shanemac2012

Hi, I ( currently living in Ireland) went to Normandy in September to pay my respects to the WWII D-Day veterans. Bucket List thing.
I hired a rental car, (Hertz/Thrifty).
I loved the non-aggressive, sedate driving manner of locals and was getting used to "driving on the Right". Unfortunately, I had a bad accident, and I was at fault. There was a 3rd party injured. It was not too serious, but it needed hospital. Police, Ambulance & Fire Brigade attended. I was brought to hospital, broken collarbone. I had no idea where the police (Gendarme) were from. I had no idea where the car ended up.
Question: although it was an accident, will I probably be prosecuted by the Police and end up in Court? If so, any idea how long does it take to come through the system?
Any advice would be really welcome.

EuroTrash

Hi shanemac
So sorry to hear about your bad experience. However it sounds like nobody died, which is the main thing.
Did you get reunited with your car? Is everything sorted with the insurance, did you and the other party fill out your constat amiable d'accident?
I found this:
https://www.ffa-assurance.fr/sites/d...procedures.pdf
which say that the police report goes to the Procureur de la République for a decision on whether to procecute - don't know who that is but it sounds like a bigwig.
It is also possible for the injured party to begin private action.
There's a chart on page 9 that tells you the timescales (on the line Sous quels délais - green is public legal action, middle is the insurance company's process, blue is private legal action by the victim).
But hopefully since you are a tourist the police won't prosecute, and AFAIK they can't endorse an Irish licence (here we lose points until we have none left, don't know how it works in Ireland - do you get them added until you get too many, like in the UK?). The third party likely won't either since taking things to court in France is notoriously slow and expensive and the average person would rather eat mud. But there are no guarantees, if you happen to have bumped into someone from a legal background for instance then that would tip the odds.
Either way, don't expect anything in the post tomorrow, it gives the deadlines in years not months.
Don't beat yourself up about it, accidents happen, and I hope it hasn't put you off Normandy forever!
Wishing you a speedy recovery and bon courage.

PS you could potentially also get a bill for the ambulance, if you haven't already. Ambulances are not part of the health service in France, they're private operators. You may be able to pass this on to your holiday insurer or even the NHS.

cyrian

Unless you were charged, it is unlikely that you will hear any more about it.
The hire car will have been dealt with by the rental company.
If you had full CDW cover then they will also deal with the insurance claims.
If you did not have full CDW insurance then you will be billed for the excess ~ €1000.
My advice - don't worry about it.

Chatter Static

They won't necessarily prosecute immediately and the op should of had some form of contact for the Gendarmes investigating the incident.

Imho the OP should contact the nearest Gendarmerie station to the incident knowing the time and place and hopefully who the other party was means then they will be able to tell which local station was on call at the time and track down the investigating officers pays to have the facts.

Side note Gendarmes have to respond to an road traffic accident if the Pompiers are called so it is not always a reflection of the seriousness of the incident.

Also ET if you are taken to hospital by the Pompiers in a bright red ambulance that is free or a SAMU ambulance which comes with the "medecins du urgencies" Doctor and Nurse direct from casualty.

It is third party ambulance rides which become chargeable transfers between hospitals, rides from home to appointments unless you have a prescription for medical transport.

cyrian

Many years ago, I was in a car which was involved in an accident in France.
The other driver was examined by pompiers and taken to hospital for whiplash.
I can't remember if gendarmes were present or not.
We filled in the constat; our rental car was taken away and a replacement car arrived.
We never heard another word - I was amazed at how relaxed the whole thing was compared to the UK.
Personally, I wouldn't contact the gendarmes especially if your french isn't up to explaining yourself or understanding their responses.
If you were resident in France with a french (or possibly still driving on an irish) licence then I may look at it differently.
That is my opinion.

shanemac2012

EuroTrash.. thank you so much for taking the time to send such a useful and lengthy reply. Indeed no-one was killed, although it is sad that the 3rd party was injured to some degree. I never saw the car again and the Gendarme did not contact me again, at least so far. Hertz was a nightmare to deal with and even when I got through to them, recanted my story, was assured that they would get back to me they never did at least not until now. The document you linked me to is great, although the length of time is a tad worrying, it is still good to have that information. As for Normandy I really did like it and will hopefully get back again one day as I still need to do Sword beach and Pegasus bridge. I might do that on a bike :-)

shanemac2012

Hi Cyrian thank you for your reply. I was not charged and I am hoping that it all workes out that way. Unfortunately, I am a worrier, so that will probably continue :-) .

shanemac2012

Hi Chatter Static, thank you also for your reply. I think I understand now that the police generate the report for the prosecutor who makes the call on a prosecution? I can understand where your advice is coming from but as I am back in Ireland, and I have non-existent French, I think I will just have to sit tight and wait to see what comes of it.

shanemac2012

EuroTrash.. thank you so much for taking the time to send such a useful and lengthy reply. Indeed no-one was killed, although it is sad that the 3rd party was injured to some degree. I never saw the car again and the Gendarme did not contact me again, at least so far. Hertz was a nightmare to deal with and even when I got through to them, recanted my story, was assured that they would get back to me they never did at least not until now. The document you linked me to is great, although the length of time is a tad worrying, it is still good to have that information. As for Normandy I really did like it and will hopefully get back again one day as I still need to do Sword beach and Pegasus bridge. I might do that on a bike :-)