Cases of road accidents involving famous Russians over the past 10 years

First actions after an accident

Often, after an accident, due to stress, car owners begin to emotionally figure out which one is to blame.
Such proceedings often lead to conflicts and subsequent violations of the procedure for registering an accident. In order to comply with the established standards, every driver, regardless of the degree of guilt, must remember what is unacceptable to do after an accident:

• try to avoid responsibility by fleeing the scene of the incident;
• move cars until the arrival of the traffic police or video recording;
• stir up a conflict with the driver of the second car;
• engage in registration of an accident without checking the safety and absence of injuries of other participants in the incident.

Correct actions in case of an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance in 2021:

• safety assessment, detection of injuries in all citizens who were in damaged cars;
• If injured people are found, immediately call an ambulance team;
• placing signs warning other drivers that the road is closed as a result of an accident;
• Carrying out photo and video recording of the location of the damaged cars and the damage that appeared after the collision;
• exchange of contact information with the second driver (phone number and policy number);
• calling traffic police officers or mutual agreement to the European protocol;
• if you disagree with the information about the accident presented in the police description of the accident, make a corresponding note in the field provided for this;
• receive from the state traffic inspector one copy of the protocol, police confirmation of the fact of the accident and a document on traffic violation;
• contact the company where the contract was concluded and report the current situation.

It is necessary to call a company employee to the scene of an accident if this clause is marked as mandatory in the contract.

If the damaged cars create a significant obstacle that completely blocks the flow of other cars, detailed photos and videos should be taken from different angles, recording the position of the cars and individual damage. After this, you should drive the cars to the side of the road and make way for other cars.

Got into an accident: procedure

An accident can occur for many reasons: your own fault or your opponent’s; due to vehicle malfunctions or poor health; due to poor visibility on the road or bad weather. Whatever emotions were raging in your soul at the time of the accident, it is important not to act rashly. Perhaps part of the blame lies on your shoulders, so you need to think about the main thing: the safety of passengers in your own and neighboring cars and possible compensation for damage.

What to do first in the event of an accident:

1. Stop the car and check the tank for fuel leaks. Turn on the emergency lights and install an emergency sign. In a populated area, the sign is installed at a distance of 15 meters from the car, outside the city - 30 meters.
2. You should check if there are any victims; if you need medical help, you need to call an ambulance. If for some reason the ambulance cannot reach the scene of the incident or the victim has serious injuries, it is allowed to transport the person independently (by leaving the scene of the incident).
3. The accident must be reported to the traffic police and the insurance company. The dispatcher will collect all the necessary data and ask you to wait for the inspectors. The insurer can also send emergency commissioners to the scene of the event to draw up an accident diagram.

Compensation for damage in case of an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance

Expenses associated with repairing a damaged vehicle are compensated by a company representing the guilty party. To do this, specialists check the damage and assess the damage. The injured party has the right to seek payment of the missing amount through the court if there is confidence in the understatement of the amount of payments.

Payments under compulsory motor liability insurance in case of an accident when both drivers have a policy

This is the simplest option to resolve the issue. Participants in an accident simply need to provide the company’s employees with a set set of documents and submit an application for payment.

When using the European protocol, 5 days are allotted for delivery of papers. Under any circumstances, the sooner the car owner notifies the insurance company about the incident, the easier the settlement procedure with the company.

What to do if one of the drivers does not have a valid policy

For minor damage, it is better to try to negotiate compensation for the damage on the spot.

The injured party, even in the absence of a contract, still receives compensation from the culprit’s insurer. The only difficulty may be the location of the company where the car owner entered into the contract. Sometimes the victim has to contact an office located in another city or region. When both drivers have insurance, these nuances are decided between the companies themselves.

The injured driver will have to pay a fine for driving without a license.

If the culprit does not have insurance, it will be more difficult to obtain compensation. In the most acceptable option, the car owner who provoked the situation pays for the damage on the spot. In other cases, you will have to call the traffic police and seek payment through the courts.

Documentation

When deciding what to do after an accident, it is worth paying attention to documents, because the bureaucratic component plays a major role in accident investigations. The more accurate the information and the more of it, the higher the chance of reaching the correct conclusion. Here the action plan is as follows:

• the place where the cars “met” each other is determined;
• the necessary measurements are taken and damage to the machines is recorded.

It is important here that the characteristics have maximum detail. Thus, the appearance of a crack on the windshield or bumper, a scratch on the fender or roof, a dent on the hood or trunk - this is indicated in the papers;

• A diagram of the accident is drawn. At this stage, information about the participants in the incident and eyewitnesses is recorded. Often the inspector does not rack his brains to reflect the road accident diagram and confines himself to drawing it by hand;
• drivers hand over their driving documents to the inspector, after which they are asked to go to the traffic police department to register the accident;
• The final drawing up of the accident diagram is carried out with the subsequent issuance of certificates and a description of the damage to the vehicle. When it is determined that someone is at fault in the incident, the traffic police inspector draws up a protocol and gives a copy to the party considered to be the violator.

If during an incident on the road people were injured or property was damaged, then we are no longer talking about the administrative, but about the criminal sphere. In this case, the punishment is more serious.

Let's summarize. The following documents are drawn up:

• protocol with recording of data at the accident site;
• diagram of the incident (should be drawn on graph paper);
• vehicle inspection report;
• medical examination certificate;
• testimonies of people;
• explanatory notes from participants;
• notification of an accident.

