Accident without a trace

Every day you and I become participants in traffic: we travel by public or private transport, bicycle, or simply cross the roadway. At the same time, we must remember that the road is a source of danger, so we need to be very careful and follow the traffic rules. Too frivolous an attitude towards such a seemingly everyday thing can lead to unpleasant consequences - a traffic accident.

Road traffic accident - what is it?

The Road Traffic Rules (hereinafter referred to as traffic rules) give the following definition of an accident (clause 1.2): “An event that occurred during the movement of a vehicle on the road and with its participation, in which people were killed or injured, vehicles, structures, cargo were damaged or other material damage was caused.”

Let's look at it in more detail.

Firstly, an accident is an event, that is, a phenomenon of life that does not depend on the will of people. In other words, something that we would not want to allow, but it happened despite our desire. At first glance, this is an insignificant nuance, but for lawyers it will be important to establish the fact of the “event”, since it will characterize the accident as an accident. Suppose two cars driving behind each other, braking at a traffic light, collided. If the driver behind simply did not have time to brake, say, due to bad weather conditions, that is, he did not want such consequences to occur, then what happened will be an “event.” And further proceedings and the extent of liability of the violator (in this case, restoration of material damage) will depend on this. And if the collision is committed deliberately, that is, at the request of the driver (in the language of lawyers, an “action” will be committed), then in the legal sense the situation changes radically: the driver has violated not just public order, but has encroached on someone else’s life or property, therefore there will be subject to harsher criminal penalties.

Secondly, a vehicle is involved in an accident, and it must move. These two criteria must be met simultaneously. Agree that if hooligans scrawl a bad word on a car parked under the window, then this situation will not be an accident, although your vehicle “participated” in it (the guys will simply be held accountable for damaging someone else’s property). In this case, an important sign of an accident is missing - the movement of the car.

Thirdly, an accident necessarily leads to negative consequences - causing damage (material or damage to health or life). For example, if a pedestrian ran onto the roadway, but the driver managed to brake and did not hit the traffic violator, then such a situation will not be regarded as an accident, because no harm was caused to anyone (except that both escaped with only a slight fright).

Thus, we see that an accident has three main signs:

1. Occurs regardless of the will of the participants in the accident.
2. One of the participants is a vehicle that is in motion, on the road.
3. As a result of an accident, any damage is caused.

An accident is...

I'll start right away with an example. Let's say the lights suddenly went out in the entire neighborhood. We sigh and say: “There must have been an accident at the substation.” Or the car driver lost control and ran into a roadside pole. And in this case we say that an accident occurred.

Consequently, an accident is an abnormal (not occurring regularly) event in the form of destruction, breakdown, explosion, which entails the onset of any negative consequences or creates the likelihood of such consequences (potential danger).

If it led to serious material damage and (or) harmed the health or lives of people, then they say that it provoked the creation of an emergency situation (emergency situation) . That is, it was the first link in the chain of cause and effect “Accident → Emergency”.

In fact, they are not the same thing. An emergency can be a consequence - for example, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant caused a large-scale emergency. Or the accident may be the result of an emergency - for example, an earthquake and tsunami caused an accident at a nuclear power plant in the Japanese city of Fokushima.

The higher humanity climbs the ladder of scientific and technological progress, the more the likelihood of accidents increases.

This is logical, because more and more new technologies and new mechanisms are appearing, and accordingly, the percentage of the probability of their breakdowns . This does not mean that innovations will necessarily break, only that the likelihood of this happening increases.

I will not explain the essence of probability theory, but I will explain what was said with an example. Let's say there are no household appliances in your house. Therefore, the probability that one of them will break is “0”.

You bought a TV. There was a possibility that it might break. And if you bought 9 more household appliances, then the likelihood of a breakdown (compared to the time when you lived in an empty apartment) increased 10 times!

Therefore, if your great-grandmother says that there were no accidents in her time, then this is the absolute truth. After all, when there is nothing to break, nothing will break.

