An accident with casualties produces two proceedings at once: a criminal one, about fault, and a civil one, about money. They are heard together, and whoever handles only one of them usually loses both. I act for drivers charged and for injured persons alike.
If you were injured, note the three-month deadline. For bodily injury by negligence, prosecution is set in motion only on the prior complaint of the injured party, and the term runs from the day you learned of the act. Let it pass and the case can no longer be opened. Call +40 742 833 784.
What the law says
- Art. 196 (2) — bodily injury by negligence. Where the consequences are those under art. 194 (1): more than 90 days of medical care, infirmity, serious and permanent aesthetic damage, miscarriage, or life put in danger. Imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years, or a fine.
- Art. 196 (3). The same act where it results from failure to observe legal provisions or precautionary measures — the typical case of a traffic rule breach. Imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years, or a fine.
- Art. 196 (1). Injuries requiring at most 90 days of medical care, but caused by a person under the influence of alcohol or a psychoactive substance. Imprisonment from 3 months to one year, or a fine. Absent that circumstance, injury below 90 days is not a criminal offence.
- Art. 192 — killing by negligence. Imprisonment from 1 to 5 years. Where it results from failure to observe legal provisions or precautionary measures, from 2 to 7 years. If two or more people died, the limits increase by half.
- Several victims under art. 196: the special limits increase by one third.
One detail changes a great deal: if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, this is not treated as a single aggravated offence but as a concurrence of offences — driving under the influence under art. 336, alongside injury or killing by negligence.
If you were injured
The three-month deadline that closes cases
For all forms of bodily injury by negligence, prosecution is set in motion only on the prior complaint of the injured party, under art. 196 (6) of the Criminal Code. The term is three months from the day you learned of the act, under art. 296 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
This is the most frequent avoidable loss in these cases. People wait for treatment to finish, for the forensic certificate, for the insurer to reply — and then discover the term has expired. File within the term; evidence can be added later.
Compensation: where to claim and what can be obtained
Compensation is claimed in principle from the motor third-party liability insurer of the vehicle at fault, under Law no. 132/2017. If the vehicle was uninsured or was never identified, payment is made from the guarantee fund through the Romanian Motor Insurers Bureau.
- Material damage. Repair or value of the vehicle, destroyed property, medical costs, medication, transport, medical devices.
- Loss of earnings for the whole period of incapacity.
- Non-pecuniary damage. Physical and psychological suffering, lasting limitations, aesthetic damage. This is the head of claim with the widest variation in practice, and the one where argument matters most.
- Damage by ricochet. Close relatives of a deceased or severely injured victim are entitled to compensation for their own suffering.
Joining the proceedings as a civil party
You may join the criminal proceedings as a civil party until the judicial investigation begins. The advantage over a separate civil action: the evidence is already gathered in the criminal file, and the criminal judgment carries authority as to the act and the fault. Miss the term and only the civil route remains — longer and more expensive.
If you are the driver charged
The first mistake is to treat the file as a formality that the insurance will settle. The insurer covers compensation, not your criminal liability, and a conviction stays on your record and can carry a driving ban.
- The mechanism of the accident. The technical expert report establishes speeds, braking distances, the moment the hazard appeared. Its conclusions can be challenged, and a counter-report is often decisive.
- Contributory fault of the victim. Crossing outside a designated area, absence of reflective items, alcohol consumption, a pedestrian on the roadway outside a built-up area. Shared fault reduces compensation proportionally and weighs on sentencing.
- Causation. Not every breach of traffic rules actually produced the result. The distinction between formal fault and the real cause of the accident is where many cases are won.
- The number of days of medical care. The forensic certificate determines the classification. The 90-day threshold changes the applicable text, and therefore the penalty range. A fresh forensic examination can be requested.
- Settlement and covering the damage. For offences prosecuted on prior complaint, withdrawal of the complaint removes criminal liability. Full compensation of the damage weighs on sentencing in any event.
Frequently asked questions
The insurance pays everything. Why would I need a lawyer?
Because the insurer pays what is proved to it, not what you are entitled to. Initial offers, particularly for non-pecuniary damage, are as a rule well below what courts award. Separately, if you are the driver charged, the insurance has nothing to do with the criminal side of the file.
The person at fault had no insurance. Am I left with nothing?
No. For uninsured or unidentified vehicles, compensation is paid from the guarantee fund administered through the Romanian Motor Insurers Bureau. The procedure differs from the ordinary one and has its own deadlines.
I am a foreign national and the accident happened in Romania. What changes?
You are entitled to an interpreter throughout the proceedings, and in many situations you can be represented without attending every hearing. Which steps require your personal presence is something I will tell you at the outset, so you can plan your travel.
How long does such a case take?
It depends on the expert reports. A case with a technical vehicle report and a forensic medical report, with possible counter-reports, ordinarily takes more than a year to a first-instance judgment.
When to call
As early as possible, whichever side you are on. As an injured person, because the three-month term is running. As a driver charged, because the technical expert report is shaped by the questions put to the expert — and those are proposed at the start of the case, not after the report has been filed.