Swiss Penal Code

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
Monday morning I was in a traffic accident where I wrecked my motor cycle, broke a few ribs, got some bruises and hurt my pride

Police, ambulance, hospital, pannen hilfe and what not were involved and now all the paper work and procedures starts.

I am pretty confident about insurance for motor cycle and health but the thing with the Swiss penal code had left me a bit puzzled.

According to swiss law, I (as I am the injured part) can press charges on the other guy.

Guilt has not been placed yet, but since I had the right of way and the other guy didn't respect he should yield (do know if it is the right term) I am sure he will be blamed 100%.

Yesterday I discussed this topic with my friend (oh.....must give green dots) and he had the same opinion as I on this matter, so I decided not to press charges, as the other guy will be punished with fine etc. as normal and there is no reason for making his life more miserable than necessary. He was not drunk, did not speed but he made a mistake for which he will be fined.

However, this morning my doubt came back. What if, against all common sense (this is CH remember), the guilt will be placed on both of us, so I only get part of my expenses to fix my bike paid? Will I then have the possibility to press charges for the rest?

Since my motor cycle is not worth more than 4-5000 CHF I have chosen not to have collision insurance on it, but that does not mean that it has no value to me and I will of course like to have it fixed.

I apologize if I don't make myself very clear but feel free to ask if I left any important facts out.

Any views and facts about this Swiss penal code are most welcome.

Have a great Sunday.

2
Sorry to hear about the accident, glad you're ok!

I think you have a point about putting the blame on both parties, there's a chance that might happen (did with me).

Do you have "Rechtsschutzversicherung" by any chance? They should be able to advise you on that.

Alternately I can really recommend "Beobachter": http://www.beobachter.ch/beratung/

Not sure if they have English speaking staff but they do online assistance.

3
The legal apportioning of blame should not have anything to do with whether you wish to press charges. If the court decides that he was 100% to blame, the insurance company can still say it was 50/50.

4
I think that what you're asking is more about the moral point of view rather than the legal angle. If the other party was wrong, which I'm led to believe, as he crossed a stop line at the road interchange, then it's black and white in the eyes of the law, because he committed a traffic violation. The Cantonal authorities,based on the police report and their recommendation will charge the offender with the traffic offense, but as the victim, you have to make the call whether you want to be press legal, (ie. criminal) charges against the other driver.

If you aren't facing long term injuries or repercussions from the accident or the aftermath effects, then you won't require financial compensation for your person (this has nothing to do with the actual damage to your motorcycle) so I would think hard about pressing charges just for the sake of it as it may mean that the other guy gets a record for reckless driving which may cost him his job or have a major impact on his life. On the other hand, if you feel that he was driving irresponsibly and didn't understand that the accident was of his making, then it might make sense to press charges just so that he realizes how serious that his actions could have been (beyond the injuries that you actually received).

Good luck to you buddy.

5
Thanks for the input.

You are right. It was only as a final resort if the blame are put on both of us.

Thats a bit odd......! What is the point of having a court ruling about the blame if the insurance company makes up their own mind?

We both have the same insurance company which should make it a bit smoother.

Well....I have been very pleased with my insurance company in two cases before this, so I hope I will have no reason to change that impression when this is settled.

6
The insurance companies and courts work according to different criteria. The point I was wanting to make is that insurance claim and criminal charges are seperate things.

The guilt of a driver for dangerous driving will be handled by a criminal court, according to the criminal code. If there's an insurance dispute, that will be by a civil court. Or, to put it simply - pressing/not pressing charges should not have an effect on an insurance claim.

7
Hi ,

Regardless of whether you press charges or not, this will not have an influence on the Swiss legal procedure. He will be fined anyway.

It doesn't matter if you have collision insurance or not, as it has been determined by the police that he was at fault, his insurance Responsabilité Civile (must find the translation) will have to cover the residual value of your motorbike.

There's an official table (argus) which can be found at the Touring Club Suisse (tcs.ch) which will give you an idea of the value of your motorbike today, based on KMs and years.

Insurance experts from both parties will check the damage of the bike and evaluate how much it will cost for repair against its actual value.

As for personal injuries.... don't knock it.... any physical consequences you may have in years to come, relating to this accident, will or should be covered by the guy's insurance. So make sure you stay protected.

Hope you are feeling a bit better and resting comfortably

8
Responsabilité Civile = Public Liability

9
addendum... whether you press charges or not, I don't believe that it will have any impact on the fact that his insurance will have to pay for your bike and for your medical bills.

10
Last Monday morning you had a motor cycle and were in perfectly good health.

Now, as you tell us, through no fault of your own, you have broken ribs, presumably had to have time off work and no longer have a motor cycle.

