Responsibility for leaving the scene of an accident in a parking lot

What does it mean to leave the scene of an accident?

Sometimes car owners get into accidents. For example, they hit a pedestrian, collide with another car on the road, or scratch it in a parking lot. If you leave immediately after this, the driver is considered to have left the scene of the accident. This is a gross violation.

Drunk drivers often try to escape, since the punishment for drunk driving is stricter - a 30,000 ruble fine and imprisonment for two years.

You cannot leave the scene of an accident, but you can move the car. Moreover, the driver is obliged to do this if it interferes with the passage of other cars and no people are injured. Here's how the concepts differ:

leaving a place - the car hit another and drove away;
moving - the car hit another and drove to the side of the road so as not to block the road.

Deprivation of rights for leaving the scene of an accident

Period of deprivation. If the driver leaves the scene of an accident, they may lose their license for one and a half years.

It happens like this:

the participant in the accident fled;
the inspector, based on the complaint of the remaining participants in the accident, draws up a protocol and submits the case to the court;
The judge decides on the punishment.

The judge will consider how dangerous the consequences of the accident were to society. If no people were injured, then instead of imprisonment they may be sentenced to 15 days of arrest in a special detention center.

Return of a driver's license after revocation. To get your rights back you will have to:

pass the theoretical exam at the traffic police when half the term has passed;
pay off all fines. You can check it on the main page of the service;
undergo a medical examination and receive a certificate if you are deprived of it for drunk driving;
go to the traffic police with a passport, medical certificate, a copy of the resolution and a document confirming passing the exam.

How to challenge the revocation of your license and what will happen if you drive a car again after this, read our other article.

Hiding from the scene of an accident: characteristics of the offense

The accident rate on Russian roads is not decreasing every year, but is only growing. On average, according to statistics, 164,358 road accidents occur annually. Moreover, more than 61,000 accidents occurred between January and July 2021 alone.

Among them are situations when drivers drive away or run away in the hope of escaping punishment. How are such actions characterized from the legal perspective?

Hiding from the scene of an accident is an administrative offense under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, but in some episodes criminal liability also arises. What pushes the driver to commit such an offense? Let us list the main motives.

Reasons for committing an offense:

The driver was drunk. Many in this state hope that running away is the ideal solution that will provide an opportunity to avoid punishment.
Damaging another vehicle through negligence or clumsiness. For example, if it was hit in the courtyard of a house, in a parking lot, a vehicle standing nearby did not pay attention to it.
Hope for the expiration of the statute of limitations for administrative liability. According to Part 2 of Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, period is 3 months.
Fear of getting a real sentence. More often in cases where there are dead or injured with serious harm to health (Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Rushing for “more important” matters. Situations when a person is late for a work meeting and has no time to wait for the inspector.

The above list is not exhaustive; many reasons can be given. The main thing to remember is that you should not take hasty actions and think through all the consequences of your decision in time.

Leaving the scene of an accident without injuries

When is it permissible to leave? This situation was clarified by the Supreme Court. You are allowed to leave when two conditions are met:

no people were injured in the accident;
Only one car was damaged, for example, the driver carelessly drove into a tree.

In this case, the driver is obliged to draw up a diagram of the accident and, if possible, take a photo or video of the accident scene. The diagram can be drawn on a piece of paper or on a tablet computer. The diagram must indicate the movement of the car before and after the collision, as well as all elements of the road infrastructure: markings, traffic lights, signs and fences. These materials will be needed when the car owner applies to the insurance company for compensation.

When you can not call the traffic police and leave for both participants. This can be done if two conditions are met:

no one was injured in the accident;
None of the drivers have any complaints about what happened.

If these conditions are met, participants are not required to contact the police.

How to avoid penalties for leaving the scene of an accident? Instructions

Below, we will try to indicate approximate steps that a driver needs to take to avoid deprivation of his license.

If you drove away from the scene of the collision, but not much time has passed, then the first thing you need to do is return to the scene of the accident and find the owner of the damaged car to find out whether he reported to the traffic police and whether inspectors registered the accident.
When you don’t know where exactly it happened or don’t want to come to the scene of an accident in the hope of avoiding punishment, then you should at least save the recordings from the DVR, if you have one, for the last few days. Then these records can serve as evidence of your innocence.
When traffic police inspectors call you, think in advance what explanations you will give them, remember whether you have evidence that you did not leave the scene of the accident on purpose.
The traffic police will explain to you your rights, where, among others, there will be the right not to testify against yourself and your loved ones (Article 51 of the Constitution), so you are not obliged to admit that you fled after the incident, and if your relative was driving and not you , then you are not obliged to testify against him.
Ask the inspectors to review the case file to find out what evidence is against you.
If possible, it is better to use the services of a lawyer from the very beginning, so that unnecessary actions or words do not reduce the already small chances of avoiding liability in the form of deprivation of a driver’s license.

