What to do if your car is scratched in a parking lot?

Every day there are more and more cars on the roads. The number of road accidents is certainly growing. Of course, there are disproportionately more minor accidents, and many of them are ridiculous accidents.

In addition, it often happens that the culprit of the accident hit a car in the yard and fled the scene of the accident, without even noticing that he hit a car standing nearby. Accordingly, he did not stop, did not turn on the hazard warning lights, and generally did not take any measures that he should have taken in such a situation.

However, it does not matter whether the driver noticed the moment of the collision or not, his action will be considered from the point of view of the law. And it turns out that if a neighbor tampered with the car and drove away, there is an administrative penalty for this. We'll tell you which one in this article.

If a driver hits a car in the yard and leaves the scene of an accident, what does he face?

Search for a car, criminal liability and prison. This is what some drivers think, having found themselves in a similar situation and having heard various scary stories.

In fact, these are too condensed colors. Although, if there are victims or the fact of causing serious bodily harm to citizens, then criminal prosecution is not excluded.

However, accident statistics show that the likelihood of such an event is extremely low. What consequences may occur for those car owners who carelessly treated another car?

When the conversation turns to administrative liability , most likely it may arise for leaving the scene of an accident. Sanctions prescribed in Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation , provide for deprivation of rights for hiding for a period of one to one and a half years . An alternative could be arrest for 15 days .

At the time of the accident, the driver was drunk and fled, after which he was detained at home; this is often fraught with a fine of 30 thousand rubles. and deprivation of rights from 1.5 to 2 years (Part 3 of Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation)

Property liability . Here we are guided by Art. Art. 1064, 1079 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, regulating the procedure for compensation for material damage.

It must be remembered that if the car was not driven by the owner, the owner of the vehicle will be responsible to the victim. Exceptions are cases when the car is transferred under an agreement or power of attorney.

It is unlikely, but criminal liability is allowed - enshrined in Art. 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It depends on the nature of the injuries and the number of victims. The condition of the driver is essential: whether he was drunk at the time of the accident or not.

In general, of course, you need to look at the specific situation. What circumstances will play a significant role?

Let's list them:

The scene of the accident.
The circumstances under which the accident occurred.
The presence or absence of intoxication.
Whose fault was it that the collision occurred?
Is there a compulsory insurance policy?
How seriously damaged the cars were.
Are there any injuries caused by the accident?

When the driver who hit the car and left the scene of the accident knows all the facts listed above, it is better to go to a car lawyer and discuss with him all possible scenarios. And if it is not known, then even more so.

We will consider cases with minor injuries and more serious ones separately. Read the article and you will find an approximate algorithm of actions suitable for your situation.

What to do if your car is scratched in a parking lot and you drive away?

If the car is scratched, and the culprit did not notice the mistake or disappeared from the parking lot intentionally, then first of all it is necessary to determine how much damage the car suffered as a result of such impact, as well as under what circumstances the damage to the vehicle was caused. It could have been a traffic accident, or there could have been other types of exposure. In the first case, you need to call the traffic police, in the second - the local police officer.

While waiting, you can start collecting information and ask the owners of nearby cars to look at the DVR recordings, try to get information from surveillance cameras in the parking lot, near a bank or store located nearby.

All information received must be passed on to the traffic police inspector or local police officer. The perpetrators should remember that after leaving the scene of the accident, they will have to answer for this offense too.

If the cars received minor damage

We shuffled the car in the yard and drove off, what should we do? First, let's look at a situation where the accident resulted in a small scratch. This happens often, and it can happen anywhere, in parking lots and yards. As a rule, in such places, drivers often do not notice the moment of collision.

If someone scratched a stationary car and fled the scene of a minor accident , then his car will be put on the wanted list. Of course, provided that the vehicle's license plates are installed. If not, then the driver is lucky, but this rarely happens.

In general, the legislator has established a rather harsh punishment for such an offense, as mentioned above - this is the deprivation of a driver’s license. For minor damage, there is no criminal liability.

In this case, they are guided by the Code of Administrative Offences. If the culprit of the collision is found, he faces deprivation of his license for up to one year or administrative arrest for up to fifteen days . There is nothing pleasant here.

Expert commentary

Selivanov Alexander Andreevich

Lawyer, specialization civil law.

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If there are objective reasons, you can avoid punishment; to do this, you should use the services of a law firm. A competent auto lawyer will tell you how to proceed.

The driver who scratched the car fled, how to compensate for the damage

CASCO coverage
If your car is insured under CASCO and you find some damage on it, then you should do the following:

Inspect the place where the damage was found and determine whether it was caused by a person or arose from interaction with another vehicle;
Contact your insurer by phone and find out how you can receive compensation;
Contact the police and call the appropriate officers to the scene;
Upon arrival of the traffic police inspector, write a statement and sign the protocol drawn up by him;
Wait for the results of the administrative proceedings and obtain the appropriate conclusion from the police;
Submit the application and all necessary documents to the insurance company.

