Photo: Roger Brown / Pexels. Illustrative photograph.
If you are involved in a crash in Ireland you must, by law, stop, stay at the scene for a reasonable time, offer help to anyone injured, and give your details to a Garda or to the other people involved. If someone is injured, the crash must be reported to the Gardaí. This checklist covers your legal duties, what to do if you come across a crash, and the penalties for leaving the scene.
Key facts
- The duties apply whenever a vehicle is involved in injury to a person or damage to property in a public place, even if you were not at fault.
- Injury to anyone other than you: report it to the Gardaí as soon as possible, unless you already gave your details to a Garda at the scene.
- Where a crash involves a death, or an injury needing medical help at the scene or in hospital, Gardaí must normally breath test the drivers. The exceptions are where the Garda thinks the driver should be arrested, or where the Garda or attending medical staff think a test would harm the driver’s health.
- Emergency services: 999 or 112.
- Failing to stop or remain where someone was injured, to escape liability, can mean up to 7 years in prison (10 years if the person dies).
Your legal duties after a crash: checklist
- Stop. If your vehicle is still moving after the collision, you must stop.
- Offer help. If anyone is injured or appears to need assistance, you must offer it. Call 999 or 112.
- Stay. Keep the vehicle at or near the scene for a reasonable time.
- Make the scene safe. Hazard lights on. If vehicles block the road or are a danger, mark the road and move the vehicles as soon as possible, without walking into live traffic.
- Give your details to a Garda if asked (see the list below). If no Garda is there, give them on request to the injured person (or whoever is looking after them), or to the owner or person in charge of damaged property. Only if none of them is there can an independent witness ask for them.
- Report it. If someone other than you was injured, report the crash to the Gardaí as soon as possible, going to the nearest Garda station if needed. Giving your details to the injured person does not replace this report.
What details must I give?
- your name and address
- the address where the vehicle is kept
- the name and address of the vehicle’s owner
- the registration number
- evidence of insurance, such as the name of your insurer or your insurance disc or certificate
Damage only: what if no one is hurt?
| Situation | What you must do |
|---|---|
| A Garda is nearby | Report it to the Garda. |
| No Garda, but the property owner is there | Give your details to the owner or person in charge of the property. |
| Neither is available (for example a parked car or a wall) | Give all the relevant details at a Garda station as soon as reasonably possible. |
Warning other traffic
- Use hazard warning lights. Ask other road users to help warn traffic if needed.
- Place a reflective warning triangle far enough back to give approaching traffic warning, but only if you can do it without walking into danger. Near a bend, warn traffic from both directions.
- Never place a triangle on a motorway, or anywhere it would be unsafe.
- Wear a high-visibility vest and use a torch at night. The Rules of the Road advises carrying at least two vests and a torch.
- Be careful approaching any crashed vehicle: leaking fuel is dangerous.
- If it is safe, take photos of the scene and the damage.
On a motorway, follow breaking down on an Irish motorway instead: if it is safe to get out, get behind the barrier, and do not use triangles.
If you arrive at the scene of a crash
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Stay calm and assess the situation | Panic |
| Park safely out of the way, engine off, handbrake on | Get injured yourself |
| Switch on hazard and parking lights | Stay if enough people are already helping and the scene is under control |
| Use a warning triangle if you have one (not on a motorway) | Move an injured person unless there is a risk of fire or of the vehicle turning over |
| Call 999 or 112 | Try to lift a car off someone without help |
| Get bystanders to warn traffic from both directions, making sure they can be seen at night | Remove an injured motorcyclist’s helmet |
| Keep injured people warm with coats or rugs | Give an injured person anything to eat or drink |
| Make sure you and others are safe | Let anyone smoke at or near the scene |
Crashes involving dangerous goods
If a vehicle carrying fuel, chemicals or acid is involved:
- keep well clear, and stay where the wind is not blowing from the crash towards you
- warn other road users
- when you call for help, describe any hazard labels you can see from a safe distance; do not go closer to read them
- leave any rescue to the emergency services
Penalties for breaching your duties
| Situation | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Breach of duties, property damage only | €1,000 fine and/or 3 months in prison |
| Breach of duties where a person was injured | €2,000 fine and/or 6 months in prison |
| Leaving to escape liability, knowing the injured person needed medical help | On indictment: €10,000 fine and/or 7 years in prison |
| Leaving to escape liability, knowing the person is dead, or knowing they are injured and being reckless as to whether they die, where death results | On indictment: €20,000 fine and/or 10 years in prison |
A conviction for breach of the crash duties carries 5 penalty points, unless it is one where the court must make a consequential disqualification order: those cases get the ban, not the points. If you were the driver and failed to stop, offer assistance or stay where someone was injured, the court must ban you for at least 4 years on a first offence under section 106 and at least 6 years for a repeat offence. You will normally also need a certificate of competency (and sometimes fitness) before you can drive again, unless the court accepts a special reason. Separately, learner and novice drivers are banned at 7 points. See penalty points in Ireland.
Common questions
Do I have to call the Gardaí after a minor crash in Ireland?
If no one is hurt and you exchange details with the other driver or owner, you do not have to report it. If anyone other than you is injured, you must report it. If you damage unattended property and cannot find the owner, report it at a Garda station.
I hit a parked car and no one is around. What do I do?
Give your details at a Garda station as soon as reasonably possible. Driving off without doing so is an offence.
Should I move my car after a crash?
If vehicles are blocking the road or are a danger, mark the road and move them as soon as possible. Taking photos first helps record the scene.
Will I be breathalysed after a crash?
Usually yes, if someone died or was injured and needs medical help at the scene or in hospital. Gardaí must breath test the drivers unless the Garda thinks the driver should be arrested, or the Garda or attending medical staff think a test would harm the driver’s health. They can also test drivers after other crashes. See drink driving limits in Ireland.
Does my accompanying driver have to give details too?
The legal duties fall on the driver. If the driver is killed or incapacitated, the person in charge of the vehicle must give the information.
Related: Garda signals and emergency vehicles, tax, insurance and the NCT, motorways and tunnels. Back to learning to drive in Ireland.
Sources
- Law Reform Commission, “Road Traffic Act 1961”, section 106 Duties on occurrence of accident, revised (revisedacts.lawreform.ie)
- Law Reform Commission, “Road Traffic Act 2010”, section 65 (consequential disqualification orders), revised (revisedacts.lawreform.ie)
- Law Reform Commission, “Road Traffic Act 1961”, section 26 Consequential disqualification orders, revised (revisedacts.lawreform.ie)
- Law Reform Commission, “Road Traffic Act 2010”, section 9 Preliminary testing, revised (revisedacts.lawreform.ie)
- Law Reform Commission, “Road Traffic Act 2002”, First Schedule, revised (revisedacts.lawreform.ie)
- Road Safety Authority, “Rules of the Road”, Section 14 Correct behaviour at the scene of an accident (Revision 5, hosted on garda.ie)