Traffic accident recording

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Accident recording by the police and protection of an accident site by the fire brigade on the A40 near Moers
Police securing traces after a traffic accident between a motorcycle and a car

The traffic accident record is the documentation of a traffic accident in road traffic at or near an accident site. This is usually done by the police; a preservation of evidence by those involved corresponds to a simple testimony, which is sufficient in simple cases.

Accident report

The evidence-based accident record is the basis for further legal claims, e.g. B. to clarify the question of guilt. Of these accidents, 78% are reported to the motor vehicle insurers for settlement, about half of which were also reported to the police. In 14% of the cases, claims settlement in a traffic accident takes place between the parties without a formal accident record. However, if personal injury occurs, only 1% of accidents are not reported to either the police or the insurance company (as of 1995).

Accident record sheet

In the case of simple traffic accidents with clear facts, it can make sense to record the accident without the assistance of the police. On the one hand, this saves considerable waiting times, since in some cases specialized groups carry out the traffic accident recordings, so that the waiting time can be up to several hours, especially in traffic-accident-prone weather conditions ( rain and fog at night , black ice in the morning ). At very low damage also the cost of penalizing can traffic ticket also make up a significant proportion of the total cost of the main culprits, it can be useful to the damage compensation without recourse to the especially at low damage liability insurance to track to the downgrade in the claims category to escape .

In the event of a private accident, the usual " 5 Ws " can serve as a guide for any " preservation of evidence ": what, when, where, who and how. A statement on the "why" is not required and can be problematic as a premature admission of guilt if the car insurance is claimed later. Basically, the on-site impression can be deceptive, and further questions about the amount of damage and cost distribution arise in retrospect, so the data must be collected equally from all persons and vehicles involved.

  • Clarify and document the identity of the vehicle driver (see official IDs, show driver's license ).
  • Document the vehicle registration number , nationality and vehicle type of the vehicles involved. The responsible insurance company and the number of the vehicle insurance cover can be clarified by calling a collective number on the central number of the auto insurers .
  • Document visible damage; Photographs are particularly useful here, otherwise describe them as precisely as possible so that later photographs can be compared with them.
  • Document the location of the accident, including traffic and weather conditions. As a rule, this should be done by means of a manual accident sketch , in which vehicles, boundaries and junctions of the streets as well as relevant traffic signs can be recognized.
  • Brief description of the course of the accident, especially the directions from which those involved came.
  • Identify any witnesses and document their personal details.
  • Give a copy to everyone involved in the accident; usually it is a carbon copy or a copy that is countersigned by all parties involved.

Many insurers offer a set of forms ( carbon copy set ) for the European accident report , which those involved can use to orient themselves. A schematic representation of vehicles is also very typical, in which you tick which areas / sides of the vehicles are affected, as no photography is usually taken on site, but photos of the damage that were subsequently taken at home are enclosed when the accident is reported to the insurance company later become. This ensures that no old damage is reported.

When reporting to liability insurance to compensate for damage, the ADAC recommends that an expert report a damage report from € 750 . This enables correct fictitious cost accounting, especially in the event of an economic total loss of an old car. Otherwise, the costs will be submitted to the specialist workshop for reimbursement; a flat rate of € 10 for your own letters and photographs is common practice.

Consequences of the accident

After a traffic accident, civil law claims of the injured party as well as investigative proceedings with public law claims arise. Participants with partial or partial guilt who claim damages from their liability must expect the no-claims discount to be lost , which in turn increases the insurance premiums. Those involved who have liability insurance with a German insurance company and who claim the damage there must report the damage from a traffic accident within two weeks. After the accident, everyone involved in the accident must stop immediately. Accident sites must be cleared immediately, and road users are also required to maintain safety ( Section 34 of the StVO ).

Action by the police

Police officers in Woodinville, Washington recorded the scene of the accident with a total station

The police must be made in road accidents on the ground to police measures and activities, primarily to secure the accident site at Ersteintreffen and situational first aid to afford the identity verification (witnesses, among those involved and personal exchange ), the ability to drive determine the parties involved in accidents, and traffic measures (road / Lane closure and, if necessary, traffic regulation ). In exceptional cases, traffic safety posts consulted and understandings of any kind ( traffic alert radio , understanding of members , understanding of the respective consulate in severely injured or killed foreign party in an accident) and technical assistance made. Further tasks and activities result from the prosecution of traffic offenses and / or traffic offenses , the accident recording and the statistical recording and accident evaluation ( local accident investigation ).

