Witnesses in an accident - who are they, what to do, how to find eyewitnesses, sample testimony, do you need to go to court?

If you get into an accident

Art. 2.5 and 2.6 of the traffic rules describe the procedure after an accident. In short, the driver needs to stop the car, turn on the emergency lights, put up a warning triangle, inform the traffic police and not move objects related to the accident. The victims must be given assistance, call an ambulance, and in emergency cases, take them to the hospital.

If traffic is difficult, record the location of the vehicle using video and photography, and then, if possible, clear the roadway. You should write down the names and addresses of eyewitnesses, wait for the State Traffic Inspectorate employees, and then take part in registering the accident.

CERTIFICATION OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEFENDANT'S ROAD ACCIDENT

When understanding a traffic situation, it is important for a lawyer to understand the client’s driving qualifications, his knowledge and understanding of traffic rules, and his ability to adequately assess the situation. You should not put too much faith in the description of the incident from the words of its participant. Often the principal does not immediately understand what his fault is (if any). Most people, for example, do not know that in a dangerous situation, the only guaranteed lawful actions of the driver are to brake to a complete stop, and the driver performs any maneuver at his own risk. If you succeed, well done; if you fail, you’re guilty. It is important to note: the driver is not obliged to assume that another participant in the movement will not comply with traffic rules.

Let us give one illustrative example (from personal practice) of a conversation with a client-driver who injured a pedestrian on the sidewalk.

-...Do you think I should have died myself? The jeep was driving towards my head.

“You had the right to make a maneuver only after making sure of its safety.”

- So you yourself will die?

“Do you think that in saving yourself you can legally kill someone else?”

- I didn’t kill him.

- So you are responsible for the injury.

- No. I am not guilty! He was driving straight at me... So you won’t protect me?

And this is the second problem of the defense in an accident - the fight against the uncompromising exculpatory position of the client, who believes that the defense in any criminal case always consists solely in achieving a clean acquittal. With such a position of the client, the lawyer is unlikely to be able to successfully work with victims.

Why are accident witnesses required?

In the investigation of any incident, police officers rely on facts and witness testimony, without which it is impossible to restore the full picture of the accident. The participants, as a rule, were in a state of shock and could not see or remember everything. In addition, they are interested persons. Eyewitness testimony is very important when:

the circumstances and causes of the accident are unknown;
the testimony of the participants is contradictory or insufficient;
one of the participants cannot be interviewed;
the culprit disappeared;
a criminal case is initiated;
an insurance dispute arises.

Random witnesses to an accident can help:

restore the sequence of events;
assess the correctness of actions, the real extent of damage, the reliability of the testimony of participants;
identify the true culprit.

In such a situation, details are more important than ever: how the traffic lights worked, who started moving first and how, who moved at what speed, whether the turn signal was on, etc. There can be an infinite number of nuances, and a disinterested look from the outside can make the task easier. That is why searching for eyewitnesses is included in the list of driver responsibilities.

Two types of accidents

Witness testimony can help identify the offender, and sometimes solve the crime.

Question and answer Is it possible to demand compensation from a cyclist for a damaged car? There are two types of accidents. Let's say someone hit a car in the parking lot and fled the scene of the accident. It would seem that the offender is unknown and the owner will have to repair the car at his own expense. But eyewitnesses to the incident can help a neighbor. If someone was able to remember the license plate number of the escaped car, then it can be easily found by traffic police officers. Justice will prevail and the offender will be brought to justice.

Witnesses are also very helpful in reconstructing the full picture of an accident between cars moving along the road. It happens that the colliding cars do not have video recorders and each driver claims that he passed the intersection at the traffic light. Only the testimony of witnesses can shed light on what happened and determine which driver is lying.

Road Accident Witness Law

It is important to understand who can legally testify. According to State Traffic Inspectorate employees, the passengers of the damaged car cannot act as witnesses, since they are interested parties. In fact, this is not entirely correct.

In Art. 25.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses states that a witness is a person who may know the circumstances to be established. True, it is also noted there that an eyewitness has the right not to testify against himself, his spouse and close relatives. But this is almost the only clause in the law.

That is, any eyewitness or person present at the time of the accident can be considered a witness.

