Leaving the scene of an accident

This article concerns leaving the scene of an accident (hit and run). Leaving the scene of an accident has been criminalized under article 7 of the Road Traffic Act.

Article 7 of the Road Traffic Act states:

• Paragraph 1: For him who is involved in or whose action has caused a traffic accident, it is forbidden to leave the scene of the accident if:
• sub a. the person knows or reasonably should have known, that in this accident either another person has been killed or has been hurt or harmed;
• sub b. the person knows or reasonably should suppose, that by leaving, another person is left in a helpless situation.
• Paragraph 2: The first paragraph, preamble and part a, is not applicable to the person who has given adequate opportunity to determine his identity and, as far as he drove a motor vehicle, also the identity of the motor vehicle, at the scene of the accident.

Leaving the scene of an accident is a crime. Under article 176 paragraph 4 of the Road Traffic Act this crime is punished with a prison sentence of maximally 3 months or a fine of maximally €8.200,- (2016). A disqualification of driving of maximally 5 years can also be imposed for this crime.

There can be several reasons why a drives does not stay at the scene after an accident. The driver can be scared to such an extent that he first drives on. The driver can also be too scared to stay at the scene because of a agressive reaction of the other party after an accident. In some lighter cases sometimes the driver does not even find out that an accident has happened until later on.

Partly due to these reasons the legislator has not criminalised the scene of an accident under certain conditions. Under article 184 Road Traffic Act prosecution of leaving the scene of an accident is ruled out, if the driver reports himself to the police within 12 hours after the traffic accident and before he or she is arrested or interrogated as a suspect.