“Leaving the scene of an accident is a crime!”

December 18, 2019

Over 10 months of 2019, 26 road traffic accidents involving drivers who fled the scene occurred in the Vitebsk region. They claimed the lives of 4 people. All drivers who left the scene of road traffic accidents were traced by traffic police officers.

In Orsha, a driver who hit a teenager at a pedestrian crossing has been identified. The accident occurred on the evening of the 10th on Karl Marx Street in Orsha. The driver, operating a passenger car, hit a teenager crossing the roadway at an unregulated pedestrian crossing. As a result of the accident, the 16-year-old youth sustained bodily injuries and was taken to the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital. The driver fled the scene of the accident. Law enforcement officers, after studying video surveillance recordings along the possible route of the vehicle, identified the make of the car. The driver was a resident of Orsha, born in 1967.

It is not uncommon for drivers, realizing what has happened, to return to the scene of the tragedy.

For example, on the evening of November 12, in the urban-type settlement of Podsvilye, Gluboksky district, a 46-year-old resident of Gluboksky district, driving an Opel Vectra along Sovetskaya Street, hit a 50-year-old local resident moving in the same direction along the edge of the roadway. As a result of the collision, the pedestrian sustained bodily injuries from which she died at the scene. The woman was not marked with a retroreflective element. The driver left the scene of the accident, but returned to the scene of the tragedy after some time.

The State Automobile Inspectorate reminds that leaving the scene of a road traffic accident, of which a driver is a participant, is punishable by an administrative fine ranging from five to twenty-five basic units or deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for up to two years.

In accordance with Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, for committing a road traffic accident that caused death or grievous bodily harm, punishment is provided in the form of correctional labor for up to 2 years, or restriction of liberty for up to 5 years.

Deliberate endangerment of a person, according to Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, is punishable by arrest for up to 6 months or imprisonment for up to 3 years.

The search for fleeing drivers is a matter of time; sooner or later, every "fugitive" will face justice, and certainly, the judgment of their own conscience.

As practice shows, in many such cases, pedestrians themselves are to blame, and if the driver's innocence is proven, they bear no legal responsibility for the person they hit. It would not be superfluous here to remind how to behave when hitting a pedestrian.

The most important thing in such a situation is not to leave the scene of the accident, call an ambulance and the traffic police. If possible, find witnesses in whose presence the point of impact should be recorded. Also, it is important to provide first aid to the victim yourself. By doing this, the driver will protect themselves from further trouble.

Head of the Traffic Police Department
Yuri Zayats