Some terminology:

1. If any technical object is on the verge of destruction, breakdown, or destruction, then such an object is said to be in emergency condition .
2. Emergency repair is a repair intended to eliminate the consequences of an accident that has already occurred, or to prevent it.
3. Emergency service is a department whose main purpose is to perform emergency repairs.
4. Accident rate is the probability of an accident occurring.
5. Emergency protection is a set of means and methods to prevent it.
6. An emergency source of electricity is equipment capable of supplying an object with electricity for some time when its main source is turned off.

Causes of road accidents

• The most common reason is violation of traffic rules by vehicle drivers. Most often, the following violations lead to emergency situations: Excessive speed. Often, drivers do not comply with the established speed limit, which sometimes leads to dire consequences. When choosing a speed, always take into account the situation on the road, weather conditions and other factors. And remember the popular wisdom: “The slower you go, the further you will go.”
• Violation of overtaking rules. Overtaking is a rather responsible maneuver. Therefore, before you start, you need to make sure that it will be safe for you and other road users. And, of course, you need to follow the simple rules specified in section 11 of the traffic rules: do not start overtaking if the car in front or behind you has already started it, or you doubt that you can safely complete the maneuver; Do not overtake at intersections, railroad crossings, or pedestrian crossings.
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  A common consequence of failure to comply with overtaking rules is a head-on collision.

• Failure to maintain distance. According to paragraph 9.10 of the traffic rules, the driver must maintain a distance “that would allow him to avoid a collision.”
• Drunk driving. The minimum liability for this violation: a fine of 30,000 rubles and deprivation of the right to drive vehicles from 1.5 to 2 years (Article 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation). If people were injured due to such driving, then the punishment may result in a prison term (Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Indirect reasons include unreasonably risky behavior on the road, inability to control oneself in an emergency situation, poor physical/mental condition of the driver (illness, fatigue, stress). By and large, they lead to any reason from the list, but they are also worth paying attention to.

Main causes of road accidents

The vast majority of road accidents occur due to subjective reasons, in whole or in part. To one degree or another, there is almost always the fault of the participant in the incident. Exceptions may be cases when accidents occur as a result of some objective and completely independent of human will events: subsidence of asphalt under a passing car, a lightning strike on a car, etc. An animal running onto the road, holes and potholes, other external factors that a person could have foreseen and avoided are not considered as the only causes of incidents. In the best case, in addition to traffic violations committed by the driver, it is established, for example, that road services violated the rules and regulations for road maintenance. A car malfunction is also not a self-sufficient cause of an accident, since the driver is obliged to check and ensure the serviceability of the vehicle on the way before leaving (Section 2.3.1 of the Traffic Regulations).

The traffic rules have several universal rules that make it possible to establish the driver’s fault in almost any accident. For example, clause 10.1 of the traffic rules - the driver must choose a speed within such limits as to ensure constant control of traffic, clause 9.10 of the traffic rules - the driver must maintain an interval to the vehicle in front and a side interval, etc. Accidents only due to the fault of pedestrians occur in rare cases and are possible, perhaps, only when unexpectedly entering the roadway in the wrong place or at a prohibiting traffic light.

In one case, the court found the driver guilty of violating clause 10.1 of the traffic rules when he, moving on an icy road at a speed of 5–10 km/h, lost control and allowed the car to skid, followed by a collision. It was not established that the road services were at fault for improper road maintenance. The court found that in the current situation the driver chose the wrong speed. The court did not consider the arguments that the car (GAZ 53) could not move at a lower speed due to its design features as worthy of attention - if a dangerous situation arises, the driver must take all measures to reduce the speed until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

Almost any accident occurs as a result of a driver violating traffic rules.

