Road accidents in Italy: when it becomes a criminal case
Causing injury or death while driving are separate offences in Italian law, with their own brackets: two to seven years for causing death, rising sharply where alcohol or drugs are involved. Leaving the scene adds two further offences that can be charged together. If the driver puts themselves at the disposal of the authorities within twenty-four hours, arrest and precautionary measures do not apply.
The offences
| Situation | Bracket | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Causing death while driving | Two to seven years | Art. 589-bis Criminal Code |
| With alcohol above 1.5 g/l or under drugs | Eight to twelve years | Art. 589-bis |
| Causing serious or very serious injury | Separate brackets, increased on the same basis | Art. 590-bis |
| Failing to stop after an accident with injury | Six months to three years | Art. 189(6) Highway Code |
| Failing to assist the injured | One to three years | Art. 189(7) Highway Code |
| Leaving the scene, where death or injury resulted | Increase of a third to two thirds, with a floor | Art. 589-ter and 590-ter |
The last line is the reason the first minutes matter so much. Where someone was killed or seriously injured and the driver left, the increase carries a minimum that cannot be reduced below the floor the code sets, and it converts a difficult case into a very serious one.
The twenty-four hour rule
The Highway Code provides that where the driver puts themselves at the disposal of the judicial authority within twenty-four hours of the accident, arrest and precautionary measures do not apply to the offence of failing to stop.
Presenting yourself does not undo the offence. What it does is remove the most immediate risk and materially affect how the case is treated afterwards. It is a decision to be taken in the hours after the accident, not in the days, and it is the single most consequential thing a lawyer can advise on in this area.
Two obligations, not one
Stopping and assisting are separate duties and can be breached separately. A driver who leaves and comes back has still breached the first. A driver who stops, looks and drives on has breached the second while complying with the first. Both are frequently charged together, and the sentences are then combined.
What the defence works on
- Awareness of the impact. The offence of failing to stop requires intent. Whether the driver could have realised what had happened is examined through the dynamics, the damage to the vehicle and the conditions.
- Awareness of injury. For the assistance offence, more is required than knowing that something happened.
- Causation. Where a death or injury has other contributing causes, or where the injured person's own conduct contributed, the question is whether correct driving would have avoided the outcome.
- The reconstruction. These cases are decided by technical reconstruction, and an expert instructed by the defence has to be appointed before the official examination, not after.
- The alcohol reading. Where testing occurred, the interval, the calibration and the time between driving and testing all matter, as set out in the guide on drink driving.
The criminal case and the insurance claim
They are separate proceedings and they influence each other. Compensating the injured party or their family, promptly and fully, is a mitigating factor in the criminal case and can open routes that would otherwise be closed. Insurance settlement is not the same thing as compensation by the defendant, and the distinction is worth handling deliberately.
The injured party may also join the criminal proceedings to claim damages, which is described in the guide for victims.
If you are not resident in Italy
The proceedings continue after you leave. Your address for service determines whether you learn about the next steps, and a case can be resolved in your absence through your lawyer in most of its stages. What does not work is ignoring it: the position is set out in the guide on proceedings you did not know about.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if someone dies in a road accident in Italy?
Causing death while driving is a distinct offence carrying two to seven years, rising to eight to twelve where alcohol above 1.5 g/l or drugs are involved.
I did not realise I had hit anything.
The offence of failing to stop requires intent, and whether the driver could have realised is examined through the dynamics, the damage to the vehicle and the conditions at the time.
Does presenting myself help?
Yes. Where the driver puts themselves at the disposal of the authorities within twenty-four hours, arrest and precautionary measures do not apply to the offence of failing to stop.
Does the insurance settlement count as compensation?
Not in the same way. Compensation by the defendant is a mitigating factor in the criminal case, and it should be handled deliberately rather than left to the insurer.
If an accident has just happened
If there was injury and the driver did not stop, the twenty-four hour window is still open and the decision has to be taken now. First contact is free and covered by professional privilege, at any hour.