Many drivers are concerned with the question: What to do if you bump into another car in a supermarket parking lot, but the driver is not there? So far, the rule has been that if you caused the accident, you had to remain at the scene of the accident, otherwise you could face a severe hit-and-run penalty.
According to a media report, the Federal Ministry of Justice intends to decriminalize exactly such situations – escape from an accident without personal injury – in the future. According to the editorial network Germany (RND), hit-and-run accidents should only be classified as an administrative offense instead of a criminal offense if there is property damage but no personal injury. This emerges from the cornerstones of the ministry led by Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP). This downgrading “would counteract an undifferentiated criminalization of the person who caused the accident,” according to the RND in the ministry paper.
So far, the unauthorized removal of those involved from the scene of an accident can be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up to three years. According to the plans of the Ministry of Justice, this regulation will only apply to accidents involving personal injury in the future.
As soon as there are physically injured people, it is always necessary “to remain at the scene of the accident and to identify yourself as a party involved in the accident,” said the paper, which the ministry sent shortly after Easter with a request for comments to professional associations. This applies “despite the self-accusation associated with the self-report of the accident of an accompanying act that may have been carried out”, such as drunk driving.
Against this background, there are, conversely, “good arguments for refraining from punishing the failure to report the accident in the event of pure property damage,” it said. Paragraph 142 of the Criminal Code, which regulates escape from an accident, violates the principle of “impunity for self-indulgence”.
Previously, those involved in an accident had to wait a “reasonable amount of time” at the scene of the accident. As an alternative, the Ministry of Justice is now bringing the establishment of a reporting obligation and reporting office into play. “It would be conceivable, for example, to report using a standardized online mask, possibly also with images of the scene of the accident and the damage to be uploaded, or a damage report to be attached to the damaged vehicle, which, if carried out properly, would not constitute an action.”