Thus, the principal and main cause of an accident is the driver’s violation of the Traffic Rules. A more detailed classification is possible based on specific traffic rules. The main reasons include:

1. Violation of the speed limit (Section 10.1 of the Traffic Regulations). Drivers often confuse the wrong choice of speed with exceeding the maximum permissible value for a given area (clauses 10.2 - 10.4 of the traffic rules) or as determined by the corresponding road signs. In fact, the correct choice of speed limit does not depend on the limit values ​​and is determined based on the current situation. In itself, exceeding the maximum permissible speed cannot lead to an accident; an accident occurs due to the inability to stop in the selected driving mode. The driver of a car moving at a speed of 100 km/h in the city can have time to brake or maneuver when there is sufficient visibility and a clear road, while at a speed of 30 km/h on icy asphalt, when braking, the car will lose control and collide with another car. The braking distance on wet asphalt increases up to one and a half times, and on an ice-covered road - by 4–5 times compared to dry asphalt.
2. Driving through a prohibiting traffic light or traffic controller. The circumstances and consequences of such a violation are obvious.
3. Incorrect choice of interval to the vehicle in front or to a side interval. Sudden braking of the vehicle in front usually does not cause an accident. The driver driving behind must choose a safe distance that allows him to stop in a critical situation. Often, drivers try to avoid a collision with the front car by maneuvering and collide with a vehicle moving in another lane in the same direction, or drive into the oncoming lane. Traffic regulations do not provide for the ability to maneuver when danger arises. The driver's actions should only be aimed at reducing speed until stopping.
4. Driving into the oncoming lane (Section 9.1 of the Traffic Regulations). The reasons for leaving may be overtaking in violation of the rules, an attempt to avoid a collision with an obstacle that has arisen in front, an incorrect choice of the location of the car on the road without markings, deliberate actions, etc.
5. Violation of turning rules (Section 8.6 of the Traffic Regulations). A significant proportion of drivers violate the rules for turning at intersections. Upon completion of the maneuver, the vehicle must be in its lane, but in fact it partially passes through the oncoming lane, resulting in a collision with an oncoming car.
6. Other traffic violations.

Other circumstances that are often cited as causes of road accidents are actually factors that increase the likelihood of an event or additional causes. These include:

1. Driver's physical condition. Fatigue and poor health reduce attentiveness and slow down reactions. For bus drivers, including city drivers, long-distance drivers and some other categories, a special work regime is provided, which requires mandatory rest between flights and during the journey. Violation of the prescribed standards is one of the factors influencing the accident rate. A direct prohibition on driving in a sick or tired state, along with intoxication, is contained in clause 2.7 of the traffic rules.
2. Distractions. Loud music, especially listening through headphones, extraneous noise and conversations in the cabin, paying attention to passengers (for example, small children) or animals inside the car distract the driver from controlling the movement. This does not allow you to react in a timely manner to changes in the situation.

   
   Doing other things while driving is a sure way to get into an accident.

3. Weather. They have a diverse and multifactorial impact on road traffic. Rain and snow reduce both visibility and the adhesive properties of asphalt, fog can limit visibility of the road to tens of meters compared to several kilometers in clear weather, the bright sun blinds the driver, etc. Adverse weather conditions cause additional stress on the driver, which leads to rapid fatigue.
4. The condition of the road surface is a favorite topic for drivers. To be fair, it should be noted that in recent years a significant length of both highways and city roads have been repaired and restored, but the problem is so significant that it is not yet possible to talk about overall satisfactory quality. It is useful for the driver to remember some maximum permissible indicators of road defects (GOST R 50597–93), if deviated from which road and other relevant services may be held liable for an accident:
   the width of an individual pothole is 60 cm;
5. the length of an individual pothole is 15 cm;
6. the depth of an individual pothole is 5 cm;
7. deviation of the rain inlet grate from the level of the tray - 3 cm;
8. deviation of the hatch cover from the coating level - 2 cm;
9. Deviation of the rail head from the coating is 2 cm.
10. Alcohol, drug or toxic intoxication. Violation of clause 2.7 of the traffic rules in itself cannot lead to an accident, but a state of intoxication has a catastrophic effect on a person’s reaction and coordination and prevents an adequate assessment of the road situation. Due to the general legal and social attitude, a drunk driver will most likely be held accountable for an accident and damage caused, even if he does not actually commit other traffic violations and the incident occurs as a result of the actions of another participant.

