A Supreme Court decision gives drivers who cause an accident the right to leave the scene – but only under certain conditions.
When a road accident occurs, the participants have various responsibilities, including the obligation to notify the police in certain cases.
But what happens if you pull away from the scene of the accident when there are no victims?
Most drivers know that in the event of a road accident, they must stop. Then, depending on the severity of the situation, they either have to notify the authorities or come to an agreement with the other driver.
However, there are situations where you can simply walk away.
The law requires that everyone involved in a traffic accident must remain at the scene.
“Leaving the scene of the accident, without the consent of the police or the prosecutor who conducts the investigation of the crime scene, by the driver of the vehicle […]involved in a traffic accident, is punished with imprisonment from 2 to 7 years”, stipulates Art. 338 (1) of GEO 195/2002.
The same penalty is applied for altering or erasing traces from the scene of an accident with the injury or death of a person.
Therefore, a road accident with casualties is considered serious. In these situations, the police must be called to investigate.
If one of the drivers involved leaves, they are considered to have fled the scene of the accident.
However, there are exceptions if the accident causes only material damage
According to the law, it is not considered a crime to leave the scene of the accident when:
- the damages are only material;
- the driver of the vehicle, in the absence of other means of transport, transports the injured persons himself to the nearest medical facility and declares the personal data and the registration number of the vehicle;
- the driver of the vehicle with priority traffic regime immediately informs the police and later presents himself at its headquarters to draw up the documents;
- the victim leaves the scene and the driver of the vehicle immediately informs the police.
However, this doesn’t mean you can just walk away if you hit another car. You have to stop and make sure no one is hurt.
If there are no victims, you can decide to make an amicable settlement or move on.
In any case, according to the law, you have 24 hours to report the accident to the police. This means that you must report to the police headquarters in the area of the accident to make a finding, according to ProMotor.
