordinary people to be a fairly serious incident, which entails significant damage to vehicles, cargo, structures, as well as damage to the life and health of people. Accordingly, the reason why the participants in the event left the scene of the accident seems quite clear - an attempt to avoid punishment and compensation for damage. In such a situation, judicial sanctions, even the most severe, seem quite fair.

The fact that the driver left the scene of the accident without noticing what had happened seems incredible. Meanwhile, statistics know many cases of unintentional neglect of minor road accidents. One of the most common situations: in a parking lot in front of a shopping center, a car got into the “blind” zone of the mirrors, and the driver “rubbed” someone else’s car. Such an incident is also classified as an accident. And the punishment for this will be established under the same article as for motorists who left the scene of an accident in which significant material and moral damage was caused or people died. There are quite a few similar cases.

In a situation where the driver did this by mistake, our team will help avoid punishment. A qualified road accident lawyer will build a line of defense, help you find mitigating circumstances and get the case dismissed. If you have already been deprived of your rights, then we will be able to appeal the court’s decision and return your rights ahead of schedule.

Possible consequences

If you leave the scene of an accident without noticing the damage caused, then the law considers your actions as an offense. There is a clear procedure for action in case of an accident, which must be followed not only by those responsible for the accident, but also by the injured drivers. If this order has been violated, the court may apply the following types of sanctions to you:

deprive of rights. Moreover, the period is quite long - from one year to one and a half years;
restrict freedom for 15 days.

In such situations, human rights activists speak out unequivocally: if the driver left the scene of an accident, then this is a serious mistake on his part. And even if you are not the culprit of the accident, leaving the scene of the accident can turn against you.

If you find yourself in such an unpleasant situation, you should remember that some cases do not provide for punishment for the driver leaving the scene of an accident:

the so-called “European protocol”. If you have a compulsory motor liability insurance policy and if the accident did not cause damage to life and health, it is quite possible to cope with the situation without calling the traffic police. In this case, a special form is filled out, which confirms that you followed the rules of conduct in connection with an accident;
Emergency assistance is required and victims must be taken to hospital. However, the driver must return and wait for the police.

In other cases, the fact that the participant in the accident left the accident without waiting for the traffic police is considered as a failure to fulfill duties. And the court, when making a decision, examines all the circumstances of the incident. And in some cases, penalties may also be applied to the driver who fled.

Contact an experienced lawyer if you left the scene of an accident

If the driver left the scene of an accident, then only a professional approach will allow you to cope with the problem that has arisen. There are always many subtleties in such matters, which an unprepared person cannot take into account. Since the number of accidents on the roads is constantly growing, judges, when deciding on a driver who has driven away, usually tend to revoke the driver's license.

Practice shows that attempts to independently defend oneself in court are mostly unsuccessful. Our team has been working with cases of driver's license revocation for many years. Our case success rate ranks us among the best in our field. Therefore, you can be sure that your interests will be protected by professionals.

will give detailed advice and tell you how to avoid punishment or mitigate it specifically in your case;
will help you obtain all the materials on the case;
build an effective line of defense;
will exclude incorrectly formatted materials from the case;
reclassifies the violation as minor;
resolves disputes with other participants in the incident.

In addition, we are ready to protect you by proxy. This means that you can avoid participating in meetings and save your time and nerves. If you are facing penalties for leaving the scene of an accidental accident, then you should contact us immediately. In this case, we will be able to prevent negative consequences and you will avoid deprivation of rights. If a court ruling has already been made, experienced auto lawyers will help you file an appeal and get your rights back.

Among the advantages of cooperation with us:

attentive and professional attitude towards your business. Our employees will do everything to ensure that your legal problems are resolved quickly, efficiently and at a minimum cost;
initial consultation regarding your chances of winning the case;
100% confidentiality.

If you left the scene of an accident by mistake and don’t know what to do now, contact us. Our company is the best choice in situations involving automobile disputes. Entrust your legal defense to us, and the result will not be long in coming!

Left the scene of an accident without noticing the incident: responsibility and procedure

Since many mistakes are made while driving, you need to know how to correct them. This article will describe in detail what is the best thing to do if you fled the scene of an accident without realizing that this was what it was. Of fundamental importance in such a situation is the fact of the voluntary appearance of the offender. In some cases, those who provoked an accident even manage to avoid punishment. Read about all this, as well as when you can leave the scene of an accident, in our review.

What to do if you left the scene of an accident without noticing damage

Not every contact with another vehicle may be noticed by the driver. As a result, most problems arise for responsible car owners. Most often, they are faced with a situation where they scratched someone else’s car, but did not notice it themselves and left the scene of the accident. That is, in a particular case there is an unintentional offense.