Consequences of violation
When driving on the road, every motorist should know what the consequences of violating traffic rules are:

• When harming a person’s health, the following options are possible: up to 2 years in prison, up to 2 years of forced labor, arrest for up to 6 months, and so on. In addition, the violator may lose the right to hold a position for 3 years or more. If an accident leads to the death of a person, then you can realistically receive up to 5 years in prison or forced labor for up to 4 years. For the death of 2 or more persons - up to 7 years in prison;
• in case of harm to health and being drunk - up to 4 years in prison, up to 3 years of correctional labor and deprivation of the opportunity to work in a certain position (also up to 3 years). If an accident leads to the death of a person, they can be imprisoned for up to 7 years. In case of death of 2 or more persons - up to 9 years in prison.

Results
When driving out on the road, you should know what to do in the event of an accident, what nuances to pay attention to and how to act correctly. Not only the size of the fine or punishment, but also the quality of future life depends on the level of composure. History knows many cases when a person went to prison because he could not prove his innocence, but his opponent and the prosecutor turned out to be much quicker and more experienced.

What documents are required for payment under compulsory motor liability insurance in case of an accident?

The list of documents depends on the circumstances of the accident. The main set includes:

• application for payment for restoration work;
• passport;
• driver's license;
• confirmation of car ownership or driving rights;
• protocol written by the inspector or European protocol;
• vehicle registration certificate;
• STS;
• notification of an incident;
• a valid insurance contract;
• details for transferring funds.

If necessary, the list is supplemented:

• report on the examination carried out;
• receipts and checks for payment for the tow truck, expert and related expenses;
• medical report on injuries or disability;
• an extract from the medical history;
• documents confirming expenses for treatment;
• certificate of dependents.
• death certificate;
• confirmation of funeral expenses.

If a car falls into a pond

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How to call an ambulance or intensive care unit correctly

The car will be on the surface of the water for some time, so you should use the time to the maximum. Do not panic. It is panic that can provoke unnecessary and unnecessary actions. You should get out of a sinking vehicle through the windows.

If you try to open the doors, the car will sink much faster. Even if you were unable to leave the cabin while the car was afloat, you should not stop trying to escape. Turn on the headlights. They will light your way to the surface. In addition, this will later help you find your car to lift it out of the water.

Wait until the cabin is half filled with water, push off from the hull and rise sharply. Don't forget to take important documents with you. Even if the car completely sinks to the bottom, but the windows and doors are closed, you will have enough air for several minutes.

Once ashore, call an ambulance. In extreme situations, a person cannot adequately assess his well-being, so an examination by specialists is mandatory.

Cash payment or repair - which is preferable?

If an insured event occurs due to an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance, a more profitable option for the owner is to have the car repaired at a service station owned by the insurance company. When determining the amount of payments, they rely on wear and tear of parts and other indicators that reduce the value of the car. The amount received may be much lower than what is needed to completely repair the damage to the car.

When carrying out repairs by the insurance technician, they are required to replace all damaged parts with new ones, regardless of their degree of wear. If hidden defects are identified, the company is also obliged to pay for their elimination.

Read more in our article: money or repairs under MTPL?

Reasons for refusal of payments

Several situations have been identified in which the insurance company has the right to refuse compensation payments. These include:

• providing an expired or counterfeit policy;
• filing an application under a policy in which the victim is not included as a person admitted to management;
• the accident occurred as a result of the transportation of dangerous goods;
• an application for compensation for moral damage has been filed;
• the required set of documents has not been provided;
• the accident was staged to obtain insurance payments;
• the application specifies compensation for damaged luxury items (antiques, precious jewelry, expensive household appliances);
• the culprit of the accident has not been identified;
• the application was submitted 2 years after the occurrence of the insured event;
• the application does not contain details for transferring compensation;
• the information in the application is incomplete or untrue.

How to receive payments under compulsory motor liability insurance after an accident if the culprit does not admit his guilt

Those responsible for the accident often refuse to admit their guilt. This is due to the fact that the insurance company pays compensation only to the injured party. The driver who created the emergency will have to restore his car himself.

In such cases, it is better for the victim to use the help of a car lawyer, since the case can last for several months and will require drawing up a statement of claim. If the person responsible for the accident refuses to admit his guilt, the victim must adhere to the correct line of behavior:

• do not allow anyone to make changes to the picture of the incident;
• carefully record in a photo or video the position of the cars, marks on the road and damage received;
• call traffic police to the scene of the accident;
• collect contact information of witnesses to the accident;
• ensure that the necessary data is entered into the protocol in full;
• call an insurance employee to the place;
• file a claim in court.

Often, the culprit of the accident refuses the previously admitted guilt after the European protocol has been drawn up, and goes to court to challenge it. In such situations, the victim will have to prove his case by providing the judge with all the photos and video materials, the protocol in hand, the expert report and other documents.

You should not agree to the proposal to wait two months (when it is too late to draw up a protocol on an administrative violation) and reach an amicable agreement. In such a situation, the victim loses valuable time. The insurance company insists on providing documents according to the European protocol within 5 days, or 15 days with a call from the traffic police.

Although these deadlines are not confirmed by law, a delay could complicate an already difficult situation.

Football player Fedor Smolov

On the night of August 1, 2021, forward of the Russian national team Fedor Smolov was in a car accident in Krasnodar. While driving a BMW M5, the football player lost control and crashed into a metal fence. Smolov himself was not injured, but left the scene of the accident. On August 9, 2021, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar deprived Fedor Smolov of his driver’s license for a period of one year. He was found guilty under Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Failure to fulfill duties in connection with a traffic accident”). The footballer also reimbursed the amount of damage for damage to the fences - 58 thousand rubles.