A traffic accident can have serious consequences. This is not only material damage caused to the vehicle, but also harm to the victim’s health, which is assessed from mild to severe.
The circumstances of the accident may affect the financial situation and mental state of the victims; some lose their ability to work or become disabled.
The current legislation of the Russian Federation provides for several measures of liability for causing harm to health in an accident, and the punishment for the crime varies from administrative arrest to forced/public labor, restriction or imprisonment.
It all depends on the severity of the act committed and a number of factors taken into account by the investigative authorities and the court.
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Definition of grievous bodily harm
The degree of harm caused is determined by the results of a forensic medical examination. Grave harm involves the infliction of injuries resulting in the loss of body parts and organs of the victim.
The list of injuries that are qualified in detail is approved by Order of the Ministry of Health No. 194-. Here are the most common consequences that allow you to initiate a criminal case for causing grievous bodily harm:
- Significant penetrating wounds of the spine, abdomen, chest, skull.
- Burns of a large surface of the body.
- Fractures of the extremities that resulted in significant loss of functionality.
- Loss of body parts or internal organs (anatomical or functional).
- Other injuries associated with serious health consequences.
If, as a result of an accident, the victim receives several injuries at the same time, the degree of harm caused is assessed according to the most severe.
Diagnostics
This disease is diagnosed based on anamnesis of trauma and time of unconsciousness. Noteworthy are nystagmus, asymmetry of reflexes, and Marinescu Rodovich's sign.
To diagnose the disease, the following is carried out:
- radiography;
- encephalography;
- echoencephalography;
- examination of the fundus of the eye;
- magnetic resonance imaging.
All of these procedures allow us to assess the extent of brain damage.
Criteria for assessing the severity of harm caused
The most important stage in investigating the consequences of an accident is the appointment of a forensic medical examination, during which medical workers establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the accident and the injuries caused, and also assess the degree of disability of the injured person.
A medical expert is required to be part of the commission and, in addition to physical injuries, determines whether the victim has psychological trauma. The result is an estimate:
- How the injuries caused will subsequently affect the life of the injured person.
- Can health damage affect performance and to what extent?
- How long does it take for the body to fully recover?
- What is the percentage of loss of vision, hearing, and other sense organs?
- Is there loss/loss of functionality of internal organs?
Types of concussions
There are 3 stages of severity after receiving BMS:
- 1st DEGREE. It is characterized by headache, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, lack of appetite, hematoma in the affected area, dizziness, blurred vision and hearing.
- 2nd DEGREE. It is determined using medical equipment and is characterized by the presence of formations in the soft tissues of the brain, swelling, complete or partial loss of memory, disorientation, and lack of reflexes.
- 3rd DEGREE. It is caused by the presence of coma or comatose state, anaphylactic shock, constant vomiting, loss of consciousness, lack of reflexes to light and stimuli, complete disorientation in space.
It is worth noting: in order to prevent a concussion when falling from a small height, you need to learn how to fall correctly: only on the left or right side.
Article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and its structure
If, as a result of a traffic accident, the victim is seriously injured, a criminal case is initiated under Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The sanctions under this article are very varied: from community service to long-term imprisonment. It all depends on the part (there are 6 in total) and additional circumstances (described in two notes).
The first part lists the types of offenses without aggravating circumstances that led to the infliction of grievous bodily harm. The second part examines cases aggravated by a number of circumstances. Parts 3-5 relate to road accidents that led to the death of one person or more people.
Note 1 concerns situations where liability under Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation arises not only for the driver driving the vehicle involved in an accident, but also for other road users.
Note 2 considers cases where mandatory medical examination of participants in an accident revealed an excess of the permissible alcohol concentration.
This is a serious aggravating factor, as is driving under the influence of drugs or refusing a mandatory examination after an accident. Refusal is equivalent to a positive outcome of the examination; this must be remembered not only by the culprit, but also by all participants in the accident.
Common signs of injury
The general symptoms of the disease in question are:
- transient confusion;
- syncope, observed at rest and intensifying when changing the position of the body or head;
- pulsating pain;
- extraneous sounds in the ears;
- general weakness;
- nausea or occasional vomiting;
- retardation of movements;
- slowing down the rate of speech;
- feeling of double objects;
- overreaction to sounds;
- photophobia;
- violation of the coherence of movements.
During diagnosis, the following symptoms are observed that are among the most important.
- The patient complains of pain in the eyes, he experiences difficulty moving them to the sides.
- Immediately after the injury, a change in the diameter of the pupils is noticeable.
- There is a difference in reflexes from different sides.
- Uncontrolled eye movements may occur.
- In the Romberg pose (legs should be together, arms straightened, positioned horizontally and extended forward, with eyes closed), unsteadiness and instability are determined.
- Spasms of the neck muscles.
In the elderly, coma is rarely observed. They are more likely to suffer from disorientation. The child's heart rate sometimes increases and the skin turns pale.
The corpus delicti under Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
In addition to the measures of responsibility for the crime committed, Article 264 clearly defines the composition, object and subject of the crime. Thus, the object of the crime when committing an accident is a violation of the current traffic rules, resulting in serious harm to health. An additional object is a threat to human safety, health and life.