What to do if another participant has disappeared

If this happened and you want to prove his guilt, look for camera or DVR recordings.

Find videos. Materials from traffic cameras can be obtained from the Unified Data Storage and Processing Center (EDSDC). Phone center in Moscow

Other cities also have such centers. Contact there and tell the operator the date, time and address of the violation. In response to the request, the operator will provide the application number. Indicate this number in your application to the traffic police - only traffic inspectors can obtain the record. The recording will show that the culprit left the scene of the accident.

You can also ask passing drivers for dash cam records. Write down the driver's phone number and ask for the recording to be sent by email as soon as possible.

If an accident occurred in the parking lot of a shopping or business center, ask for camera footage from security guards or car owners who constantly park nearby. These could be shopping center workers or office employees of a business center with video recorders in the salon.

Attach the records to the police report. It is best to record the materials on a flash drive or disk and give them to the police officer along with a written statement to initiate an administrative case.

What is the statute of limitations for leaving the scene of an accident?

Administrative period. The case is considered administrative if the road accident case has one of the following conditions:

the participant in the accident drove away;
caused slight harm to the victims and left;
caused moderate harm and left.

If within two years from the entry into force of the resolution the driver is not held accountable, this will no longer be possible.

Administrative review period. The judge is required by law to consider the case within two months.

Duration of criminal prosecution . The case is considered criminal if the driver left the scene of an accident in which:

the victim was seriously injured;
the victim died;
two or more people died.

If within 2 years from the date of the court ruling the culprit has not been brought to justice, this will no longer be possible.

Duration of criminal proceedings. There is no exact wording in the laws, there is only the concept of “reasonable time”. When calculating the period, the complexity of the verification materials in the case is taken into account, as well as that the actions of all participants in the case, including the judge, prosecutor, lawyer and investigator, are effective and sufficient.

You can still leave the scene of an accident

As this also follows from Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the responsibility established by it does not apply to all drivers who left the scene of an accident, but only to those of them who did this precisely contrary to the requirements of the Traffic Rules. Thus, the norm in question indicates quite clearly: the obligation of participants in an accident to remain in place is not at all unconditional - it all depends on the situation provided for by the legislator.

At the same time, in order to understand in which cases it is possible to leave the scene of an accident, and in which cases it is prohibited to do so, it is necessary to refer to paragraphs 2.6 and 2.6.1 of the Russian Traffic Regulations, and highlight from them the most important, in our opinion, aspects that are directly related to the topic under consideration.

From these points of the Russian Federation Traffic Regulations, it generally follows that any possible road accidents are divided by the legislator into two conditional groups: “Road accidents with victims” and “Road accidents without victims”.

And it is precisely the circumstance of whether people were injured in an accident that basically determines the possible options for further actions of drivers:

Leaving the scene of an accident with victims

If it so happens that people were injured in an accident, then the driver, among other things, is obliged to call doctors and police officers, and he cannot leave the scene of the accident after the latter arrive there. An exception arises only in the most urgent situation - when it is urgently necessary to take the victims to the hospital, and only if this cannot be done by passing transport. But then the driver still must return to the scene of the accident. Otherwise, he may be held accountable for leaving the scene of an accident with victims.

Leaving the scene of an accident without injuries

Of course, similar liability is provided for leaving the scene of an accident without injuries, but in these cases the legislator leaves the driver much greater freedom of action.

The obligation to report to the police about an accident in which damage was caused only to property arises for the participants in the incident only if there is a disagreement between them about the circumstances under which the accident itself occurred, or about what damage was caused to their property as a result of the incident.

In other words, if at the scene of an accident the participants in the accident cannot agree on its causes (for example, one driver claims that the accident occurred due to the fact that the other driver drove through a red traffic light, and the latter does not agree with this and claims, that he was driving on green) and/or visible consequences (for example, the alleged culprit of the accident does not agree that as a result of the incident, a specific body part was damaged on the opponent’s car, believing that it could have been damaged long before the incident), then it is necessary to report such an accident to the police. And then you just need to follow the instructions of the police officers regarding the place where the accident with their participation was registered. If you ignore this requirement and simply leave the scene of the accident, then in the future you can become liable under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

However, the law provides for the possibility of leaving the scene of an accident in which there were no casualties - but only if the participants do not have disagreements regarding the circumstances under which it occurred, as well as regarding the nature and visible damage to the vehicles. In such cases, drivers may not report the incident to the police and leave the scene of the incident. They can subsequently draw up documents either with the participation of police officers or independently - by filling out accident notification forms - but only if two vehicles were involved in the accident, the civil liability of the owners of which is insured, and the damage was caused only by this vehicle means. Moreover, participants in such an accident may not file documents about the incident at all if they do not consider it necessary.