In serious traffic accidents with negligently caused fatality or negligently caused bodily harm or very high damage to property - often with an unclear legal situation (so-called recording impact), on the one hand the police are active for sovereign tasks (there are no fees) and on the other hand photos of the damage of the accident site, the traffic situation, the signs, the injuries, etc. In addition, in the event of serious accidents, the locally responsible public prosecutor's office and the district judge are consulted in order to discuss follow-up measures, seizures, security and the possible requirement of evidence-based traffic analysis reports by TÜV or Dekra .

The accident sketch documents the accident location, together with road markings, road parts, locations / directions of motion of the parties, etc. It includes north up the road, any buildings, street names, travel or direction of travel of the participants (colored), dimensions with fixed points, braking / blocking and beat tracks vehicle parts, puddles , collision point (e), traffic signs , traffic signals , especially when their own left-turn traffic signal or green arrows are present, location (s) of any witnesses and much more.

Various forms of representation such as the triangle measuring method or the right-angle coordinate measuring method are used to measure the accident situation. In addition to these frequently used methods, there are other methods such as the mono-image method (perspective rectified photo with measuring square, markings on the roadway, etc.), which are ideally made by taking aerial photographs using a police helicopter, and the right-angle coordinate method. This is carried out by the traffic accident service , which, operated in some federal states , is used in the case of serious traffic accidents where the legal situation is unclear.

In the case of qualified traffic accidents , the police have to create a traffic accident report that is incorporated into nationwide statistics via state statistics. The legal basis for this is the Law on Statistics on Road Traffic Accidents ; The data holder is the State and Federal Statistical Office.

If a report of a traffic accident is received by the rescue control center, a comparison with the police operations is carried out in some places. If a police operation has not yet been set up, this is done on the basis of the notification from the rescue control center. This serves to consistently intervene against traffic offenses and traffic offenses and, in the broadest sense, also to ensure justice towards the victims. Furthermore, preventive work is carried out in the long term, as road users will behave more disciplined in the future. In addition, traffic safety measures are often necessary in the event of a traffic accident, which would unnecessarily burden the capacities of the emergency services on site.
On motorways and other multi-lane motorways , a lane closure (full or partial closure) often intervenes to record the accident and the subsequent rescue. For this purpose, in the first attack, the fire brigade often places the securing vehicles parallel or at right angles to the direction of travel, especially when using the rescue helicopter . The protection, blocking and cleaning of the affected lanes or streets is then carried out by the affected motorway or road maintenance depots. Attention should be drawn to the need to create a rescue alley. In the case of full closures with a total duration of more than two hours, a diversion with demand diversion by the police comes into consideration.

On the police side, accident blackspots and accident accumulation lines are determined using accident cards. The findings are used for future prevention work. The police decides whether the traffic safety of a vehicle is still present, and ordered or arranged a towing for the salvage. If the vehicle is seized for reasons of evidence or property securing, a sovereign rescue order is issued. The towing company endeavors to take the vehicle debris from the vehicle involved in the accident and to sweep the lane. In the case of large-scale accident sites, the road (s) are cleaned by the car or road maintenance depot.

Legal basis

When recording accidents, different legal bases apply in Germany for police action : The StVO for matters of traffic flow and traffic safety, the police law for action in the field of danger prevention (binding fuel / lubricants, securing valuables, providing assistance, etc. ) as well as the law on administrative offenses or the StPO . Furthermore, the tax code must be applied if a customs seal is broken or the load of a truck is damaged in the accident. The police are obliged to notify the nearest main customs office and an average commissioner immediately .

In 15 out of 16 countries in the Federal Republic of Germany , the police come to the scene of the accident to record an accident. Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein have granted the possibility that a police accident record can be refused after a preliminary telephone call, but this is incomprehensible to the citizen, so that Schleswig-Holstein has instructed the police to always go to the scene of the accident in order to avoid damage to the image come.

See also

literature

  • Richard Taschenmacher: Traffic accident record. Scene of the accident - scene of the crime. Physical basics. Law. Measures , 528 pages, paperback, Verlag Deutsche Polizeiliteratur, 2nd edition, 2006, ISBN 3801105008 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "Records of road traffic accidents - police accident recordings or preservation of evidence by private individuals"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF), information from the Institute for Road Traffic Cologne, Institute for Transport Technology of the GDV, October 1997, ISSN 0724-3693@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.verkehrstechnisches-institut.de   
  2. ↑ Zentralruf der Autoversicherer (General Association of the German Insurance Industry) ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gdv-dl.de
  3. ↑ Insurance Contract Act
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