Enterprise are trying to take all our savings

TELLIT01

bris said:

Not sure if having to call the police would be considered an unfair term or not, if you believe they didn't need to be informed. 

It would seem there is no legal requirement in Germany to report a traffic accident, any more than there is in the UK if nobody is injured.  It may be considered a sensible thing to do but that is not the same thing.  I would expect the rental company to inform the driver if an accident MUST be reported to police.  We were advised of this requirement when renting in Portugal (yes I do know it's a different country).

The OP says they can't afford to speak to a solicitor, but it could be a lot cheaper than having to find 10k.

Alderbank

Before driving in a foreign country it is important to know what their rules of the road are.

In Germany leaving the scene of a road accident without reporting it to the police is a severe offence risking imprisonment for up to 3 years and a fine.
After any accident you must:

1. Immediately switch on the hazard warning lights and drive on the hard shoulder.
2. All helpers immediately put on their safety vest.
3. Put the warning triangle on the right side of the road (at least 150m away).
4. Provide first aid to any injured
5. Call the emergency services using your mobile phone or make an emergency call from an orange emergency call box (Notrufsäule). The emergency number for police in Germany is110.
6. In case of an accident with private or public property, like hitting a road sign, etc, stay at the scene. Leaving this kind of accident scene can also stimulate hit and run clauses of law.

jon81uk

You might need a solicitor to advise. This does sound like a breakdown, not an accident.
Enterprise's terms seem clear that all accidents must be reported to the police.
But the difficulty in this case is defining if it is a breakdown or an accident.

DB1904

jon81uk said:

You might need a solicitor to advise. This does sound like a breakdown, not an accident.
Enterprise's terms seem clear that all accidents must be reported to the police.
But the difficulty in this case is defining if it is a breakdown or an accident.

Really? So they hit the crash barrier on purpose then?

DB1904

cbsurwf2938467 said:

born_again said:

Even in the Uk if you damage Street Furniture it is a reportable action. As there will be costs to repair it.


From the ECRCS page.
>>The decision is binding on the participating company but does not in any way restrict a customer's right to seek legal redress.<<

No street furniture was damaged. No rubble either. Only scrapes along the side of the car.

Who decided there was no damage to the barrier?

Alderbank

In Germany they are less concerned with whether it was autounfall or autopanne (car accident or car breakdown) and much more concerned with whether there is a stationary vehicle or any debris on the carriageway. There is no speed limit on most autobahns and some cars reach 300kph.
The police need to know very quickly about an incident so they can decide whether to actuate overhead speed limits. A driver at 300kps needs plenty of warning.

Brie

I can't offer any advice on this but would like to add that, having myself been in a couple of similar incidents, the last thing on someone's mind is all the legal stuff.  You're thinking "am I ok, is he ok, can we get out of the car, did we hit anyone else, is the car blocking traffic, do we need to do something, what's in the Enterprise book about having an accident" all the while you're trying to breathe and not mess your trousers.  

I would add that if there was an Enterprise pamphlet or the hire document that had a "what to do in an emergency" section then it's Enterprises fault that it didn't include something about calling the police, complete with phone numbers.

Manxman_in_exile

Alderbank said:

In Germany they are less concerned with whether it was autounfall or autopanne (car accident or car breakdown) and much more concerned with whether there is a stationary vehicle or any debris on the carriageway. There is no speed limit on most autobahns and some cars reach 300kph.
The police need to know very quickly about an incident so they can decide whether to actuate overhead speed limits. A driver at 300kps needs plenty of warning.

Quite.  It seems obvious to me that if you suffer a blowout on an Autobahn where there is no maximum speed limit, then it makes sense to alert the police to the possibility of tyre debris on the carriageway.  I wouldn't know who the appropriate highway authority would be so I'd call the police.

(And I'd do it in the interests of other road users whether I was legally obliged to or not).

cbsurwf2938467

Brie said:

I can't offer any advice on this but would like to add that, having myself been in a couple of similar incidents, the last thing on someone's mind is all the legal stuff.  You're thinking "am I ok, is he ok, can we get out of the car, did we hit anyone else, is the car blocking traffic, do we need to do something, what's in the Enterprise book about having an accident" all the while you're trying to breathe and not mess your trousers.  

I would add that if there was an Enterprise pamphlet or the hire document that had a "what to do in an emergency" section then it's Enterprises fault that it didn't include something about calling the police, complete with phone numbers.

I recall there being very little information inside the vehicle at all, only the emergency contact number we called and they simply advised us to wait for the tow truck. No mention of the police needing to be involved.

k18dan

Who knows what they would have done in that situation, but it sounds like you did what felt right to you at the time.