Deputy Managing Partner Anatoliy Perepelchenko on the actions of road accident participants

Deputy Managing Partner Anatoliy Perepelchenko on the actions of road accident participants

Author

Perepelchenko Anatolii

In the event of an accident, you should not panic, but get out and clearly follow the necessary algorithm of actions, which in the future (when considering an administrative protocol or a civil lawsuit in court) will be the key to success. Priority actions at the scene of the accident are important for further consideration of the case, as in the future it will be almost impossible to reliably restore the circumstances of the incident.

So, your actions immediately after the accident:

- stop immediately, even if the accident happened in the middle of the roadway (if you drive further, stop and walk back to the scene of the accident, it may provoke the police to draw up an administrative report on leaving the scene of the accident, in addition, there will be difficulties in filling out the accident site);

- report the accident to other road users: turn on the alarm, install an emergency stop sign on the roadway;

- call the necessary services to the scene (police officers, representatives of insurance companies, in case of victims - an ambulance);

- Before the arrival of the police, your car, as well as the cars of other participants in the accident, as well as other items, must be in the same place where they were immediately after the accident. Under no circumstances should cars be moved from the scene of the accident until the arrival of the police and representatives of insurance companies. Proper fixation by police officers of the location of cars, brake paths, broken glass, etc. is the key to correctly establishing the circumstances of the incident and identifying the culprits;

- Try to find eyewitnesses of the accident and exchange contacts with them. Your passengers are also witnesses, the police must take away their explanations about the circumstances of the accident (if a police officer refuses to take explanations from your passengers on the grounds that they are interested persons and can give evidence in your favor, be sure to indicate this fact in the comments and / or objections to the protocol on administrative offense with fixation of full details of persons who were witnesses);

- with the help of phone (photo, video) record in detail the scene (it should be done immediately after the accident, before the arrival of the police);

- Check the process of drawing up the accident scheme by the police and how they described the damage to the cars. The maximum amount of information will provide an opportunity to obtain maximum compensation and fairness of consideration of the administrative protocol in court;

- Carefully read the documents drawn up by the police, make your comments or additions to them and make sure that they are written down, only then sign them.

It should be noted that police officers may temporarily revoke your driver's license.

I emphasize that only a court has the right to deprive a car owner of the right to drive a car, a police officer has the right to temporarily withdraw the license, instead issuing the driver a temporary driver's license, which is limited to 3 months. In addition, the fact of withdrawal of the certificate must be recorded in the protocol of an administrative offense.

It should also be noted that if there are no victims of the accident, and the damage to the car is minor, you can use the European protocol.

You can use the European protocol only if:

- no one was injured in the accident;

- cars suffered minor damage (the amount of damage for each car does not exceed 50 thousand UAH);

- drivers have valid insurance policies;

- both participants of the accident agree with the circumstances of the accident;

- Drivers are not intoxicated or intoxicated.

Usually the form of the European protocol is issued by the insurance company at registration of a motor third party. Each of the drivers fills in only one half of the protocol (yellow or blue). The central part of the form (white) is filled in by both.

In addition, with the help of a smartphone or tablet it is possible to fill in the electronic European protocol (at the following link - https://dtp.mtsbu.ua/page1.html), which has a number of advantages.

First, you do not need to draw anything - the electronic version has added 20 of the most common accident schemes.

Secondly, the authenticity of policies is verified electronically.

Third, you can link the crash site to the map and record the time.

And finally, if you filled out a paper form of the European protocol, a copy must be provided to your policyholder within 3 days. You do not have to do this with the electronic version: the insurance company will automatically receive a notification of an accident.