TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

A large percentage of the caseload of civil courts is covered by claims for compensation from traffic accidents. The law of compensation has a wide application and is founded on the concept of civil liability.

Civil liability: When damage is caused to a person, the question arises whether this damage will be borne by the person who suffered it or whether it will be transferred to the shoulders of a third party. For this damage, another person is responsible for its restoration, due to a contract (such as an insurance contract) or outside the contract, in the case of tortious liability. This tortious liability presupposes fault or negligence on the part of the person liable. With the insurance contract covering third-party damage, which is now mandatory by Law 489/76, the obligation to compensate for the tortious act of the driver of the vehicle causing the damage also arises on the part of the insurance company, based on a contract. Regardless of fault, the law imposes strict liability for risk on various persons, as in the case of Law 31/1911, mainly for personal injuries to bus passengers.

Damage is any damage caused to the material or intangible assets of a person that have monetary value, i.e. any adverse change in them. In addition to property damage, it also includes damage to health, mental suffering and pain, so it is a moral damage, which is also restored with financial satisfaction. Any property disadvantage is restored, which falls under positive damage or lost profit. It also includes lawyer's fees and court or extrajudicial, even future expenses. It is not necessary for the injured party to repair the car, as his property has already been reduced by the damaging event - traffic accident.

Those liable for compensation is the at-fault driver, that is, the one who through his own fault caused the damage to another, his heirs, also the owner and possessor of the damaging vehicle, the person who protected or supervised another person in service and the insurance company. These persons are each jointly and severally liable for the damage (except for the heirs who are liable according to their inheritance share). The injured party is therefore given the right to choose from whom he will ultimately request his compensation (in practice, it is requested from the insurance company), while the one who will ultimately compensate is entitled to demand the amount that is due to them from the other liable parties.

Compensation beneficiary are the immediate injured party and his heirs, the persons entitled to services and maintenance from him. In the event of bodily injury, the spouse and parents are entitled to compensation, while in the event of death, beneficiaries other than the heirs are also those who were entitled to maintenance or contribution. For those insured in the IKA, the claim for compensation is automatically transferred to the IKA for what it paid and for its services.

Except in the case of strict liability by law for risk (N. C} N/1911), the claim for compensation is based on driver's tort of the damaging vehicle. It is required that there be illegal conduct - fault consisting of negligence or intent and a causal connection between the illegal conduct and the damaging result. An important piece of evidence as to who is responsible for the accident is the traffic police report, for this reason we should not fail to call them in the event of an accident. Any fault on the part of the injured party, such as a violation of the Road Traffic Act, failure to use a protective helmet or seat belt, reduces the claim for compensation, to the extent - percentage that he himself is responsible for the damage he ultimately suffered.

Possible compensation claims per case:

A) Vehicle breakdown
Its damages, spare parts, work costs, and the cost of renting another vehicle necessary for its work are restored, while in the event of total destruction, its commercial value is sought, based on the cost of the damaged vehicle on the day of the accident and taking into account damage and potential benefit.

B) Bodily injury
Hospitalizations, rehabilitation expenses, fees for doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, domestic helpers, purchase of medicines and support equipment, increased expenses for improved nutrition, lost wages due to temporary incapacity for work, maintenance of persons for whom the injured party had an obligation, everything that will be deprived in the future due to the bodily injury (as a rule, these are compensated in monthly installments, while the injured party has the burden of limiting the extent of the damage as much as possible, i.e. not to worsen his position at his own risk and not to reject opportunities for work). Based on Article 930, paragraph 3 of the Civil Code, the amount that the injured party would have spent if he had employed a third party for his care may be recovered, and the avoidance of this expense (fictitious expenses), in view of the provision of services by related persons, does not exempt those liable for compensation, because the fact that someone else has an obligation by law or for another reason to support - care for the injured party cannot result in the benefit of the liable parties and in their avoidance of payment of the relevant compensation.

 C) Moral Damage
His mental pain is compensated financially, as damage to the property of the personality. Compensation for bodily deformity or permanent disability, if this affects the future and the financial and family-social life of the injured party, constitutes a separate claim and aggravates the moral damage.

D) Damage from killing
Hospitalization, funeral expenses, compensation for deprivation of maintenance of the entitled persons and financial compensation for the mental suffering of the victim's family members.

Exercise of a right. Compensation claims and disputes arising from traffic accidents are heard and resolved in the Single-Member Court of First Instance or the Court of the Peace of the place of residence of the defendant, using the special procedure for motor vehicle disputes that ensures a short determination of the trial. The courts of the place of offense also have concurrent jurisdiction, in the case of personal injuries and in the case of a foreign vehicle.

The attempt to resolve the dispute out of court, attempted by the injured party's lawyer, between his client and the insurance company of the vehicle causing the damage, has a significant application. The possible compromise that will result ensures savings in time and legal costs, since the legal pursuit is significantly delayed until the court decision becomes final, while the outcome of the dispute is always unpredictable. In practice, unfortunately, the legal route is more often followed, if the insurance company does not recognize the fault of the driver of the vehicle insured by it. An additional reason is the fact that it is in the interest of the insurance company not to pay compensation immediately. However, in cases where the fault is given and the damage does not amount to a large amount of money, the out-of-court resolution of the dispute by compromise is the most appropriate solution.
Finally, it is worth noting that the claim for compensation is time-barred after five years have passed since the injured party became aware of the damage and the person liable for compensation due to a tort, while in any case, in order not to extend the start of the limitation period by claiming ignorance on the part of the injured party, it is stipulated that in any case the claim is time-barred upon the expiry of twenty years from the time the tort occurred, regardless of the knowledge or ignorance of the injured party.