A pedestrian crossing the road, a driver passing by, a passer-by or a resident of the house opposite. The victim can also be interviewed, as stated in Art. 25.2 of the Code.

Who cannot act as a witness

However, not every eyewitness can act as a witness when it comes to court. In Art. 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides a list of persons who are not subject to interrogation as witnesses. These are people to whom the circumstances of the incident became known through hearsay, but they themselves were not present at the scene of the accident. These include judges, lawyers, clergy, and so on, who may have learned the details in the course of performing their professional duties.

A passing driver stopped after an accident cannot be a witness, since he is not an eyewitness. In Art. 69 of the Code of Civil Procedure it is noted that reported information, the source of which cannot be specified, is not considered evidence.

Who can't be a witness

Part 3 of Article 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation states that if a criminal case is being considered, the following cannot act as a witness:

A juror or judge - if they learned certain circumstances of a criminal case in the process of conducting proceedings in this case.
Defender of the suspect or lawyer - if they became aware of certain circumstances after the defendant turned to them for help.
Lawyer - if he became aware of certain circumstances while providing legal assistance.
State Duma deputy and member of the Federation Council - if they learned some circumstances regarding the current case while carrying out activities in accordance with their powers.
Tax Inspectorate employee - if he became aware of any circumstance from the information provided in the declarations.
Arbitrator - if he learned about certain circumstances during the arbitration proceedings.

Search for witnesses at the scene of the accident

Finding witnesses to an accident is not only the responsibility of its participants, but sometimes also a way to get rid of liability for an imperfect violation.

It is necessary to look for eyewitnesses before the inspector arrives, before they disperse or go about their business.

You need to try to collect the data of everyone present - full name, telephone number and residential address. Ask everyone you find to act as witnesses and wait for the traffic police to arrive, take records from the recorders of their cars. As a last resort, you can exchange contacts and agree on sending the necessary materials.

You just need to choose people who were actually there at the time of the accident. The court may be skeptical about the testimony of persons under the influence of alcohol, but they should also be interviewed and, if possible, their testimony recorded in the protocol. If the witness tries to escape, write down the license plate number or simply take a photo of him.

Read more about how to find eyewitnesses to an accident.

How to fill out testimony correctly

Correctly taken and recorded eyewitness testimony immediately after a traffic accident in 90% of cases shows what really happened. In addition, they are a legal basis for determining the guilty party and carrying out the necessary examinations. Therefore, the witness document must contain:

The name of the document itself (explanation).
Confirmation that the person has been informed of the consequences for giving false information.
Last name, first name, patronymic, passport data, residential address, mobile phone number for contact.
Where exactly was the person when the accident was observed?
A detailed written sequential account of the events and all circumstances of the accident.
Confirmation that the person is not interested in the outcome of the investigation.
Date of compilation and signature.

Registration of testimony

Properly recorded witness statements help reconstruct the chronology of events. The participant in the accident is obliged to draw up documents according to the traffic rules, even without the participation of the police, by filling out a notification form. A sample of a completed witness statement for an accident is given below.

Lawyers recommend taking special forms with you, but who listens to them. It is allowed to record readings on a regular sheet of paper in any form. Such a document is certified only by the signature of the witness and an indication of his passport data, but can serve as the basis for conducting examinations and admitting guilt. To submit your testimony, you must indicate:

name of the document (witness testimony or explanation);
place, time, who received explanations and from whom;
personal information of the witness, including address, telephone number and place of work;
signature of the witness under the provisions of Art. 51 on liability for providing false information;
in the main part - answers to the questions asked, clearly and clearly: who, when, where he was; what actually happened;
at the end - that the witness has no personal interest and is not related to the participants in the accident. Then confirm that the testimony was written by him personally and certified with a personal signature.

In this case, it is recommended to use a phone camera or any other to record the location of witnesses at the time of the accident and the angle from which they could observe what happened. For greater confidence, you can record the readings on a camera or voice recorder.

How bystanders can fulfill their responsibilities

If a person has become a witness in a criminal case, his testimony will be clarified in the courtroom or accepted in writing in the prescribed form. There is no strict procedure established for administrative records management. A citizen can transfer data to law enforcement officers in any way convenient for him, having discussed this process with them.