Leaving the scene of an accident, regardless of its severity, is an administrative offense. Responsibility for it is regulated by the Code of Administrative Offenses (Administrative Code, paragraph 2 of Article 12.27). Therefore, the perpetrator needs to know how to minimize the severity of the consequences of his unintentional offense. In this case, everything depends on the efficiency of the victim. If he realizes that he has become involved in an accident and promptly addresses this problem to the relevant authorities, then he must be prepared to bear responsibility.

However, in some cases, luck may smile on the offender. If the driver hit the car and disappeared without causing heavy damage to the victim’s property or causing harm to human health, then this offense has the status of an administrative one. There is a certain statute of limitations for it, after which claims cannot be brought against the culprit. This is stated in Art. 4.5 Code of Administrative Offenses (clause 1) :

A decision in a case of an administrative offense cannot be made after two months (in a case of an administrative offense considered by a judge - after three months) from the date of commission of the administrative offense... for violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation on road safety...

That is, if more than 2 (or 3, if the case was heard in court) months have passed since the moment of a minor accident, then the culprit can simply forget about the incident.

If the statute of limitations has not yet passed, then the law-abiding citizen who is at fault for the accident, in order to mitigate the punishment, must voluntarily appear at the traffic police and report the act committed if he somehow learned about it. According to Art. 4.2 (parts 1.3, 1.4) of the Administrative Code , this is a mitigating circumstance:

Circumstances mitigating administrative liability are recognized as: ... 3) voluntary reporting by the person who committed the administrative offense to the body authorized to carry out proceedings in the case of an administrative offense, about the administrative offense committed;

4) assistance by the person who committed the administrative offense to the body authorized to carry out proceedings in the case of an administrative offense in establishing the circumstances to be established in the case of an administrative offense.

What happens if you flee the scene of an accident without knowing that you hit a car?

The consequences of such an incident can be more than serious. For those who still do not know the consequences of unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident in 2019, we recommend that you refer to the legislative framework. Creature of paragraph 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses has an unambiguous interpretation:

Leaving by a driver, in violation of the Traffic Rules, the scene of a traffic accident in which he was a participant, in the absence of signs of a criminal offense, entails deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period of one to one and a half years or administrative arrest for a period of up to fifteen days.

The punishment for the culprit of an accident for escaping from the scene of an accident in a parking lot is similar to the punishment for the same violation on the road. At the same time, no consideration is given to the fact that the perpetrator may not have noticed the incident. If there were witnesses to the accident, the culprit can be determined quite quickly.

However, this is not all the consequences of the offense when the driver left the scene of the accident without permission. In such a situation, the insurance company has the right to shift the responsibility for making insurance payments to the driver who did not notice the accident and disappeared.

When can you leave the scene of an accident?

You should know that even moving your car a few meters to the side before the arrival of traffic police officers (or drawing up a European protocol) is interpreted by law as leaving the scene of an accident. Therefore, this cannot be done, even if the incident causes a traffic jam, until the accident is recorded by the traffic police or a European protocol is drawn up.

Section 2.6 of the Traffic Regulations prescribes when you can leave the scene of an accident before performing the above actions:

If people are killed or injured as a result of a road traffic accident, the driver involved in it is obliged to: ... in emergency cases, send the victims on a passing one, and if this is not possible, deliver them in his vehicle to the nearest medical organization ... and return to the scene of the incident; clear the roadway if the movement of other vehicles is impossible, having previously recorded, including by means of photography or video recording, the position of the vehicles in relation to each other and road infrastructure, traces and objects related to the incident.

Conclusion - you can leave the scene of an accident in the following situations:

The participants in the accident mutually agreed that the damage was so insignificant that the fact of the incident did not need to be recorded. The best option in such a situation is the mutual exchange of receipts confirming the absence of claims against each other. This is necessary to prevent possible misunderstandings in the future;
The drivers (participants in the accident) by mutual decision decided not to involve traffic police officers, but to draw up a Europrotocol. After recording all the details of the incident using a written description in the Europrotocol, video or photography, drivers can leave the scene of the accident;
Those involved in the accident called the traffic police. They can leave the scene after the fact of the accident has been recorded by police officers and verbal permission has been received;
If necessary, take the injured participant in the accident to a medical facility. institution or clear the road for the movement of other vehicles.

All other reasons for fleeing the scene of an accident are illegal, and in such cases you will have to bear responsibility.

Judicial practice on unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident

Judicial practice on hiding from the scene of an accident has many examples. Most often, the occurrence of such situations is provoked by drivers’ ignorance of traffic rules.

