The amicable accident settlement procedure will become available for domestic auto liability insurance holders starting September, six months since the publication of the new provisions in the Official Gazette. Motorists involved in minor accidents will be able to reach agreements by signing amicable accident settlement forms, thus being exempt from fines and penalty points.
The amicable accident settlement procedure can be applied to all road accidents that occurred in Moldova, that generated insignificant material damages and involved only two vehicles. Recently, the National Financial Market Commission established the form and content of the "amicable accident settlement" document, as well as the rules related to the procedures for using the form. The form contains two self-copy pages with offset printed background. Both pages have equal legal value.
Contacted by IPN, NFMC vice-president, Iurie Filip, said that amicable accident settlement form will be issued by the insurer upon updating the insurance. If the insurance is already up to date and the driver is involved in a minor accident, the motorist can call the insurance company and request the form. The new regulations assume that if the drivers have reached an agreement, the culprit contacts his car insurer. Afterwards, both drivers involved in the accident will fill in and sign the form. Subsequently, the form will be presented to the insurer, without the involvement of the Police. Thus, drivers will be exempted from administrative punishment.
The capital's Police Directorate press officer, Natalia Stati, told IPN that at the moment, drivers can also reach an agreement if the accident is minor and one of the drivers acknowledges his/her fault. If they reach an agreement, they may not call the police, but they have to take photos of the occurrence, then move to the Road and Traffic Surveillance Department on Aleea Garii street. In order to ensure that the guilty driver will not avoid responsibility, a receipt with the description of the place, date and circumstances of the occurrence, including drivers' ID data will be registered. Natalia Stati added that amicable settlements in case of minor accidents are recommended, in order to avoid creating traffic jams and to relieve police mobile teams, so that they could intervene where it counts.
The amicable accident settlement procedure will be available for Green Card insurance certificate holders starting next year.