You need to establish exactly what your insurance cover - both medically and motorcycally - and what the likely payout is. Once you know what the financial cost is, then I think you will be much clearer on your course of action. It will then not be a moral question, but a practical one of claiming back what was innocently taken from you...

11
Insurance practice differentiates between damages to objects and injuries to persons.

OP's motorbike damage is a liability of the culprit (i.e. his mandatory motor-vehicle insurer). OP's injuries : OP must immediately report the accident to his injury insurer. The UVG (Unfall Versicherungs Gesetz = Accident insurance law) insurer is primarily responsible for the cost of medical treatment, lost wages, rehabilitation, etc. The UVG-insurer will then seek regress and compensation from the culprit (or their insurer).

12
Hi,

good to hear that you are (relatively) fine after this incident.

While I have (luckily) not experienced a road accident here in CH, I have in Germany and I assume that the legalities are quite similar. The best thing to do ... especially as you are not at fault ... is to take a solicitor, who must be paid by the other person ́s insurance, as well.

This will ensure that you get everything you are entitled to ... and quickly. In my experience (from Germany), if you deal with the insurance company yourself, it will take ages before you receive compensation. When they are dealing with a solicitor they react quickly, because it costs their money if they drag their feet.

13

Swiss law has nothing to do with law in Germany. It is complete different. In some or most cases the cost for an lawayer have to be paid by the victim in Switzerland.

There is just not enought information from ElggDK to give any correct answer.

14
Except both systems are based on the Napoleonic code, like most of (conquered) Europe, which means the legal systems do have similarities, especially in base concepts.

15
I beg to differ ... according to http://www.autoscout24.ch/AS24Web/Au...652&navpos=555

(excerpt regarding solicitor: see below)

the solicitor MUST be paid by the insurance of the party at fault. The article also says that if you were injured you should ALWAYS retain a solicitor.

"Rechtsanwalt

Kommt es bei der Regulierung des Schadens zu Problemen, können Sie zur Durchsetzung Ihrer Ansprüche einen Rechtsanwalt Ihres Vertrauens beauftragen. Diese Kosten gehen zu Lasten der Versicherung des Unfallgegners. Geben Sie die Regulierung eines Unfallschadens nicht aus der Hand, auch wenn die Haftpflichtversicherung des Unfallgegners die komplette Abwicklung des Schadens anbietet.

Bei Personenschäden sollten Sie auf jeden Fall einen Anwalt hinzuziehen."

16
I would hold on before hiring a lawyer - sounds like it's not needed, certainly not at this stage.

I had a similar no fault accident last year resulting in bust leg and written off bike. If the police are prosecuting the other guy and not you then guilt has been apportioned. No matter what other posts say, the insurance company certainly did take notice of the police report.

In my case it worked exactly as Goldtop said - I only had 3rd party insurance so I wrote directly to the guys insurers demanding my idea of the value of my bike plus new replacement cost of helmet, jacket, trousers, and boots. They paid up without a murmur.

I never heard a thing about the medical costs except the bill for the ambulance which I asked my company's accident insurers about and they took care of it by forwarding it to the other guys insurers. The rest, hospital, MRI scans, drugs, ankle brace etc all taken care off without bothering me. Nice.

About 6 weeks later I had a letter asking if I wanted to go for the additional prosecution. The guy was already being done for drink driving and dangerous driving so I reckoned he was for it anyway and thought the same as the op, why make his life worse?

The court also sent me the results from the case - I wasn't asked to appear so I guess he pleaded guilty.

So, my advice is go on the offensive, write to his insurers and get the ball rolling.

17
Where did you get that idea?

18
Because i was dealing with that matter for over 10years. There is always a difference between knowing and assumption from reading of something or beeing told.

This in fact is OT anyway because we would need to debate about the difference between court cases and mutual agreement between the parties.

So now i would be interested why i got a groan.

19
I would find out how long you have to formally press charges and then decide what you want to do based on how much time you have to work.

Good Luck.

20
From a daily motorcyclist to another....wow I'm glad you are ok!

I ride my motorcycle everyday it does not rain in Houston,Texas(most dangerous city to ride in Texas) but recently started practicing only in the rain because it rains way too much in Switzerland.When this is all finished let me know how good your insurance took care of the situation because right now I'm seeking an insurance company for motorcyclist in Switzerland.

On a side note...Allstate in America told me they can cover me worldwide and it's only $230 a year for the plan I have...but my Swiss friends tell me that my insurance will not be accepted in Bern so I'm still in an insurance conundrum...