Causing harm to health in an accident in 2022: punishment for severe, moderate and light harm

In most road traffic accidents, drivers and passengers suffer injuries of varying severity. If the guilt of one of the participants in the accident is proven, punishment will be applied to him. The minimum fine will be 2,500 rubles. The maximum that a person can face is imprisonment for 9 years.

Minor damage to health in a road accident is a short-term loss of ability to work due to a minor injury. This includes sprains, contusions, abrasions, bruises and other similar injuries. Below in the article we will discuss how the amount of damage to victims is determined and how to prove your case in court.

How is severity determined?

After an accident, problems arise for both the victims, who may have to undergo treatment, and the person responsible for the accident.

The main factors that provoke accidents are:
driver diseases that affect reaction while driving;
car problems;
alcohol intoxication;
inattention and distractions;
inexperience in driving;
intentional violation of traffic rules.

While driving a car, every driver can unintentionally harm another person. Despite this, he will be guilty. The punishment depends on the severity of the injuries inflicted on the victim. They can be:

lungs;
grave;
moderate severity.

Important! You can count on a mitigation of punishment when the driver had no chance of maneuvering to avoid an accident.

The assessment of physical damage is carried out by a forensic expert during the examination of the victim. When making a final decision, he relies on the following factors:

the impact of the injury on a person’s future life;
inability to go to work;
duration of treatment required;
cessation of organ function, problems with the functionality of the body.

Damage to health in an accident and the procedure for compensation - consultation with a lawyer:

Types of degrees

The injured party can only receive help after the injuries have been officially rated and the driver's guilt has been proven. Afterwards, the culprit of the incident will have to bear responsibility for his actions (criminal or administrative).

Note! Regarding the regulation of the issue of causing mild injuries, it is worth relying on Article 12.24 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Russia.

Minor harm

According to the law, minor injuries include:

minor concussion;
problems with the functionality of body systems, the functioning of which can be returned to normal in 3 weeks;
injuries that do not allow continuing work activity for a period of up to 20 days.

Expert opinion
Artemyev Dmitry

Experience as a forensic expert in the field of automotive technical examination for more than 2 years, more than 3 years of work in the field of insurance disputes, appealing guilt in road accidents.

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If minor damage is caused, treatment lasts no more than 21 days. It doesn’t matter what kind of treatment it will be, outpatient or inpatient. The victim must have an outpatient card and medical history.

Moderate

Moderate physical injury is not life-threatening, but can cause the inability to carry out business or work activities in accordance with the contract with the employer. The duration of treatment in this case exceeds 21 days. The punishment provided for by law for causing harm to the health of a victim of moderate severity is a ban on driving for 24 months or a fine (up to 25,000 rubles).

Serious harm

Cases of causing serious harm caused by an accident are regulated by Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Due to the injuries received, a person faces a real threat of death or irreparable injury, which in the future will affect the decrease in the quality of his life. Signs of serious harm are:

burns of any kind, 3-4 degrees;

intracranial injury;
injuries to vital blood vessels;
severe damage to the respiratory organs or abdominal cavity;
numerous bilateral fractures.

This also includes dangerous harm that can cause disorders of the functions responsible for the functioning of vital organs.

Such conditions often result in the death of the victim, they include the following:

a large amount of lost blood;
shock state of 3-4 degrees;
coma with minimal chance of recovery.

Severe injury also includes mental depression, permanent frostbite of any part of the body, or loss of speech, hearing, or vision.

Note! For an accident with serious injuries, the driver faces at least administrative liability. It cannot be avoided, even if he tried to prevent the accident. This does not take into account any assistance that the driver provided to the victim. For example, he delivered him to a medical facility in his own car or helped with money.

If the victim does not complain about the driver, administrative proceedings will be initiated. This is explained by the fact that injuries were caused due to the accident. According to the law, for causing serious injury or death to those involved in an accident, the driver faces a prison sentence of up to 9 years.

From the video you will learn about recovering damages from the culprit of an accident:

Mitigating and aggravating circumstances

What could “anger” the judge even more? If, when committing a traffic crime, the driver was drunk or disappeared, leaving people injured due to his fault, this will play out in a negative direction.

It is good if no one dies due to the irresponsibility of the accused, otherwise he may be additionally convicted of leaving in danger under Article 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

And also in Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation the legislator explains.

Aggravating circumstances include the commission of a crime:

in relation to a pregnant woman or a young child;
the culprit is a police officer;
This is not the first time he “breaks” the law, in a short amount of time.

For example, if a person was given a conditional sentence for battery for 2 years, and at that time he hit a pedestrian causing grievous bodily harm. This is considered a relapse and the punishment will be more severe.

