2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
If a driver leaves the scene of an accident after an accident, it is not always an accident that has taken place. Subsequent reporting may be sufficient under certain circumstances.
A driver who leaves the location after an accident and a certain waiting time does not automatically commit an accident escape. When determining whether there is an accident escape, it depends on the specific circumstances, according to the Berlin Lawyers' Association. If you hit a crash barrier on a motorway in the evening and wait 20 minutes, you are not escaping an accident, the Homburg District Court ruled (AZ: 7 C 327/05).
Waited enough
The defendant went off the road in the evening and slipped into the guardrail. He only reported the substantial property damage to the police the next morning, after waiting around 22 minutes on site that evening. After the liability insurance had paid for the damage to the guardrail in the amount of around 4700 euros, it asked the insured for the money back. In her opinion, he had escaped an accident and thus violated the insurance contract - with the result that he had to pay for the damage. The court decided in favor of the insured.
According to the court, the insurance could not prove an accident escape. The driver waited at least 22 minutes at the scene of the accident. For the determination of the necessary waiting time, the circumstances are decisive. Taking into account the pure property damage, the location of the accident and the time of day, a waiting period of 15 to 20 minutes is sufficient. In addition, it was not to be expected that someone would have come by who could have recorded the accident. The report to the police on the other day was therefore sufficient. The insurance company has to pay for the damage to the guardrail.
