An accident can happen even to a careful driver. Knowing the procedure helps you stay calm and meet your legal duties. They are governed by § 47 of Act No. 361/2000 Sb.
What is a road accident
It is an event in road traffic, for example a crash or collision, in which a person is killed or injured or property is damaged in direct connection with the operation of a moving vehicle.
What you must do at once
As a party to the accident:
- Stop the vehicle immediately.
- Switch on the hazard lights, put on a high-visibility vest and mark the scene with a warning triangle.
- Take steps so that traffic safety is not endangered and no further damage occurs.
- If anyone is injured, give first aid and call the ambulance (155 or 112).
- Do not drink alcohol or take other addictive substances after the accident until the police arrive or until it is clear it can no longer harm the finding of whether you drove under the influence.
- Cooperate in establishing the facts and allow traffic to resume.
When you must call the police
Under § 47(4) and (5), the parties must report the accident to the police without delay (158 or 112) if:
- a person has been killed or injured,
- the material damage to any of the vehicles involved, including the goods they carry, clearly exceeds CZK 200,000,
- there is damage to the property of a third party (other than the vehicles in the accident and the things in them),
- a part or accessory of the road has been damaged or destroyed (for example crash barriers, traffic signs),
- the parties cannot restore the flow of traffic themselves without disproportionate effort.
Watch the amount: the threshold used to be CZK 100,000, today the law says CZK 200,000. Nobody has to know the damage exactly, what matters is that it is "clearly" higher. If in doubt, call the police, you lose nothing. After reporting the accident, do not leave and do not move the vehicles until the police arrive, except where necessary to free an injured person or restore traffic. Then mark and document the scene.
When you do not have to call the police
If the accident injured no one, the damage clearly does not exceed CZK 200,000, none of the other listed consequences applies, and you agree and write and sign a joint accident record (§ 47(3)(g)). It must contain the place, date and time, cause, course and consequences, the details of the parties and vehicles, and a sketch or photographs. It can also be made electronically through the app of the Czech Insurers' Bureau (Česká kancelář pojistitelů). Photograph the vehicles, their positions, the signs and the damage. Do not sign anything you do not understand.
Company vehicle and the employer
After an accident in a company vehicle, inform your employer without delay. The employer has duties linked to the insurance claim and possibly to a work injury, which you must report to them without delay (§ 106(4)(h)). Give them the record, the photographs and the other party's details. Do not sign an admission of liability for damage without advice.
Failing to help is a crime
Anyone who, after an accident, fails to give an injured person the help they need, although they could do so without danger to themselves or another, commits the crime of failure to provide assistance by the driver of a vehicle (§ 151 of the Criminal Code, Act No. 40/2009 Sb.), punishable by up to five years in prison or a ban on activity. The general duty to help applies to everyone under § 150.
Summary
- Stop, mark the scene, make it safe, help the injured and call 155 / 112.
- Call the police for injury, damage over CZK 200,000, damage to others' property or to the road, and when the road is blocked.
- Otherwise write a joint accident record.
- After the accident do not drink alcohol and, for an accident in a company car, inform your employer.