The subject of the crime is a car or other vehicle. It is important to note that self-propelled mopeds, scooters and other vehicles fall under the jurisdiction of Article 268 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In addition, the subject of the crime cannot be a vehicle that does not have an engine (for example, a bicycle). If the investigation reveals that the perpetrator of the accident had malicious intent, then this is a crime against the person, which is an additional aggravating factor.
The subject of the crime is a legally competent citizen over 16 years of age (liability under Article 264 begins at this age) who was driving a vehicle. The presence or absence of a driver's license does not matter: it may be absent or it may be confiscated for previous offenses.
First aid for a brain injury
In any case, it is necessary to call for medical help, especially if the patient is unconscious. The person must be placed on a hard surface, with joints bent. The face should be tilted towards the ground. If the wound is bleeding, a bandage should be applied to stop the bleeding. The presence of an extensive hematoma is an indication for immediate hospitalization.
If there is no fainting, the patient is placed horizontally with his head slightly raised. All people with such an injury should go to a trauma center.
Liability measures for causing grievous bodily harm in an accident
The punishment for serious bodily injury as a result of an accident depends on the part of the article under which the crime is classified.
- For part 1 - administrative arrest for 6 months, forced labor for a period of 2 years, community service for a period of 3 years, restriction of freedom for up to 3 years or imprisonment for a term of up to 2 years.
- Under Part 2 - community service for up to 3 years, deprivation of the right to hold a certain position for up to 3 years, or imprisonment for up to 4 years.
- For Part 3, the penalty is similar to Part 2; at the discretion of the court, the punishment may be increased by 1 year.
- For Part 4 – imprisonment for a term of 2 to 7 years.
- Under Part 5 – forced labor for up to 5 years or imprisonment for up to 7 years.
- For Part 6 – imprisonment for up to 9 years.
Is it possible to avoid punishment for harm caused to health?
As you can see, the penalties under Article 264 are quite severe. The legislation provides for such a mechanism for avoiding liability as reconciliation of the parties. It is often used if there is a family relationship between the culprit of the accident and the victim. For example, the culprit is the husband, the victim is the wife.
A mandatory condition for concluding a settlement agreement and closing a criminal case is compensation for damage to health determined by the victim. If the amount seems unaffordable to the culprit or does not correspond to the damage, you don’t have to sign the settlement agreement and wait for the court’s decision.
At the time of payment of the compensation amount, the parties sign a special document, which indicates the desire for reconciliation and the absence of mutual claims between the parties. An important aspect: reconciliation of the parties is possible only if the culprit has not previously been prosecuted for committing an accident.
Exemption from criminal liability
According to Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is possible to be released from criminal liability in connection with reconciliation with the victim. This norm is enshrined in Article 76 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
As judicial practice shows, termination of a criminal case for a crime under Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, subject to reconciliation of the parties (Article 25 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation) is a right, not an obligation of the court. When making a decision to terminate a criminal case in connection with the reconciliation of the person who committed the crime with the victim, the court must comprehensively examine the nature and degree of public danger of the crime, information about the identity of the defendant, other circumstances of the case (whether the person was recognized as a victim, his financial situation, whether whether there was pressure on the victim for the purpose of reconciliation, what actions were taken by the perpetrator in order to make amends for the harm caused by the crime, etc.). When making a decision, one should assess whether it corresponds to the goals and objectives of protecting the rights and legitimate interests of the individual, society and the state.
In this regard, it is also necessary to establish whether the grounds provided for in Article 76 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation have been met, according to which a person who has committed a crime of minor or medium gravity for the first time can be released from criminal liability if he has reconciled with the victim and made amends for the harm caused to him.
Author of the article
Kuznetsov Fedor Nikolaevich
More than 15 years of experience in the legal field; Specialization - resolution of family disputes, inheritance, property transactions, disputes over consumer rights, criminal cases, arbitration processes.
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It is possible that grievous bodily harm was caused due to negligence due to a faulty vehicle, which allows one to count on a more lenient court sentence.
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Concussion code according to ICD
Closed craniocerebral injury (CTBI) or in other words – concussion, most often occurs with mechanical injuries received from a strong blow, and has varying degrees of severity for health: soft tissues located inside the skull are damaged during a sharp shock almost irrevocably.
If you receive a head injury, you must immediately contact a traumatologist and take an x-ray.
In the professional documentation of the ICD, medical personnel mark traumatic brain injury with code S06.6. An additional abbreviation is used for identification: 0 – no open wound; 1- presence of an open wound.
Medical codes indicating the specifics of the injuries received:
- 0. — Concussion;
- 1. — Concussion and swelling;
- 2. — Diffuse TBI with contusion, compression or rupture of the NOS;
- 3. — TBI with focal hemorrhage;
- 4. – TBI with extradural hemorrhage;
- 5. – Subdural hemorrhage;
- 6. – TBI with subarachnoid hemorrhage;
- 7. – Internal head injury with coma;
- 8. – TBI with hemorrhage in the cerebellum (intracranial NOS);
- 9. – Internal TBI, unspecified.
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