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According to the case law, a traffic accident is “any sudden event that is causally related to road traffic that occurs on roads with public traffic and that results in personal injury or property damage”.
The Austrian road traffic regulations stipulate that the nearest police station must be notified without unnecessary delay in the event of any traffic accident. If you are involved in a traffic accident and leave the scene of the accident without notifying the police, you commit “hit and run” and can be punished. If the damage caused is pure property damage, it is sufficient for the people involved in the accident to exchange their data (name and address). However, it is not sufficient to simply state your name and where you live. This must be proven to the other person by showing an ID. In this case, it is not necessary to notify the police.
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If there is an accident with property damage and the data cannot be exchanged, for example in the event of a parking damage or because you do not have an ID card, you must notify the police. However, it is sufficient to call the police, who will then decide how to proceed.
Road traffic is to be understood as the spatial movement of people or things on roads with public traffic. This can also be a shopping trolley that you push in the parking lot of a supermarket and that collides with a parked car.
Mag. Alexander Rimser, lawyer. Hermann-Bahr-Strasse 18, 1210 Vienna.
T: 01/ 522 19 73.
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