Every day on the roads of our country in traffic accidents, not only adults, but even small children, die and receive serious injuries that are life-threatening. This is primarily due to the fact that not all drivers driving cars comply with the rules of movement and operation of vehicles. But sometimes there are situations when accidents occur not through the fault of the person sitting at the wheel, but by a pedestrian who decided to cross the road in the wrong place. In the event that the driver’s guilt in an accident where a person was killed or injured is proved, he faces a real prison term under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code. Learn more about all this from this article.
A little about the main thing
So, many citizens and especially drivers are interested in the question of in which case a person will be punished for accidents with tragic consequences under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code. Everything is quite simple here. If the driver’s guilt in a road accident, where people died or were injured, is obvious and confirmed by evidence, then the latter will be legally responsible for the crime committed.
In addition, there should be a connection between the accident and the negative consequences that have occurred. For this, as a rule, a series of examinations is carried out.
Only people can be injured or killed in an accident. If any animal is fatally injured in a traffic accident, the driver will not be held liable under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code.
What you need to know
In Art. 264 of the Criminal Code, vehicles mean cars, trams and other mechanical vehicles. For example, a trolley bus, bus, motorcycle, tractor. In other words, when driving this vehicle and violating the rules of movement on the road or its operation, a person who is driving will be held accountable for what he has done.
Important
In order to prosecute a person under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code, it is necessary to establish the objective side of the perfect act. In this case, it should be obvious that:
- the driver has violated the rules of movement or operation of vehicles, as evidenced by certain evidence;
- a person received serious injury or fatal injury due to the carelessness of the person who was driving;
- two or more people died in the accident.
It is also important to note here that only a specialist can determine the degree of harm caused. In the event that a person was not injured severely (a slight bruise on the shoulder, arm or concussion), then there is no need to talk about bringing a person to criminal liability. In such a situation, the driver can only be administratively punished.
Examination
It is mandatory if people died in a road accident, and also if it is necessary to determine the degree of harm caused to the health of a person injured in an accident.
A forensic examination can be carried out here before or after the initiation of a case by order of the investigator. Nevertheless, the study is most often carried out at the stage of collecting evidence against the driver who committed the accident. Indeed, if the examination shows that the death of a person did not occur due to a perfect accident, then a preliminary investigation will not be conducted, and the initiation of proceedings will be refused.
If, after a study by forensic doctors, it is revealed that the harm was not serious, but moderate or light, then bring the driver responsible for the accident according to Art. 264 of the Criminal Code does not work.
Carelessness and negligence
These two terms apply to a driver who contributed to a traffic accident that resulted in severely injured or fatal people. After all, a crime, sanctions for which are prescribed in article 264 of the Criminal Code, is reckless. Because the driver, driving the vehicle, not wanting the onset of sad consequences, due to his negligence committed an accident.
At the same time, the citizen who was driving knew in advance that it is impossible to violate the rules of the movement or operation of vehicles, therefore he should be held responsible for his careless actions.
It should also be noted that a violation of the rules of the road and the operation of vehicles can only be said if there is some evidence that it was the fault of the driver that a person was killed or injured. Indeed, in some cases, pedestrians become victims of motorists on their own carelessness (crossing the road in the wrong place, unexpected exit to the carriageway in front of moving vehicles).
What is provided
Responsibility for citizens whose obvious fault was an accident with a fatal outcome or other negative consequences for human health is prescribed in Art. 264 of the Criminal Code. The penalty for drivers here is as follows:
- For causing serious harm to the health of a pedestrian or passenger of a vehicle: restriction of freedom (up to 3 years), forced labor for a maximum of two years and deprivation of rights for three years; arrest for up to six months; imprisonment (up to 2 years) and additional sanctions - deprivation of the right to drive transport for up to 3 years or without it.
- If the person behind the wheel was drunk, then he faces isolation from society (up to four years and deprivation of the right to engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years), or forced labor for up to 3 years and the withdrawal of a driver’s license for the same period of time.
- In case of death of a pedestrian or passenger, the sanctions for the driver will be more severe - this is a prison term of up to five years with an additional penalty of deprivation of the right to engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or forced labor for a period of up to 4 years and with a ban on occupation certain posts (up to three years).
- For a citizen who drove a car while intoxicated (alcoholic or narcotic): only imprisonment from 2 to 7 years with deprivation of the right to engage in certain activities (in other words, deprivation of a driver's license for a period of up to 3 years).
- In the event of the death of several people in an accident, the sanctions are even more stringent - forced labor up to 5 years and a ban on engaging in certain activities (up to three years) or isolation from society for up to seven years and an additional type of punishment (deprivation of rights to drive vehicles - up to three years).
- If several people died in a road accident due to the fault of a drunk driver, the latter faces a term of 4 to 9 years in a colony with the deprivation of the right to certain activities (for example, a person worked as a bus driver) for up to three years.
Comment
So, the driver who has committed a road accident in which there are wounded and dead will be held accountable under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code. We can only agree with comments on this article. After all, a person driving a vehicle is responsible not only for himself, but also for the life and health of the people around him (passengers, pedestrian participants in the movement). In addition, it must be remembered that a car, like another motor vehicle, is considered to be the source of the highest danger. This means that the harm caused to others at the time of the accident will be compensated by the person who was driving, regardless of whether he is guilty of the deed or not.
Practice
Unfortunately, absolutely anyone who accidentally commits a road accident can be in the dock. The statistics is such that almost every second driver who became the culprit of a fatal accident, receives only a real term under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code. Judicial practice also confirms the fact that there are very few acquittals under this article.
If the driver was not previously held accountable for the commission of atrocities, then he can count on the indulgence of justice and the imposition of probation. But this happens only in those situations when a person really repents of his deed and tries to make amends to the injured party (meaning by itself: apologizing, paying material compensation).
Final moment
As already mentioned earlier, in practice it is almost impossible to justify a driver who had a traffic accident with grave consequences for other road users. Nevertheless, if the citizen who was driving the car does not consider himself guilty of what happened, then you can try to achieve justice. To do this, you will need to conclude an agreement with a good lawyer specializing in such cases. In addition, it is necessary to collect evidence confirming the innocence of the driver (video from the registrar, testimony of eyewitnesses to the accident). Because otherwise, an acquittal under Art. 264 of the Criminal Code will be simply impossible.
Here you also need to remember that even if the driver is not found guilty of what happened, the court will still appoint him to pay a certain amount of money as moral compensation to the injured party. But if the lawyer of the accused will be able to prove the intent in the actions of the victim himself (for example, the latter wanted to commit suicide and consciously went to the middle of the carriageway), then the acquitted person will be exempted from any payments.