More hit-and-runs: Motorists flee accident scene 4 times per day after causing injury

Last year, there were 44,000 traffic accidents in the Netherlands in which the perpetrator did not stop or was uninsured. On average, four motorists per day flee the scene of an accident after causing physical injury, compared to 3.3 times a day in 2020. In the event of material damage, hit-and-runs occur 118 times a day, De Telegraaf reports based on figures from the Motor Traffic Guarantee Fund, which specializes in damage where the perpetrator is unknown or uninsured.

Over the weekend, the Netherlands was shaken by two fatal hit-and-runs. On Saturday evening, a 74-year-old woman and 79-year-old man from Capelle aan den IJssel died after being hit by a car at a crossing on a Rotterdam bridge. The motorist, a 37-year-old man from Nijmegen, fled the scene but turned himself into the police the next day. He drove an uninsured van with an expired roadworthiness certificate, according to the newspaper.

On Sunday morning, a 67-year-old motorcyclist from ‘s-Heerenberg died in Lengel, Gelderland, after a collision with a motorist. A 62-year-old woman on the back of the motorcycle was seriously hurt. The motorist fled the scene, but the police arrested him when he crashed into a tree in Zeddam.

Perpetrators who flee the scene of the accident are usually eventually identified, according to the Motor Traffic Guarantee Fund. “Especially in the case of serious accidents, because then they are often identified by the police. That is done via license plates or camera footage,” spokesperson Bert Sonneveld told the Newspaper. Some hit-and-run drivers turn themselves in. Generally, that happens within a week of the accident or not at all. “That is our experience,” Sonneveld said.

According to Sonneveld, there are generally two reasons people flee the scene of an accident. “They may have gone into a blind panic and fled home to crawl under their bed and pretend nothing happened. Then you also have people who have used alcohol or drugs. After a while, alcohol is no longer visible in the blood,” Sonneveld said.

Lawyer Sebas Diekstra, who represents relatives of traffic victims, confirmed the latter. “After 24 hours, it is very difficult to determine whether and how much a motorist has drunk or used certain drugs,” he told the Telegraaf.

According to Diekstra, the penalty for causing a fatal accident and fleeing the scene is generally between two months and four years in prison. “That depends on all kinds of factors. Is someone a first offender? Are alcohol or drugs involved? Were they driving too fast? That doesn’t matter to surviving relatives. There is a major discrepancy between what surviving relatives feel and experience and what punishment it results in criminal law. For the loved ones, it feels like murder and not a traffic crime.”