    
    The state of intoxication catastrophically affects the reaction and adequacy of the driver

Other factors contributing to road accidents include improper supervision of domestic animals, actions of wild animals, natural phenomena, improper maintenance of objects adjacent to roads (for example, when trees, poles, structures, etc. fall on the road) and other circumstances, which can significantly increase the risk of an accident. Contributing factors also include insufficiently qualified driver training in driving schools and deficiencies in vehicle designs. Supporters of esoteric teachings may see karma as the cause of road accidents, but this is not an acquired taste.

Types of accidents

Analyzing the situations in which car drivers most often got into accidents, we can distinguish the following types:

• Collision. A distinction is made between collisions between two moving vehicles (car, electric car, motorcycle and other mechanical vehicles), collisions between a moving vehicle and another that has suddenly stopped, collisions with a train;
• Collisions A collision with a pedestrian (even if it was his fault that he collided with a car);
• Hitting a cyclist;
• Colliding with a stationary vehicle. Please note that the vehicle was not in motion, but was initially standing at the time of the accident (for example, in a parking lot). This is in contrast to a collision where the vehicle was en route but stopped suddenly, for example by braking in front of a pedestrian crossing;
• Hitting or hitting an obstacle;
• Collision with horse-drawn vehicles;
• Hitting animals (wild, domestic, and also birds; including the case when they themselves hit a car);

Types of road accidents - classification and characteristics

Types of road traffic accidents are established by law. To find out how many types of transport accidents are divided into, you should refer to Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation No. 328 of June 18, 1996. It contains the main types of incidents and their characteristics. According to the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, there are 9 main types of road accidents, the list of which includes:

1. Collision is an incident in which moving vehicles collide with each other or with railway rolling stock. This type includes collisions with a suddenly stopped vehicle (in front of a traffic light, during a traffic jam or due to a technical malfunction) and collisions of railway rolling stock with a vehicle stopped (left) on the tracks.
2. Rollover is an incident in which a moving vehicle overturns.
3. Hitting a stationary vehicle - an incident in which a moving vehicle collided with a stationary vehicle, as well as a trailer or semi-trailer.

4. Hitting an obstacle is an incident in which a vehicle runs over or hits a stationary object (bridge support, pole, tree, fence, etc.).
5. A pedestrian collision is an incident in which a vehicle hits a person or the person collides with a moving vehicle. This type also includes incidents in which pedestrians were injured by a load or object transported by a vehicle (boards, containers, cable, etc.).
6. A collision with a cyclist is an incident in which a vehicle hits a cyclist or the cyclist collides with a moving vehicle.
7. A horse-drawn vehicle collision is an incident in which a vehicle hits draft animals, as well as the carts transported by these animals, or the draft animals or carts transported by these animals hit a moving vehicle. This type also includes hitting an animal.
8. Passenger fall is an incident in which a passenger falls from a moving vehicle or in the cabin (body) of a moving vehicle as a result of a sudden change in speed or trajectory, etc., if it cannot be attributed to another type of accident. A passenger falling from a stationary vehicle while boarding (disembarking) at a bus stop is not an accident.
9. Another type of accident is an incident not related to the types indicated above. This includes the fall of a transported load or an object thrown by the wheel of a vehicle onto a person, animal or other vehicle, a collision with persons who are not road users, a collision with a suddenly appeared obstacle (a fallen load, a separated wheel, etc.), etc.

Vehicle collision damage and accident injuries can vary greatly depending on the type of accident that occurs. Moreover, no matter how many types transport accidents are divided into, the consequences of each of them can be very serious.