If there is a suspicion that the car was scratched by some person on purpose or by accident, then the police investigator (precinct) will consider the case. You just need to call 112, describe what happened, and the person on duty will determine who exactly to send to you. Later, if there is a need, the employees themselves will transfer the material to the investigation according to jurisdiction.

When drawing up a report, police officers must make sure that all damage and their location are indicated correctly. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult for you to prove to the insurer that they took place.

The verification period for your application is three days, but can be extended up to 10 days, and subsequently up to a month if there are sufficient grounds. In practice, a decision on the inspection material is made within 10 days. You must be notified of its results in writing and sent a copy of the decision.

However, it will be faster to call the duty department, find out who has your material in production and contact him directly with a request to issue a copy of the decision.

There may be two solutions:

criminal proceedings;
refusal to initiate criminal proceedings.

With any of these decisions, go to the insurance company and based on this they should make payments to you. If the person who caused the damage is identified, then by way of recourse the insurance company itself will recover the damage from him.

OSAGO coverage

If your car was scratched by people (without the participation of vehicles), but you do not have a CASCO policy, but have an MTPL policy, then if the culprit is not identified, then the repairs will have to be made at your own expense.

Because MTPL insurance only covers auto liability, but not damage to your vehicle.

If the damage to the car was the result of interaction with other vehicles, then this can already be regarded as a traffic accident and insurance can be collected from the culprit in the usual manner.

If the culprit has been identified, then after calling the traffic inspectors, filling out all the necessary documents and submitting an application to the insurance company, you will certainly be able to receive compensation for the damage that was caused. But in the case when the culprit disappeared and all the measures taken could not be identified, the insurer will also not pay for the damage caused.

Every motorist involved in an accident is in a state of stress. Situations where a citizen caused damage to someone else’s car and left the scene of the accident are quite common.

According to Art. 12. 27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for a person who scratched a car and drove off in an unknown direction, the following punishments are provided:

deprivation of the right to drive a car for a period of 1-1.5 years;
arrest for 2 weeks and 1 day.

If someone scratched the car and drove away, first you need to call the State Traffic Inspectorate so that they record the emergency situation. Next, it is recommended to take the following actions:

if there are various organizations near the parking lot, ask to see recordings from video cameras;
inspect the cars standing nearby, maybe on one of them, the recorder was working, which recorded how the vehicle was scratched;
go around the car services located not far from the scene of the incident - ask if anyone has asked for a minor repair;
carefully examine the marks on the car body: by the location and nature of the scratches you can determine the class and size of the vehicle, and by the remaining paint - its “color”.

If you have information about the culprit of the accident who fled the scene of the accident, you can contact the traffic police. The evidence base will help to quickly deal with the current situation.

The easiest way in this situation is for the owners of insured cars. If such a car is scratched at night by unknown persons or another car, call the traffic police. Traffic police officers will draw up an inspection report, which will indicate all visible damage and write a refusal to initiate an administrative offense.

Cases of road accidents causing harm to health

It must be said that if in the first case, the police officers do not look too zealously for the culprit of the collision, then if harm is caused as a result of an accident, the search will become more serious.

Here it is already quite acceptable to use the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, if the driver fled the scene of the accident, but was sober, and there are no other aggravating circumstances, then he faces up to three years in prison.

Under such circumstances, much depends on what the person responsible for the accident will say when he meets with the police. What reasons will he give as justification for leaving the scene of the accident?

In any case, in this situation you need to consult with a car accident lawyer. Because finding the necessary arguments in order to avoid criminal punishment is not so easy.

Without fail, it is advisable to analyze the event of a violation, build a strategy and thus prepare for further actions.

It is important to know! It is unacceptable to delay the resolution of such issues.

How can the culprit avoid punishment?

Again, the answer to this question can only be given after a detailed study of the situation.

So, when an absurd accident occurred, the damage was insignificant, then, first of all, it should be argued that the driver did not notice the moment of the accident, did not feel the impact and collision.

The main thing is that the police officers who registered the accident classify the events correctly. If the driver came to the traffic police on his own, this in itself does not mean that he noticed the collision and is guilty.

It should be explained that after stopping and getting out of the car, I noticed damage to my car and decided to contact the police.

And in no case can you say that you were scared or confused, and that’s why you fled the scene of the accident in a car. The punishment in any case will be more lenient for an unintentional offense.

If the damage to the car is significant, and the driver left the scene of the collision, then of course you can’t say that you didn’t notice the moment of the accident.

In such circumstances, another scheme can be used to protect the driver. Which one? You ask. More details only during a personal meeting.

In other words, you can correct the situation and take control. The main thing is to contact a lawyer in time for advice and advice.