If the accident ended with an administrative protocol, then the data about the offense must be communicated to the participants in the events so that they can receive insurance payments and understand the situation. It is not always possible to do this on the scene, and sometimes it can be downright dangerous. For such cases, there is a special resource on the Internet - “Yaswitness”. Any user of the site can talk about an event that he witnessed and publish it in the public domain. The driver himself will find the data he needs and use it to ensure that the truth prevails and the perpetrators are punished.

Registration of an accident with witnesses

A law-abiding citizen will not refuse to be a witness and, of course, will wait for the traffic police inspector to arrive. He will have to be present when the report is drawn up and write an explanation on a form issued by the police officer. The latter will inspect the scene of the accident, talk with witnesses, draw up a diagram and report of the accident.

The task of those involved in the accident is to make sure that information about witnesses is indicated in the notice. By the way, this must be done even if a European protocol is being drawn up. Then there will be fewer problems with insurers.

The importance of witnesses in the analysis of road accidents

Participants in road accidents do not resort to the help of eyewitnesses in all cases. Witnesses are required when serious disagreements arise and it is impossible to establish the truth by the traffic police inspector. This usually happens in the following cases:

analysis of damage, the position of cars on the road and other material evidence does not allow us to reconstruct the picture of the accident;
if it is not possible to interview participants in an accident due to serious injuries, death, alcohol intoxication, refusal to testify, and so on;
if the person responsible for the collision left the scene of the accident.

And also, the help of eyewitnesses can be extremely valuable if there is any suspicion of bias in the traffic police officer preparing the documents. Unfortunately, this happens quite often. In this situation, the role of witnesses in an accident increases many times over, because only they, as uninvolved persons, can help the motorist defend his rights and receive the necessary compensation.

Searching for witnesses after an accident

It is not always possible to find a witness in the first minutes after an accident. For different reasons. But you have to try, because the chances of communicating with an eyewitness to the events remain for a long time. In addition, there are several search methods:

ORM of investigative authorities;
visiting apartments, objects and organizations located nearby;
placing advertisements in the media, entrances and on poles;
announcements on social networks;
monitoring stories about road accidents on YouTube and other sites, searching on specialized resources such as Yasvidetel.ru;
hiring a private detective.

Through social networks

One of the most effective ways to search via the Internet is to disseminate information through social networks. There is a very high probability that someone saw your accident and will respond. In this case, you can interview witnesses online, without the help of police officers. The explanation can be written at home, scanned and sent to the traffic police. It is quite possible that someone will be able to send video from the recorder or agree to appear in court.

How to write an advertisement looking for eyewitnesses

The advertisement should be entitled “We are looking for witnesses to an accident.” Information must be given about the date, time, place, circumstances and vehicles involved. It is advisable to briefly describe how everything happened and add a photo from the scene of the accident.

The text should be such that there is a desire to respond to your request. In this regard, it is important to mention the consequences of what happened for you personally and the importance of testimony. It is not recommended to put pressure on civic duty and openly offer rewards. In the latter case, false witnesses may come forward, whose testimony will only complicate the situation.

How to search after an accident

In practice, various methods and tools are used in order to find people after the fact after an accident who can help in establishing all the events and making a fair decision.

It is worth noting that the behavior of eyewitnesses who saw an accident or accident is difficult to predict. Some will first agree to help, and then go into denial. Others may suddenly go over to the side of the other participant in the accident for reasons known only to him. Therefore, it is advisable to collect as much evidence and evidence of your own innocence as possible.

There are several search methods that you should use.

Search by law enforcement agencies. If we are talking about an accident, which provides only administrative liability, it is unlikely that law enforcement officers will deal with such things. This is relevant when the accident requires the initiation of a criminal case. When there are no victims, the search is carried out purely formally. There is no point in pinning your hopes on them.
Forums, social networks and other Internet resources. There are special sites designed specifically for finding witnesses. But don’t forget about social networks and just popular sites where people communicate with each other. Write several posts, or look for posts made by someone regarding your accident. Since the actions of eyewitnesses to an accident can be very diverse, some are in no hurry to help the victims, but on their pages they immediately publish photos and videos of how they witnessed the accident.
Print mass-media. You can publish advertisements in local newspapers calling for help in finding eyewitnesses. The tool has not yet lost its relevance, to the surprise of many.
Posting notices near the scene of the incident. You can glue them at bus stops, near residential buildings, and at the exits of parking lots. That is, in places with maximum traffic of people.
Personal inspection of houses, apartments and office buildings. You will have to spend a lot of time and effort on this. But there may be external video surveillance cameras on buildings that recorded the accident. Interview everyone you see nearby. Even if their windows did not face the road, they could have been on the street at that moment. Or you talked to a neighbor who saw everything, but you didn’t meet him.
Video hosting. Human nature is somewhat strange and sometimes inexplicable. Many people don’t help, don’t stop at the scene of the accident, and don’t try to find out if everything is okay. But upon arrival home, they immediately upload video from phones or recorders to popular resources.