Example one . Gr. Ivanov, driving out of the supermarket parking lot, slightly touched the fender of a standing car with no one in it. Gr. Ivanov decided to take his 3-year-old child, who was with him, home and return to the parking lot. To this end, he left a note with his phone number under the windshield wiper of the car he scratched. Arriving at the parking lot, the owner of the damaged car called the traffic police. Despite the fact that the culprit returned to the scene of the incident, he was deprived of the right to drive a car for a year in accordance with Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offences. The court did not recognize the reason for leaving the scene of the accident as valid.

Example two . Gr. Sidorov, making maneuvers to leave a parking spot in his yard, backed up and bumped his rear bumper into his neighbor’s car. Without noticing this, he left for work. Some time later, he received a call from an acquaintance who saw what happened. Gr. Sidorov voluntarily came to the traffic police department, where he informed the employees about the current situation. As a result, after the trial, taking into account mitigating circumstances (Article 4.2 of the Administrative Code), the court did not deprive Ms. Sidorov driver's license.

The conclusions from all of the above are clear - you need to not only be extremely careful, but if ambiguous situations arise, find the courage to return to the scene of a possible incident to find out if everything is in order. If there has been minor damage to someone else’s property, and someone can confirm this, you should immediately report to the traffic police.

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What happens if you didn’t notice an accident and drove away: judicial practice

It is difficult not to notice a collision with another car. This is evidenced by a blow, a change in the trajectory of movement, and characteristic sounds. In 99% of cases, if a driver leaves the scene of an accident, he will be punished under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. You can avoid deprivation of rights if you prove the absence of guilt. Read the article on how to protect your rights if you didn’t notice the accident and drove away.

Is your license revoked if you leave the scene of an accident and don’t notice any damage?

Yes, they are deprived, and it is extremely difficult to challenge the court’s decision. The law harshly prosecutes drivers who try to escape from the scene of an accident without taking part in paperwork or providing assistance to victims. I would like to note right away that an attempt to avoid punishment for violating traffic rules in this way is almost always doomed to failure. According to video cameras, recorders and eyewitness testimony, the driver who left will be quickly found and his license will be deprived for a period of 1 to 1.5 years.

Here's what the law says about leaving the scene of an accident:

clause 7.2 of the traffic rules stipulates that every participant in an accident is obliged to immediately stop his car, not move it, put up emergency signs, and turn on the alarm;
You can leave the scene of the accident or move the car if this is required to deliver victims to the hospital or remove obstacles to the movement of other cars;
according to paragraphs 2.5-2.6.1 of the traffic rules, if one of the participants left the scene of the incident, a traffic police inspector must be called.

Note! Notification of an accident, including under the Europrotocol program, is not issued unilaterally. It is understood that the absence of the second driver means that he deliberately disappeared, trying to avoid punishment and establishing a picture of the incident. Even if there were legal grounds for leaving the scene of the collision, the departing car owner will have to prove his innocence.

Upon the absence of the second driver, a protocol is drawn up under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. If the accident results in the death of people or serious harm to health, a criminal case is initiated. Since the potential culprit is absent, he is deprived of the opportunity to immediately present evidence in his defense and explain that he unintentionally drove away from the scene of the accident without noticing the damage.

In legal proceedings, the legality of drawing up the protocol can be challenged. Practice shows that only in exceptional cases will the court take into account the arguments of the offender. However, using the Supreme Court Resolution dated September 22, 2016 in case No. 38-AD16-5, and other judicial acts, it is possible to build a line of defense and prove that leaving the scene of an accident occurred unintentionally. It is almost impossible to do this without the support of a lawyer, so immediately contact experienced specialists.

In what cases can you not notice the damage and drive away?

If we consider cases where a car owner deliberately flees the scene of an accident, it is difficult to prove innocence and avoid deprivation of rights. The only real defense may be the expiration of the statute of limitations for prosecution. However, traffic police specialists have long stopped making basic procedural errors; they transfer administrative material to the court immediately after establishing the identity of the violator.

We will figure out how you can prove that you left the scene of an accident without noticing the fact of the collision and damage. In practice, such cases may arise:

due to the insignificance of contact between two vehicles - for example, a second of friction between cars, contact with a bumper or other part of the car;
due to noise from road traffic, when the characteristic sounds of crackling, ringing, grinding are objectively impossible to hear;
due to the specific dimensions of your vehicle (for example, in case No. 38-AD16-5 we were talking about a trolleybus, whose dimensions and design create many blind spots);
in a non-contact accident when damage is caused to only one car - for example, if a load flying off your car damages another car.

Without noticing the external manifestations of the contact and the resulting damage, you may not pay attention to the signals of the victim and other road users. The situation will be even more difficult when there was no driver in the damaged car (for example, if it was parked on the road or in another place).

