Your vehicle has damaged someone else’s parked vehicle. Despite waiting a reasonable period of time, the owner of the damaged car fails to appear. What is the right course of action now?

If you damage another vehicle and cannot find the owner after waiting for a reasonable time, you are required by German law to leave your name and address at the scene, and also to notify the police. This ensures the owner has your contact details and that the incident is properly reported. Simply giving your details to a random witness is not sufficient, because they may not be able to reliably pass the information to the owner or authorities. These steps help avoid charges of hit-and-run (“unerlaubtes Entfernen vom Unfallort”). Always remember: leave your contact information at the scene and contact the police if the owner cannot be found.