Failure to Take Measures After an Accident | A Case Leading to Non-Prosecution for Insufficient Evidence for a Client Charged with Failure to Take Measures After an Accident

🔗failure to take measures after an accident refers to the act of leaving the scene without taking the necessary measures when a traffic accident occurs.

▶Article 54 of the Road Traffic Act

When a person is killed or injured or property is damaged due to traffic such as the operation of a vehicle, the driver must immediately stop and take necessary measures such as relieving the casualties.

▶Aggravated punishment

The driver is subject to more severe punishment under the Road Traffic Act and the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

▶What does “flight” mean?

The court assesses the meaning of ‘flight’ as follows.

A case is regarded as flight where the driver, while being aware that a person has been injured or killed as a result of the traffic accident, leaves the scene of the accident without fulfilling the duties of relief measures and the like prescribed in Article 50 (1) of the Road Traffic Act.

The court also held that if, as a result, it becomes impossible to identify who caused the accident, this constitutes flight.

During the police investigation, the client stated that from the outset he was not even aware of the fact that an accident had occurred.

Accordingly, the key issues in this case were ‘whether the client could have recognized the contact accident’ and ‘whether, despite such recognition, he left the scene.’

Daeryun’s traffic accident specialist attorney, through close consultation with the client, organized the detailed facts regarding the accident circumstances at the time, the road conditions, the condition of the vehicle, and the degree of impact at the time of contact.

The attorney then obtained the advice of an external expert with a background as a traffic accident appraiser and analyzed the scratch on the side mirror area of the vehicle and the minor contact marks on the other vehicle.

The attorney also secured the client’s vehicle dashcam and the driving record immediately after the accident, gathering evidence that could prove that it was a situation in which it was difficult for the client to recognize the accident at the time.

The crime of failure to take measures after an accident is a crime prescribed not as a means of compensating for the victim's property loss, but for the purpose of securing general traffic safety and order.

Therefore, if, even after a traffic accident occurred, no risk factor arose on the road due to scattered debris or the like, and there was no concern that it would obstruct the passage of ordinary vehicles, it is difficult to find that any special measure under the Road Traffic Act was necessarily required in itself.

In particular, considering that in this case there were no circumstances in which the victim could immediately report the matter or pursue the offending vehicle at the scene, and there was no obstruction to traffic flow or any factor giving rise to danger from the accident, this was a situation in which there was no concern of harming road traffic safety.

The traffic accident specialist attorney asserted the above circumstances and emphasized that the protected legal interest was not infringed.