Actions in case of an accident

What a driver involved in an accident should do is described in Section 2 of the Traffic Regulations.

The exact course of action depends on the situation, but in any case you need to do the following:

1. Stop the car or leave the place, depending on the situation.
2. Turn on the emergency lights and put up a warning triangle.

   If an accident occurs, you need to stop the car and turn on the hazard lights

3. Do not touch anything at the scene of the accident. If a car involved in an accident interferes with normal road traffic, then the roadway must be cleared. Before doing this, it is advisable to take photos or videos of the accident site, the location of vehicles on the road, damage and other important details of the accident.

   In case of an accident, the driver must place a warning triangle on the road

4. Report the incident to the police and wait for further instructions.
5. If necessary, help the victims of the accident, call an ambulance.

What are the types of road accidents?

Incidents can be divided into different types depending on their characteristics.

Based on the nature of the incident, the Rules distinguish the following types of accidents:

• collision - an accident due to contact of vehicles with each other, trains, impact on a suddenly braked car;
• rollover – an incident in which a vehicle overturns;
• collision with a standing vehicle – a moving vehicle has collided with a standing vehicle or trailer;
• hitting an obstacle - the vehicle has hit a stationary object (building, fence, fence, green space, poles) or has been hit;
• hitting a pedestrian - an accident in which a car hits a person or the latter collides with a vehicle transported by cargo or objects;
• collision with a cyclist - a car collides with a driven bicycle or vice versa;
• collision with horse-drawn vehicles - an accident in which a vehicle collides with carts driven by animals, or with the animals themselves;
• passenger fall - persons transported in a car fall outside the vehicle or in their interior due to a change in speed or trajectory of movement.
• other types of accidents - any types of accidents that cannot be classified as listed above: a wheel bouncing onto a pedestrian, a collision with a flying load, etc.

There are also non-contact accidents that are not indicated in the traffic rules. They are possible in situations where the driver provokes other road users to actions that cause them harm, but there is no physical contact between the culprit’s vehicle and the victims.

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According to the nature of the harm:

• minor;
• large;
• with damage to cars;
• with damage to non-vehicles;
• with damage to human health;
• with the death of individuals.

By number of participants

• one driver;
• two participants (most common);
• three or more participants.

According to the severity of bodily injury:

• mild – short-term health disorder;
• medium – long-term health disorder;
• severe – life-threatening at the time of injury, loss of an organ or its function, termination of pregnancy, permanent disability or loss of professional skills;
• death;
• serious situations - the death of several or the injury of many people.

A person killed in an accident, according to the Rules, is a person whose death occurred as a result of the actions of other road users at the time of the accident or within seven days after it as a result of injuries received.

A wounded person in an accident is considered to be an individual who has received injuries and damage that necessitate outpatient treatment or hospital stay for at least 24 hours.

Responsibility for an accident

Responsibility for an accident will follow if it occurred through someone else’s fault, and not due to some objective insurmountable reasons (for example, natural disasters). The type of liability and punishment for a traffic accident depends on the type and severity of the damage caused, and on whether people were injured due to the accident. It also takes into account whether traffic rules were violated and whether the driver could have prevented the accident. Most often, several types of liability discussed below occur simultaneously, therefore the punishment for an accident is a complex of sanctions.

Civil liability

Occurs in almost every case of an accident and represents monetary compensation by the guilty party for all damage caused as a result of the accident. This is legally enshrined in Article 1079 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation: a citizen is obliged to compensate for the damage caused by his car unless he proves that the damage arose as a result of force majeure - an extraordinary unpreventable event, for example, a natural disaster - or the intent of the victim.

The driver whose fault the accident occurred must be prepared to pay for all damage caused:

1. For damaged material objects: vehicles, cargo transported on them, various buildings and structures that were damaged as a result of the accident.
2. Expenses for medical care and treatment for victims of the accident, and, possibly, compensation for moral damage.
3. Funeral expenses if a person died as a result of an accident; compensation for moral damage to his relatives.

