Road traffic accidents and their victims

I chose Road traffic accidents and their victims as the theme of my bachelor's thesis. In the thesis I focus on issues related to road traffic crashes, and define the powers and obligations of police authorities investigating these accidents as well as their victims. I also suggest preventive measures aimed at reducing the number of road traffic accidents. On the basis of criminal records of the Police of the Czech Republic kept at the Road Traffic Inspectorate of the Territorial Department České Budějovice, the method of secondary and content analysis was used for the research. Data about offences committed during road traffic accidents were processed and injuries of the victims of these accidents were classified according to their fault. Selected were only persons who suffered injuries in road traffic accidents. The analysis revealed that in the examined group of 405 road traffic accidents investigated as a criminal offense, 265 persons regarded as victims out of 278 harmed persons received information concerning the legal matters. In case of victims killed in the accidents, close persons received instructions in all 17 cases. Only in one case, in 2013, the victim took advantage of the possibility that the records can be made accessible only to authorities involved in criminal proceedings and to the Probation and Mediation Service of the Czech Republic, so this particular file was kept separately. The executed analysis showed that victims exercise their rights. The analysis also partially refuted the assertion that the police officers inform and explain all available instructions properly. The thesis can be used to educate the public, as well as in the course of theoretical lessons. It can also be applied in practice as a methodological guideline