To understand how to mitigate guilt, you need to refer to Article 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it sets out the necessary grounds.

Circumstances for reducing punishment:

pregnancy;
committing a crime for the first time;
if the culprit has young children;
admission of guilt to a misdemeanor;
assistance to the victim, full compensation for damage.

Of course, judges always impose sentences that are fair and consistent with reality. After all, many accidents happen unexpectedly, a person simply does not have time to brake.

On the road it is generally difficult to control absolutely everything. Therefore, traffic police officers constantly warn road users to comply with the rules prescribed by law.

Compensation for victims

In order to achieve compensation payments, the victim, based on specific evidence and certificates, must prove harm to health in an accident. When property has been damaged, you will need paperwork confirming its ownership, as well as receipts for the costs required for restoration. When causing physical harm, compensation is divided into:

compensation for the full amount of income that the victim was unable to receive due to injuries received, including work in a company or enterprise under a contract, as well as entrepreneurial activity.
reimbursement of expenses for undergoing a course of treatment, medicine, visiting a sanatorium and care.

To receive payments, the victim provides the following documents:
documents on the amount of earnings that could not be received due to an accident (they can be obtained at work);
if the victim died, a death certificate is provided;
expert opinion on the extent of injuries received and a certificate from the hospital;
checks and other papers confirming money spent on medicines, operations and medical procedures.

Compensation for damage to health in an accident from the culprit

So, if the person at fault for the accident did not have insurance, then the Russian Union of Auto Insurers will recover the entire amount of payments from him through the court. The victim can try to independently contact this authority in order to receive compensation.

As a first step, the injured citizen must prove the fact of the accident. To do this, you will need to attach to the application:

resolution on an administrative fine (issued by a traffic police inspector);
accident report;
a certificate from the service station about the amount of losses incurred in the accident;
medical report on harm caused to health;
receipts for payment for treatment, medicines;
verdict in a criminal case.

IMPORTANT
If the culprit was driving not his own transport, but a company car, then you can attempt to send a claim directly to the organization where the person who caused the accident works. To obtain this information, you must request in advance a copy of the accident report drawn up by the inspector. It is advisable to have this document when going to court.

Compensation payments for moral damage

A traffic accident that occurs threatens a pedestrian or driver with more than just injuries. If a person is too susceptible, he will not be able to immediately return to his usual state, so it will take time to recover.

Note! Thus, nothing prevents the victim from exercising his right to appeal to a judicial authority with a claim for compensation for moral damage, indicating the amount of funds that suits him.

According to the law, the driver who caused the accident is obliged to pay compensation for physical or psychological injuries that he was able to cause by the source of increased danger (that is, the car), regardless of the presence or absence of fault.

The grounds for filing an application are:

temporary loss of ability to work or inability to perform their duties in the future due to injuries received;
serious mental disorder due to a serious road accident;
death of a close relative;
injury accompanied by severe pain.

Note! To have a chance of receiving payments for mental injury, the victim must provide evidence that he actually suffered serious stress. To do this, it is enough to obtain a conclusion from a psychiatrist who is monitoring the person after the accident.

In addition to a certificate from a psychiatrist, experts recommend having written confirmation from officials who, if necessary, can come to court and confirm their words again.

Normative base

Issues of compensation for health damage sustained in an accident are regulated by the following types of regulatory documents:

Law No. 40-FZ of April 25, 2002 “On compulsory civil liability insurance of vehicle owners” (last edition – December 29, 2007), where Part 12 discusses the procedure for making insurance compensation.
Code of Administrative Offenses (Article 12.24, defining the concepts of mild and moderate harm to the health of the victim).
“Regulations on the rules of compulsory civil liability insurance of vehicle owners”, approved by the Bank of Russia on September 19, 2014 N 431-P.
Government Decree No. 150 dated February 21, 2015, which spells out changes in the procedure for calculating the insurance amount for the victim.
Appendix to the order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 194n dated April 24, 2008, which indicates the degree of loss of performance, as well as the criteria used to assess the injuries received.
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Article 264 in case of causing serious harm through negligence and 111 in case of intent of the culprit);
Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Articles 56, 59, 1068, 1079 and some others).

Attention:
Short-term injuries from road accidents in the form of bruises, scratches, and abrasions are not considered harmful to health. They do not interfere with the victim’s ability to work; to cure them there is no need to issue a sick leave. If desired, the victim of a traffic accident can only declare his intention to receive compensation for moral damage.

How to compensate for damage

The procedure for providing compensation depends on the compulsory motor liability insurance policy issued by the owner of the vehicle. If it exists, the injured party contacts the insurance company or directly to the person responsible for these payments. The driver who is at fault for the accident must provide the victim with information about the insurance contract (primarily its number).