Private detectives. If the situation is really complicated and requires the presence of eyewitnesses, you can turn to private detectives. The efficiency of such a search is quite high, but the cost of their services is corresponding.
With the help of friends and relatives who work in the relevant services, authorities or authorities. They may have access to a more extensive list of information than you.

There are many search tools. The main thing here is to use them correctly and rationally.

If there are no witnesses

Don’t forget about the “silent witnesses” - surveillance cameras and recorders, the data of which will be taken into consideration by the traffic police and even the court.

DVR recording

There are a huge number of cars with video recording equipment on the roads. Recorders write automatically and often even on parked cars. If you search, it is quite possible that one of these devices was near the scene of the accident. And then, probably, not a single car enthusiast will refuse to help.

Surveillance camera data

There are more and more CCTV cameras on our roads every year. They are found in stores, shopping centers, train stations, and are also installed in front doors. You should take advantage of this.

If an accident occurred in the city, you need to look around and ask whether the scene of the accident could have fallen into the focus of the lens of one of the cameras nearby. All that remains is to find its owner and agree on the transfer of video materials. It is better if a police officer does this. You just need to do this quickly, because recordings do not always remain in the device’s memory for long enough.

Witness protection

It happens that in some particularly high-profile cases, pressure may be put on witnesses. They may be intimidated, blackmailed, or threatened with physical force if they do not change their testimony or refuse it. If the life or health of witnesses is in real danger, they may end up in a so-called witness protection program. Witness protection is a set of measures to ensure the safety of witnesses during the trial, and, if necessary, after its completion.

Being a witness is not an easy and sometimes dangerous task. However, thanks to witnesses, the culprit can receive a well-deserved punishment, and the innocent will be acquitted. Therefore, witnesses need to be sensitive to their important status.

When a witness extorts money

There are often cases when a witness persistently asks for money for his help. You need to weigh everything carefully before agreeing. If you decide not to give in to extortion, it makes sense:

Report to the police. It is quite possible that you are dealing with a criminal who set up your accident.
Do not give the money (otherwise you will have to pay forever), but remind them of criminal liability.
Act confidently, declare the presence of video recorder data and an agreement with another witness.
Look for other eyewitnesses.

The fact of extortion in the police and court can only be proven with ironclad facts. This is done by recording calls, saving threatening letters, and eyewitness accounts.

“They let him leave.” How to find the culprit of an accident in the yard

A motorist from Moscow is unsuccessfully trying to get one of the premium chain stores to give him recordings from surveillance cameras. They should have come to their attention at the moment of the accident, in which, as the driver assumes, a truck arriving at the store to unload goods severely scratched his BMW and then disappeared.

Representatives of the retail outlet, in the presence of a policeman, promised to help the driver, but when he came with an order from the traffic police, the security guards unexpectedly announced that no entries had been made on the required dates. Together with lawyers, we tried to figure out how drivers should act when searching for the culprits of such accidents.

What happened at the store

Muscovite Ignat Kalinin parked his BMW 318 next to the house at Leninsky Prospekt, 21 - in the same passage where the store’s unloading portals are located. The car sat there for two days, and on December 14, 2021, the car owner saw that its rear bumper and fender were badly damaged. Under the windshield there was a note from a random witness, where it was written that the foreign car was damaged by a truck, a contact phone number was left, as well as advice to check the recordings from the cameras of the retail outlet, which just covered the travel area.