It should be noted that thanks to compulsory motor liability insurance, the expenses of the person responsible for the accident may be less, since the full amount or part of it will be paid by the insurance company. If material damage is caused within 400 thousand rubles, and health damage is within 500 thousand rubles, then the insurance fully covers it; everything above these amounts will have to be paid to the person at fault for the accident.

Administrative responsibility

Chapter 12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) provides for fines and other penalties for various violations of traffic rules. Therefore, administrative liability in case of an accident will occur if it was caused by any of the traffic rules violations specified in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (but legally this will be liability for a traffic violation, and not for an accident).

Also, the driver who is guilty of an accident, the consequence of which was the infliction of light or moderate harm to human health, is brought to administrative responsibility. The consequences in the first case are a fine of two to five rubles or deprivation of a driver’s license for a year to one and a half years; in the second case - a fine of 10-25 thousand rubles or rights for one and a half to two years (Article 12.24 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Criminal liability

Occurs when an accident has led to the most serious consequences - people were seriously injured or killed as a result of the accident. In this case, the cause of the accident was violation of traffic rules or rules for operating the vehicle by the driver. In this case, liability is provided for in Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Let us immediately note that a fatal outcome will be considered not only the case when the victim died at the scene of the accident, but also if he died within the next 7 days. Below is a list of consequences of an accident and possible penalties in each situation.

• Serious harm to human health has been caused (that is, life-threatening or involving any organ or its functions): restriction of freedom for up to 3 years;
• forced labor for up to 2 years (plus, this may be supplemented by deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years);
• arrest for 6 months;
• imprisonment for up to 2 years (may add deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years).

Further, absolutely all punishments must be supplemented with a sanction in the form of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years (unlike the above case, where such a sanction may or may not be added - at the discretion of the court).

• Serious harm to human health was caused, while the driver was drunk: forced labor for up to 3 years;
• prison term up to 4 years;

Man-made accidents

A man-made accident is an occurrence at a technical facility, the causes of which may be:

1. employee negligence;
2. external factors, including natural ones (for example, broken wires in strong winds);
3. unexpected failures in the operation of facility systems.

Man-made accidents include:

1. industrial accidents and disasters , i.e. those that occurred in industrial production. They can lead to large-scale material losses and human casualties;
2. on main pipelines;
3. at nuclear power plants and at nuclear installations of research centers (radiation accidents);
4. hydrodynamic accidents (about them later in the article);
5. transport (more on them below);
6. accidents in energy systems, heating networks, water supply systems and wastewater treatment plants.

Hydrodynamic accidents

Hydrodynamic accidents are accidents that occurred at hydraulic structures, causing the uncontrolled movement of huge masses of water.

Hydraulic structures include:

1. dams (on rivers, reservoirs, lakes);
2. gateways.

Consequently, people, structures and lands located downstream from hydraulic structures can suffer from hydrodynamic accidents.

Accidents at hydraulic structures can occur :

1. due to the destructive forces of nature: earthquakes,
2. volcanic eruptions,
3. showers,
4. mudflows, landslides, avalanches,
5. congestion and gluttony (on rivers);

Consequences of hydrodynamic accidents:

1. cessation of operation;
2. injuries and deaths;
3. flooding of land areas. Flooding zones are classified as follows: first - up to 12 km from a hydraulic structure, flow speed - up to 30 km/h,
4. second – up to 25 km, speed – up to 20 km/h,
5. third – up to 50 km, speed – up to 15 km/h,
6. fourth – up to 70 km, speed – up to 10 km/h.

People living downstream from hydraulic structures should know that they are in potential danger and have an idea of ​​what to do in the event of a dam (dam, sluice) failure. What to do in case of flooding is described in detail in another article on our blog.