The next step is to provide the insurance company with documentation about the accident, insurance payments and compensation amount for physical or psychological injuries. According to the law, the application is considered no later than 30 days. If lateness is recorded, a penalty will be charged.

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Artemyev Dmitry

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Payments under an insurance contract depend on the type of damage. If the policy was purchased between 2014 and 2022, the victim can count on a maximum amount of 500,000 rubles. If the car owner does not have insurance or information about it is unknown, you should contact the Russian Auto Insurance Union and get money here.

What kind of damage to health will the person responsible for the accident be held liable for?

In case of an accident, which is aggravated by the presence of victims, several types of liability arise:

civil law , which covers all damage caused in an accident;
administrative , which entails execution of punishment for violation of traffic rules that resulted in an incident;
criminal (or administrative) for injuries caused to people.

The driver of a vehicle who is found guilty of an accident bears civil liability for the accident. By insuring his civil liability, the motorist receives guarantees that the insurance company will pay for the damage suffered by other participants in the unpleasant event.

Arbitrage practice

It is not always the case that the person responsible for the accident voluntarily agrees to pay compensation to the injured party. Often the dispute has to be resolved through the courts. First, you need to draw up a claim and submit it to the district court located at the place of residence of the defendant. But, if a case is being considered for compensation for damage resulting from the death of a family breadwinner or compensation for physical injury, the claim can be filed at the place of registration of the applicant.

The slightest mistakes must not be made in the application, otherwise it will not be considered. In addition, the victim must have direct evidence of the accident. The claim must also contain the following information:

name of the judicial authority;
FULL NAME. the victim and the defendant for identification;
a receipt confirming payment of the duty;
requirements for the culprit of the accident;
the name of the documents attached to the application;
clear substantiation of the application with reference to legislative acts.

Do you think that you were not to blame for the accident?

It happens that people who were not present at the time of the accident are actually responsible for an accident. For example, if vehicle maintenance was carried out incompetently, or someone deliberately damaged the vehicle involved in the accident. Keep a record of recent maintenance performed and carefully select the companies that perform it. Someone else's mistake or bad intentions in this case can cost your own life.

Incorrectly installed or missing traffic signs, missing or faulty traffic lights and poor road surfaces are also circumstances that partially mitigate the driver’s liability. In practice, everything will be considered comprehensively. If you allowed yourself to drink, and then started talking on the phone and knocked down a child, they will not understand you. But it is natural that the court will treat your problem differently if you were sober and trying to maintain control of the car on a road destroyed by a sudden landslide, in the rain and fighting a heart attack.

Amount of compensation payments

Determining the amount of compensation is one of the most difficult processes faced by both the applicant and the court. If we are talking about moral damage, it is very difficult to convert it into money, so people often unreasonably indicate the maximum possible amount, because they believe that the court will in any case be on their side and the person responsible for the accident will have to pay money regardless of the amount of payments.

Almost every citizen of the Russian Federation knows that almost any amount can be specified for moral damage, but if it is not justified, the court will not approve it. In addition, it is worth understanding that the driver who caused the accident will make every effort to reduce compensation or get rid of it altogether. Therefore, the stronger the justification, the better.

Important! The court makes a decision, taking into account not only legislative acts, but also general fairness. To determine the amount of compensation payments, the applicant’s lawyer refers to articles of the Criminal Code of Russia and court practice. Only in this way can you understand what amount the court will consider fair.

Payments for psychological injuries do not apply to property damage. But, given the practice of court hearings, this rule does not always apply.

Expert opinion

Artemyev Dmitry

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Today, according to statistics, more than 70% of proceedings end with the culprit having to pay the victim no more than 5-8 thousand rubles. This amount can increase 10 or even 15 times only if the driver has committed a serious crime.

Punishment of a pedestrian guilty of causing harm to health

There are accidents in which pedestrians are found to be at fault. In them, not only a pedestrian participant in an accident, but also passengers or the driver can receive injuries of varying degrees of severity. If citizens received minor or moderate injuries, then the culprit (we are talking about a pedestrian) will have to pay a fine in the amount of 1,000 to 1,500 rubles.

If the result of an accident caused by a pedestrian on foot results in the death of people, then the following penalties are provided for the culprit:

imprisonment (up to 3 years);
arrest (up to 120 days);
forced labor (up to 2 years);
prison (up to 2 years).

Attention
If the actions of a pedestrian caused the death of two or more people in an accident, then he will have to suffer a more severe punishment - correctional labor for a period of 5 years or imprisonment for a term of up to 7 years. Such measures are quite serious; they are aimed at calling on violators of traffic rules to fulfill their civic duties.