How to December 16, 2021 Other people's tracks: what to do if your car is damaged in the yard

Articles October 8, 2021 There was no accident, but they deprived of their rights: why you can’t leave after a conflict

As Kalinin himself told Autonews.ru, his car is insured under comprehensive insurance. Accordingly, he could count on payment. The car owner estimated the repair at about 70 thousand rubles. But according to the terms of the contract, in order to receive compensation it was necessary to identify the culprit of the accident - the insurance company will subsequently demand payments from him. The driver called the traffic police, waited for the inspector and went with him to the store management. The security service confirmed that the cameras actually film the desired area, they work around the clock, and the recordings are stored for about 3 months. But they didn’t immediately show the recordings - they first asked for a request from the police.

The driver received an accident report from the inspector, and four days later received an official order, which was required at the store. However, according to Kalinin, this time he was not greeted so kindly - the guards reported that the cameras were not working during the period he needed. The driver asked for an official response from the store, which would confirm that the cameras were indeed not working. They promised to send him an explanation in the near future. However, a month later, the driver did not receive any response, although he personally contacted the store several times.

If there are accusations of collusion with an eyewitness

When a participant in an accident is accused of colluding with an eyewitness, he has to prove his own innocence. Generally, a conspiracy charge is followed by an insurance fraud charge. To protect your interests you can use:

testimony of other witnesses;
recordings from cameras, recorders;
independent examination;
with the help of lawyers.

It is better to join forces with a witness who may be charged with false testimony. The investigation into the causes of the accident will have to start anew and without the help of the police, and the case will have to be proven in court. It is difficult and expensive, and gives little chance. Therefore, it is necessary to do everything possible even at the stage of registering the accident to exclude such accusations. The more different evidence, the easier it is.

Causes of road accidents

They may be different, but there is always a human factor. The main reason is a violation of the rules that require driving on the roads. Drivers often ignore road signs. The causes of an accident on the road may be:

disregard for road signs;
failure to comply with speed limits;
violation of traffic rules at intersections;
ignoring a prohibiting traffic light signal;
the driver is drunk or otherwise intoxicated;
failure to comply with the rules for crossing railway crossings;
other reasons.

Important! A pedestrian can also cause an accident on the road. For example, he was crossing the road in the wrong place; the driver, in order to avoid a collision, crossed a solid line and crashed into an oncoming car. Both drivers were driving according to the rules; the accident was caused by a careless pedestrian.

If you are a witness to an accident

The Code of Administrative Offenses states that a witness to an accident must be warned of liability for false testimony, and for refusal or evasion to report information known to him, he must be punished. So, an eyewitness to an accident should act like this:

Write down/remember the model, color and number, number of passengers in the car in which the offender (the culprit of the accident) fled.
Provide assistance to the victims.
Call the Ministry of Emergency Situations (police and ambulance) and tell about what happened, give the exact address, the number of victims and participants in the accident.
Try to prevent conflict between participants in an accident.
Give evidence to the traffic police inspector.
Participate in the construction of an incident diagram.
Confirm testimony in court.

Rights and obligations

The main duties of a witness are to appear when called and give honest testimony. The summons is carried out by summons, which is the basis for the employer, the administration of the educational institution, etc. for release from work, study, etc.

The parties to the case have the right to independently bring a witness, but in this case it is necessary to petition the judge or official to involve such a person in participation in the case. In addition to refusing to provide explanations in the above cases, the witness has the right to:

give explanations in your native language with the assistance of a free translator;
make comments on the correct recording of his explanations.

A person who witnesses an accident does not have any legal obligations. Behavior in such situations is determined by personal moral principles and ideas. In some situations, only witnesses can help understand the case and identify the culprit, for example, when hitting a pedestrian or a parked car. A witness to an incident should :

make sure that no one was injured in the accident, otherwise call the medical service and provide all possible assistance;
inform the participants in the accident, the victims, that he is a witness and, if necessary, can testify;
if an accident is recorded on the video recorder, inform the participants about it and make the recording available to them;
leave your coordinates;
if the event is related to a vehicle in which there was no one at the time of the incident, leave a note indicating the contact and explanations;
when summoned to court or the traffic police, appear for testimony.

At the trial stage, the witness is responsible for the truthfulness of his words. For false explanations about the circumstances of an accident, a witness may be punished :

in administrative proceedings - in the form of a fine from 1000 to 1500 rubles;
in criminal and civil cases - in the form of a fine of up to 80,000 rubles. or salary for up to 6 months, compulsory work for up to 480 hours, correctional labor for up to 2 years, or arrest for up to 3 months.