Thus, in an accident in which only vehicles were damaged, and the damage to their owners is not significant, drivers may not report the incident to the police, not fill out any documents and, by mutual agreement, simply drive away - “leaving the scene of the accident” in the context of Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation this will not be considered.

All drivers left the scene of the accident

However, in order to avoid troubles, in such cases, as well as in cases of independently preparing documents for an accident, it makes sense to exercise some caution.

Unfortunately, practice knows examples where drivers, even having fulfilled all the conditions allowing them to leave the scene of an accident without contacting the police, were subsequently prosecuted under [Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for leaving the scene of an accident].

One of these stories happened to our client. Since the participants in the incident did not have any disagreements regarding its causes and consequences, they decided to fill out a notification about the accident themselves, after which both left the scene of the accident. However, the second participant had doubts about whether everything was done correctly, so he went back and called the traffic police. After some time, our future client was called to the traffic police department, where, without thinking twice, they drew up a protocol against him under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and sent the case to the magistrate, who also did not think long and found the citizen guilty of leaving the scene of an accident. The citizen contacted us, our lawyer filed a complaint against the decision, then participated in the second instance as a defense attorney. This case, fortunately, ended well.

View the solution:

Details about the circumstances of the case

And this was not the most difficult thing. At least, the second participant in the accident did not dispute the factual circumstances, and the court proceeded exactly from what actually happened. However, a full-fledged trial took place with an appeal against the decision, and in order to solve this problem that arose out of nowhere, the help of professional lawyers was needed.

But there are also more difficult cases - when drivers agree to “disperse amicably” without any paperwork at all; one of them actually leaves and honestly forgets about the incident, but the other, just as in the story above, subsequently contacts the traffic police, but at the same time declares that the one who left the scene of the accident did so in the absence of any agreements. And that’s it - we’ve arrived: with a high degree of probability, a case will be initiated against the driver who left the scene of the accident under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, and then it will be very difficult to fight off this accusation in court, if you manage to do it at all.

Therefore, in order to minimize risks, in order to save money, time and nerves in the future, it is recommended that right at the scene of an accident you take care of evidence confirming that all participants in the incident do not need to document it. Such evidence could be, for example, receipts or video recordings of communications between participants in the incident. It is advisable to store this evidence for at least 3 months from the date of the accident.

You shouldn’t rely only on verbal agreements and “gentleman’s agreements”, because sometimes this backfires.

How to avoid punishment

Draw up a diagram of the accident. The driver will not be punished if only his car was damaged in the accident, but no people. The road accident scheme will help you avoid punishment and receive a comprehensive insurance payment if you have this insurance.

Draw up a European protocol. This is the registration of an accident for subsequent reporting to the insurance company without the involvement of a traffic police inspector. You can issue such a document if the following conditions are met:

There are no more than two cars in an accident;
drivers have compulsory motor insurance;
Only cars were damaged;
Car owners have no disagreement about the cause of the accident.

Find video footage if you are accused. This happens when both drivers have agreed that they have no claims against each other. But after some time, one of the participants, even if he is the culprit, decides to receive an insurance payment for repairs. He will draw his diagram of the accident and call the traffic police. Police officers will find the second participant, and if he cannot prove his innocence in court, he will be deprived of his license or arrested. The same recordings from recorders or parking security cameras can serve as evidence.

Alexander Torvard, auto lawyer Such cases really do happen. Lately there have been fewer and fewer cameras - there are a lot of cameras and it has become easier to prove the truth.

Remember

For leaving the scene of an accident, you are deprived of your license for up to 1.5 years or your freedom for 15 days.
It is allowed to leave the scene of the accident only if there are no injuries and one car is damaged in the accident.
There is no need to call the traffic police if there are no victims and the participants do not have disputes about the causes of the incident.
If the other driver of the accident drove away, find video footage of the accident scene.
To avoid unfair accusations, take photos or videos of the accident scene and draw up a diagram of the accident on paper. These documents will provide insurance if one of the participants then contacts the traffic police to receive an insurance payment.

All articles by the author: Evgeniy Lesnov

How to avoid punishment if you fled the scene of an accident

The current Code of Administrative Offenses, clause 2, article 12.27, provides clear explanations of what happens when leaving the scene of an accident:

2. Leaving by the 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.

Extract from the Code of Administrative Offenses, clause 2, article 12.27

In practice, rights are deprived even in the case of minor material damage without casualties. At the same time, it is always necessary to know in advance how to avoid punishment if you fled the scene of an accident. There are several procedures that you can use to prove your own innocence:

Agreement of the participants in the accident on compensation for damage if there are no casualties among the people.
Drawing up a European protocol.

If cars interfere with the passage, you will first have to clearly record the position in the protocol.
Urgent delivery of victims to the nearest hospital.
Lapse of time.

In addition, you can take advantage of additional external factors. For example, too much noise around can be a reason for extenuating circumstances, because... you physically could not have heard what happened, which is why you continued moving.