The injured party does not make contact

So, you hit someone else's car, left a note, or took steps to find the owner. But the injured party did not make contact, but went to court. In this case, a photograph of the note that we wrote about above will help. The court will definitely take this fact into account and find you innocent. At least it will be possible to avoid deprivation of rights.

It happens that the driver is not interested in receiving compensation or simply did not see the damage. In this case, no one can blame you. To officially become the culprit, you need to register the scene of an accident. And as soon as the driver moves even a few meters away from the scene of the accident, there is no point in calling the traffic police.

Is it worth going to the police?

Often drivers, finding themselves in the situation described in our article, ask themselves the question: “Maybe they won’t find it?”

Yes, sure. Maybe they won't find it. However, in the era of technological progress, when surveillance cameras and passers-by with smartphones are everywhere, hoping for such a development of events means counting on chance.

Our opinion is that it is better to come to the traffic police and report an accident, subject to thorough preparation and prior consultation with lawyers or attorneys.

After all, as mentioned above, you can find a decent way out of many situations. At the same time, keep your driver’s license and avoid other measures provided for by law for violators of law and order.

If the driver left the scene of the accident and decided to hope for luck and luck, then you need to remember that the main thing that needs to be proven is the unintentionality of his actions.

That is, the fact that the accident site was abandoned was not intentional and for objective reasons. Otherwise, responsibility cannot be avoided.

The information contained in this article highlights the complexity of the situation. It is obvious that you cannot do without the help of specialists in legal matters.

What to do if you still leave

Again, it is impossible to recommend anything specific. None of the people knows the future. Maybe if you return, come to an amicable agreement with the owner, file an accident report and everything will be fine, but if you don’t return, they will catch you and take away your license. Or maybe it's the other way around. If you return, they will deprive you of your rights, but if you don’t return, they will never be found, and therefore will not be punished.

We must go back!

To be honest, you need to take responsibility for your actions. Therefore we must return. And this is the simplest and most effective way to avoid punishment.

Especially if little time has passed since the collision. After all, most likely, the traffic inspectors have not yet had time to arrive at the scene of the accident. If you get ahead of them and are present when the accident is registered, no one will be able to recognize you as absconding. If anyone thinks otherwise, go to court. The Supreme Court believes that since he was present during the paperwork, he is not a fugitive.

If you're late, don't despair

But even if the accident has already been registered and you are already wanted, if you cooperate with the victim, you can easily and effectively avoid punishment.

In addition, turning yourself in is accepted as a mitigating circumstance in court, and there may be a chance to prove that you acted unintentionally and the case will be dropped altogether, since your actions could not “cause serious harm to society.” Sometimes the court decided that the person returned on his own, which means that he left unintentionally, therefore, his action is not worth depriving of his rights.

What to do when you return

The owner of the nine agrees to leave the incident unattended. However, in return he persistently demands compensation in the amount of 20 thousand rubles.

Wondering what to do in such a situation? Is it possible to prove that you are right? Thank you in advance for your response.

Daniil, Lyubertsy.

Expert commentary

Kosykh Tatyana Viktorovna

Lawyer, more than 1 year experience.

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There are several options for exiting the described story. If the car has a dash cam, the other party can be shown footage of the day the alleged collision occurred. In addition, it is necessary to insist on conducting an examination involving two cars. It will reliably determine whether there was a collision or not.

Finally, when threats and demands continue to arrive, you need to write a statement to the police. After all, there are signs of extortion.

What to do after discovering damage to your car

First of all, inspect the existing damage and decide whether the damage caused is worth wasting your nerves and time communicating with the traffic police officers, as well as the insurance company. Perhaps the scratch is not deep enough for it to make sense to investigate.

But if you still think that the damage should be compensated and you have a CASCO policy, call the traffic police officers so that they record the damage that is on your car. Alternatively, call your insurance company for advice regarding an inspection and damage assessment.

If you do not have a CASCO policy, call the traffic police to the scene of the accident. They will record the fact of damage to your car, as during an accident in which the second participant (the culprit) escaped.

Also, no one is insured against damage to the car from blocks of snow or ice falling from the roof, as well as from a fallen tree and other dangers. Recently, cases have become more frequent when motorists suffer due to falling snow, pieces of building cladding or dry trees.

If this happens, you need to:

record all harm caused by video or photography or in writing;
contact the insurer and report the incident;
contact the internal affairs bodies to have the incident recorded by the local police officer;
record the testimony of everyone who saw what happened.

Remember, under no circumstances should you leave the scene of an accident if you find damage to your vehicle. We need to find witnesses, collect their testimony, record the damage and wait for the arrival of the local police officer, who will draw up the necessary documentation.

In this case, compensation can only be obtained after applying to the court. And for this you may need the help of a professional car lawyer.