Just running away can be expensive

Berlin

Every year the police register around 300,000 escapes. Often there are only minor damage. Many victims do not even report the damage. If they do, the police often find the perpetrator because there are witnesses. The excuse “I didn’t notice anything” is a classic protective claim. Judges then drill. An expert is usually commissioned – often with the result that even a slight collision could be felt or heard.

Excuse unbelievable

For example, a 76-year-old had to pay a fine of 750 euros. She had touched a car while pulling out of a parking space: 411 euros damage. The court did not believe that she had mistaken the impulse for the rattle of the wheelchair in the trunk. But the woman had admitted that she had been behind the wheel. A lawyer might have advised her not to testify. An Audi driver who caught the neighboring car while pulling out of a parking space was even less credible. She got out, checked, and then drove away. For this, the Rheinbach District Court imposed a two-month driving ban (Az. 15 Ds 121/18).

A note is not enough

If the parking bump happened, you should wait until the injured party comes or call the police. “It is not enough to stick a piece of paper under the wiper blade,” explains lawyer Gülpen in the journal Finanztest. “The wind could blow the paper away.” You have to wait at least 30 minutes, 60 minutes is safer.

The wait can be shorter if it is foreseeable that no one will come, like at night on a country road. The Dresden Higher Regional Court found ten minutes enough when a man crashed into a guardrail at 2:30 a.m. In snowfall, he did not have to expose himself to the risk of stopping longer on the hard shoulder of the motorway (Az. 4 U 447/18). But then you have to report to the police, preferably immediately by mobile phone.

It is a mistake that it is enough to report the damage within the next 24 hours.

In the case of minor items, the obligation to wait can be omitted entirely. An 83-year-old who had touched a tree and then drove home to call her insurance company from there in peace was right at the Magdeburg district court. The tree only had small scratches, which are common on street trees (Az. 11 O 1063/19). It is similar if you touch a guardrail and only make small scratches.

Trouble with insurance

Car insurance is less gracious. The contract obliges motorists to help clarify the matter. Escape from an accident is the opposite. The fully comprehensive insurer may then reduce the payment, according to the Oldenburg Higher Regional Court (Az. 3 U 2/03). You have to report the accident immediately so that the insurer can check whether there was gross negligence. In that case, the external damage was only 270 euros. Repairing one’s own car cost 9,100 euros. The man sat on it.

In addition, the motor vehicle liability insurance causes trouble. She pays for the damage to someone else’s car. But she can claim back up to 2,500 euros, in serious cases up to 5,000 euros. The same applies if the driver covers up tracks or provides incorrect information (Higher Regional Court of Celle, Az. 8 U 79/09). Victims of hit and run are mostly left with their damage. Anyone with fully comprehensive insurance can take advantage of it. However, it then downgrades the no-claims discount.