Legal advice . Having unintentionally left the scene of an accident, you cannot immediately indicate the absence of fault in the protocol and notice. Therefore, it is important to receive subpoenas, notifications from the traffic police or from the insurer in a timely manner. Knowing the date of the hearing, you can prepare evidence and find an experienced lawyer. Having ignored participation in the court of first instance, it is much more difficult to succeed on appeal.

If you find damage to the car already in the garage or after stopping, study the recording on the DVR (if you have one). Try to remember the entire path of movement, the possible location of the collision. It would be wise to return along the route. If the accident happened in the next few minutes or hours, there is a possibility that your absence has not yet been noticed. In this case, call the traffic police inspector yourself and participate in drawing up the protocol. It is easier to pay a fine for violating traffic rules than to prove innocence when deprived of rights under Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

How to prove innocence if you drove away and didn’t notice the accident

If you have received a subpoena, we advise you to come immediately and familiarize yourself with the case materials and make copies of documents. This will allow you to assess the seriousness of the charges, choose a defense tactic, prepare evidence, and contact a lawyer. In my practice, there have been cases when a completely unrelated driver was brought to justice. The victim’s video recorder showed only the general outline and color of the culprit’s car, without license plate numbers or other identifiers. When considering this case, all doubts were interpreted by the court in favor of the client, and we achieved a refusal to deprive of rights under Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Legal advice . It is quite difficult to establish the identity of a driver who left the scene of an accident. It is almost impossible to prove who exactly was driving using camera or dash cam recordings. Therefore, traffic police officers have the right to draw up a protocol against the owner of the car if the evidence contains a license plate number or other identifier. The owner will have to prove that the car was driven by another person by proxy.

Based on the case materials, you can begin preparing for the trial. As stated in the Resolution in Case No. 38-AD16-5, the guilt of violating traffic rules lies in the deliberate nature of leaving the scene of the accident. The driver must be aware that he is breaking the law, knowingly allowing it to happen, or demonstrating indifference. If you did not notice the accident and drove away, you can prove the absence of guilt in the following ways:

order an examination of the damage to your car (they may not coincide with scratches, cracks or other defects on the victim’s car);
provide evidence that on the day specified in the protocol you were in another city or region (for example, on a business trip);
provide a description of the road situation at the scene of the accident, i.e. constant and active traffic, the presence of noisy production, railway transport routes;
describe the design features of your vehicle that make it impossible to see some damage and impact locations;
take to court a recording from your registrar, which does not contain any external manifestations of impacts or collisions;
call witnesses who also did not notice the moment of contact with another car (for example, you can invite the passengers of your car).

Note! The law obliges to interpret all doubts and inconsistencies in the case in favor of the offender. It is difficult to count on this in the first instance, but higher courts can evaluate such moments. Therefore, when speaking during the trial, insist that all your arguments and explanations be included in the protocol.

If you were driving public or official transport, take your waybills and route certificates to the court. This will confirm that even without noticing the damage and leaving the scene of the accident, you acted unintentionally and followed the usual route of travel. You can also refer to the post-trip inspection, which did not reveal any damage to the body or parts of the vehicle.

Is it possible to challenge the punishment?

Even after presenting the above evidence, it is impossible to guarantee a positive outcome of the case. It is better to consider in advance the prospects for further appeal if you are deprived of your rights under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. If there are documents, records and your explanations in the case materials, they must be referred to in complaints. Naturally, at all stages of the appeal, use the support of a lawyer, as you will have to use additional defense options.

Arbitrage practice

To this article we have attached a copy of the Resolution of the RF Supreme Court in case No. 38-AD16-5. Be sure to look into it if you are charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Although the court considered a specific case regarding a trolleybus driver, most of the conclusions can be applied to other situations. We also recommend that you study our previous material, in which we talked about methods of defense in case of deprivation of rights for fleeing the scene of an accident.

Judicial practice in cases when it comes to unintentionally leaving the scene of an accident takes into account the following points:

consistency of the defendant’s position (for example, if from the first day onwards you stated in documents that you unintentionally drove away without noticing the accident, and did not change your position);
lack of direct evidence that it was your vehicle that caused damage to the victim’s car;
bias and one-sided description of the circumstances of the accident made by police officers (for example, if recordings from video recording cameras from the road were not requested, eyewitnesses were not interviewed).

Remember, if the driver left the scene of an accident without noticing the collision or damage, he is not guilty of violating traffic rules. By starting your defense in a timely manner, you will be able to achieve a positive court decision.

If you need help with Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, although you left the scene of an accident without noticing this moment, contact our lawyers. Consultation can be obtained by calling the numbers listed on the website or using the feedback form. Do not delay contacting lawyers, as this will reduce the chances of fighting off the deprivation of rights.