A key factor for a driver to be exempt from criminal liability in a fatal accident, when attempting to avoid a collision, will be a special automotive technical procedure. Dmitry Slavnov, a car lawyer and forensic automotive expert, told "Pervy Tekhnichesky" about this, commenting on new clarifications from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Earlier it became known that the agency recommended that investigative bodies not automatically consider drivers guilty in "contactless" accidents if they acted under conditions of extreme necessity.
It will be necessary to conduct an examination and ask the expert: could the driver see, foresee this accident and avoid it?
According to him, if experts determine that the motorist had the technical ability to notice the danger and stop the car in time in his lane, his actions will not be recognized as extreme necessity. In such a case, the driver faces liability under Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
But if he jerked the wheel and, so to speak, went to save his life by hitting other cars, then yes, it can be considered that he acted in a case of extreme necessity.
The position of the agency and the expert community is based on the definition of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. According to the document, a forced violation of traffic rules for the sake of saving a life does not bear the hallmarks of a criminal offense.
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