Gerichtsentscheid: Unfallflucht mit Carsharing-Auto: Führerschein sofort weg?

A court ruling in Berlin (Az.: 502 Qs 6/26) has clarified that seizing a driver's license in a car-sharing accident is not automatic. In the case, a car-sharing user crashed into a car driven by a woman on the left, causing property damage but no personal injury. Upon realizing the accident, the driver only stopped briefly before fleeing.

An offense was reported for unlawfully leaving the accident scene, and the driver was identified. The injured party claimed they hadn't noticed the impact, but this was later used as a protective argument.

During the criminal proceedings, a request was made to temporarily revoke the driver's license. This was granted, but the driver contested it. He argued that the damage threshold had not been reached, as the incident did not cause a "significant secondary impact." The Berlin Landgericht (LG) ruled that license revocation is only lawful if the perpetrator knew or should have known that they caused a "significant secondary impact."

The court set this limit at €1,500. The damage to the other driver's car was €1,000, below the threshold.

Although the exact investigation at the accident site was not mandatory, the court declined to grant it. A significant secondary impact would only exist if a third party had an interest in determining the extent of the damage. In the case of car-sharing, this was not the case. The driver's license was immediately returned, but it could be repossessed as part of the criminal proceedings for fleeing the scene (§ 142 StGB).