The Car Crash and the Law
The definition of a car crash differs from one country to another. Generally speaking however it is a situation in which “a road vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, or geographical or architectural obstacle. Traffic collisions can result in injury, property damage, and death”.
Irrespective of the terminology and definitions, it is important to note some universal legal implications and rights as well as duties that follow from this traffic occurrence.
When an accident takes place, there is usually a requirement that the parties involved in the accident must stop at the scene, and exchange insurance and/or identification information or call the police. In some countries (like the UK or Poland for example), it is a crime to leave the scene (referred to as the the ‘hit and run’ criminal offence), whilst in others it is considered a simple legal infraction -usually punished with monetary fines. Leaving the scene will inevitably have negative consequences for that party in the court of law, should a claim be made against him/her.
The legal implications of a car crash accident may be threefold: civil or criminal or both. A criminal case usually takes place when as a result of a car accident there is either:
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Severe personal injury
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Death
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Profound damage to property
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or if one of the drivers involved was acting illegally or clearly grossly negligent or intoxicated or otherwise impaired at the time the accident occurred.
The criminal charges differ in form and terminology in the world at large: driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (in most countries), driving without due care (UK), assault with a deadly weapon (USA – the car is considered the deadly weapon here), manslaughter, or even murder. Intoxication always increases the severity of the charge. The penalties also differ worldwide and range from simple monetary fines to jail/prison time to death even (where it is considered murder).
As far as civil liability is concerned, it is not uncommon that other parties are introduced – the insurance companies. In Common Law jurisdictions the law of tort deals with car accident liability issues. There is very rich case law in this sphere, though it should be outlined that statutory law is gaining in importance in the common law world. This is especially true wherever victims’ rights are concerned. In Continental European, or Civil jurisdictions various codes regulate the rights and duties. The area of civil law dealing with these type of issues is usually call “delict”(act creating legal obligations not stemming from a contract) law.
Wherever lesser civil or administrative infractions occur - fines or collecting points that lead to driving license invalidation may be given. This usually happens without the intervention of the court – usually an administrative organ makes these decisions. Evidence is usually collected by the police, other witnesses, or through remote enforcement such as CCTV or speed cameras.
As may be observed, the legal aspect of the car crash may not be neglected and have to be taken account.
