Hit-and-run accidents – also known as hit-and-runs – is the second most common crime in road traffic and can sometimes have very unpleasant consequences.
In such cases, car insurance often pays in advance and settles the damage. However, she demands the money back from the person who committed the escape from the accident. But what exactly is hit and run? If someone causes an accident with their car and then simply drives on, according to the law, this is referred to as a hit-and-run. Another common term for this is hit-and-run.
This fact is regulated in § 142 StGB.
A classic that many of us have experienced before: you go shopping and park your car properly. Back on the car you find scratches or a dent. Or the side mirror broke off, the bumper was dented… someone caused damage to the German’s favorite child without clearing it up. This is not only annoying, but also usually associated with financial damage.
Sometimes you can find a note with a telephone number under the windshield wiper – probably well intentioned by the perpetrator. But it’s a common misconception that that’s enough to meet your duty to inform.
Leaving a note with your contact details is also an escape from an accident and is not enough, because the note could fly away or become illegible after a rain shower.
Paragraph 142 of the Criminal Code clearly states that anyone who causes damage to someone else’s property in a road traffic accident and who is involved in the accident leaves the scene of the accident without first having allowed the other parties involved in the accident to determine their personal details or having waited a reasonable amount of time to do so have made (waiting period) punishable.
The consequences can be a fine or imprisonment of up to three years. But a driving ban or points in Flensburg are also common practice.
It can be said that the greater the damage, the higher the penalty. However, each act is considered individually.
You should therefore always call the police or at least wait for the driver of the vehicle, even if at first glance there are no visible traces of the vehicle. Remember: It is NOT about the damage to your vehicle, but about the damage to someone else’s car!
Another example is the hit-and-run accident, which also occurs without the involvement of another car. For example, the judgment of the OLG Karlsruhe v. January 20, 2022 (12 U 267/21) found that a male person who drove into a garden fence of a residential complex late in the evening should have called the police. At the very least, however, he should have allowed a reasonable waiting time to elapse or contacted a resident of the facility.
There was clearly an escape from the accident and the perpetrator’s fully comprehensive and motor vehicle liability insurance did not have to pay for the damage caused to the fence (around € 1,000).
Further information:
https://www.ra-hartmann.de/unfallflucht-und-versicherung-wer-zahlt-dr.-hartmann-partner.html
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