When is it necessary to have witnesses?

It is important for the injured party to collect and provide as much information as possible indicating his innocence in the accident.

In accordance with Art. 26.2. of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, evidence in a case of an administrative offense is any factual data on the basis of which the presence or absence of an administrative offense event is determined, the guilt of the person held accountable, as well as other circumstances that are important for the correct resolution of the case.

Part two of the same article regulates that information about the accident that occurred is established, among other things, by the testimony of witnesses.

In order for the administrative case to be considered comprehensively and objectively in the future, it is important to ensure that all the circumstances of the traffic accident that occurred are properly recorded in the procedural materials, including information from eyewitnesses of the accident.

In accordance with Art. 28.2. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a protocol is drawn up regarding the commission of an offense in the field of road traffic, which subsequently serves as the basis for initiating and considering an administrative case. This is a mandatory procedure carried out by a traffic police inspector upon arrival at the scene of an accident.

The police officer, in accordance with Article 26.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, reflects witness testimony in the protocol, and if necessary, they are recorded separately and attached to the case.

Therefore, the presence of witnesses to an accident is always necessary to obtain evidence of the innocence of the injured party.

Responsibility for an accident

If there is a human factor, then the culprit must be held accountable. The type of liability to which the perpetrator must be held depends on the type of accident and the severity of the damage. Sometimes the types of liability overlap and the perpetrator is charged under several articles of legislation.

Civil law

Rarely does an accident occur without bringing a person to civil liability. This is monetary compensation that the perpetrator pays to the victim. According to Art. 1079 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, this type of liability occurs if it is possible to determine the culprit. That is, the accident was not the result of, for example, a natural disaster.

When the culprit of the accident is identified and identified, he must pay for all the damage he caused. Includes:

Material damage that was caused to objects that belonged to the victim - the vehicle, the cargo inside.
Damage caused to buildings and structures located around the accident site.
Compensation for expenses incurred by the victim to restore health - medical care, purchase of medicines, purchase of special devices for rehabilitation.
Funeral expenses if the accident results in the death of a person.
Moral damage is not always recovered and only by court decision (sometimes by agreement between the parties).

Important! The amount of moral damage must be justified. For example, after treatment, the victim needed the help of a psychologist. The costs for this cannot be included in the estimate of medical expenses. But it is possible to recover expenses as moral damages.

Administrative. Fines

Administrative liability occurs if the accident occurred for reasons specified in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. From a legal point of view, liability arises not for an incident on the road, but for a violation of traffic rules.

The person at fault for an accident must pay a fine if the accident results in minor or moderate damage to health. The amount of the fine varies - from 2 to 25 thousand rubles. The driver may also be deprived of his license for a period of 1.5 to 2 years.

Criminal liability

Occurs when the accident results in serious injury or death. The cause of an accident on the road is determined as a violation of traffic rules or violation of vehicle operating rules.

A fatality is considered to be the death of a person not only immediately after an accident, but also within 7 days after the incident.

The culprit is charged under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The consequences may be the following:

The accident resulted in serious injury. The culprit may be limited in freedom for 3 years, sentenced to forced labor for 2 years, arrested for six months, or completely deprived of freedom for up to 2 years. One type of punishment is applied, and not in combination.
The consequence of the accident on the road was serious harm to health, and the culprit was in a state of alcohol or other intoxication. He could be sentenced to 3 years of forced labor or to prison for up to 4 years.
The consequence of the accident was the death of one person - forced labor for 4 years or imprisonment for up to 5 years.
The accident resulted in the death of one person, and the culprit was proven to be under alcohol or other intoxication. Punishable only by imprisonment for a term of 2 to 7 years.
The accident on the road resulted in the death of 2 or more people. They can be punished like this - sentenced to forced labor for up to 5 years or to a prison term of up to 7 years.
The consequence of the accident was the death of 2 or more people, the culprit was drunk (the fact was proven) - a real prison sentence of 4 to 9 years.

Important! In all cases, the person who is to blame for the incident is deprived of the opportunity to engage in a certain type of activity or hold specific positions for 3 years.