If you are involved in a traffic accident while under the influence of alcohol, do not leave the scene! This premise refers to behavior that should not be questioned, but which, unfortunately, is not as uncommon as it should be.
There are two reasons highlighted in this text why you should adopt this behavior.
The first stems from the social and moral obligation, as a citizen and human being, to ensure that the other parties involved in the accident have the due and necessary assistance to safeguard their integrity, both physical and moral, as well as their lives; and the second, because leaving the scene could be much more expensive than being convicted of a crime or misdemeanor for driving with a blood alcohol level higher than legally permitted.
In fact, by leaving the scene of the traffic accident, in addition to committing a crime of omission of aid - punishable in this case by imprisonment and a fine double that of drunk driving - (in addition to the others - e.g. offense to physical integrity by negligence or homicide by negligence), and that they may even apply the additional penalty of disqualification from driving motor vehicles, will certainly also have significant financial consequences, which could ultimately amount to hundreds of thousands of euros.
Leaving the scene of the accident, and being arrested in flagrante delicto - a concept that covers "any crime that is being committed or has just been committed", as well as "the case in which the agent is, immediately after the crime, pursued by any person or found with objects or signs that clearly show that he has just committed it or participated in it" - he could be convicted of both the crime of omitting to help and the crime of driving with a blood alcohol level higher than legally permitted.
Now, as is well known, "Any person who may be civilly liable for compensation for bodily injury or material damage caused to third parties by a land motor vehicle for which a specific license is required and its trailers, which are normally parked in Portugal, must, in order for these vehicles to be able to circulate, be covered by insurance guaranteeing such liability, under the terms of (...) Decree-Law [no. 291/2007, of August 21]."
Thus, any damage caused to another person as a result of a road accident will be covered by the insurance company that guarantees liability.
However, there are various situations in which insurers may exercise the so-called "right of recourse", demanding all amounts paid to others from the driver of the vehicle.
The first of these situations concerns the driver who "abandoned the injured party". In other words, if the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident is found to have abandoned the injured party, he or she may (and certainly will) be ordered to pay the insurance company the sums it has spent, which could, as mentioned, amount to hundreds of thousands of euros.
The second situation concerns the driver who a) caused the accident and b) drives with a blood alcohol level higher than the legally permitted level. In other words, in addition to driving with a blood alcohol level higher than legally permitted, the driver must also have caused the accident.
In other words, if you leave the scene, in addition to the wider range of crimes for which you could be convicted, the specific penalty for which will take into account the behavior adopted and the consequences, you will also be liable to be ordered to pay the costs paid to third parties by the insurance company.
As for staying at the scene and behaving in a way that is in keeping with the rules of life in society, even if the driver is convicted of driving with a blood alcohol level higher than the legally permitted level, in order to be ordered to pay the costs borne by the insurer, it will have to be proven by the insurer that the driver was to blame for the accident when he was driving with a blood alcohol level higher than the legally permitted level.
In this way, there will be an increased burden on the insurer's side, so if you are involved in a traffic accident while driving with a blood alcohol level higher than legally permitted, and you don't leave the scene, the consequences will probably be lower, both in terms of criminal liability and civil liability, and you will be behaving in a way that is at least socially acceptable.
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