Germany’s Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht, BSG) in Kassel has ruled that an employee who left his usual route home because of a hypoglycemic episode (“sugar shock”) and was then seriously injured in a crash is still covered by statutory accident insurance. The case turns on how far coverage for a commuting accident (Wegeunfall) extends when someone deviates from the shortest route home through no fault of their own.
What happened: a missed turn
The man, an employee of a major German postal company and a known insulin user, was driving straight home from work in November 2016. A hypoglycemic episode caused him to miss his usual turn, sending him on a detour. On that detour he collided with a truck and was seriously injured. Emergency responders found hypoglycemia at the scene. The employer’s statutory accident insurer (Berufsgenossenschaft) refused to recognize the crash as an insured commuting accident, arguing that the detour was a private matter outside the scope of commuting-accident cover.
Ruling: no conscious choice, coverage upheld
The Sozialgericht Oldenburg (social court) had already ruled in the man’s favor, but the Landessozialgericht Niedersachsen-Bremen (regional social court) overturned that decision on appeal. The BSG (case no. B 2 U 6/24 R) ultimately sided with the original Sozialgericht ruling and rejected the appellate court’s reasoning. According to the BSG, what matters is not where the route led after the turn was missed, but whether the person was still knowingly and willingly determining the route at that moment. Because the deviation resulted from the hypoglycemic episode rather than a deliberate decision, insurance coverage remained intact, the court found. The general rule that a deliberate detour is not covered, the BSG noted, prevents coverage from being stretched too far — but an involuntary, illness-caused deviation from the route cannot carry the same legal consequences as a crash on a knowingly chosen detour.
Context
The legal basis for cases like this is Section 8(2) No. 1 of Book VII of the Social Code (§ 8 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 SGB VII), Germany’s statutory accident insurance law, which in principle covers only the direct route between home and workplace. A detour that significantly lengthens the shortest route without good reason normally falls outside coverage, and a private errand along the way is likewise typically uninsured. The BSG, for instance, ruled on December 2, 2008 (B 2 U 17/07 R) that a stop to buy apples was not covered, even if the apples were meant to be eaten at work. Against that backdrop, the ruling discussed here stands out: it makes clear that an illness-caused, involuntary deviation is judged differently from a deliberately chosen detour.
This is German law and has no direct effect outside Germany, but the underlying question is universal: where are the limits of insurance coverage during the commute when a medical condition temporarily takes over someone’s actions? Similar questions about the limits of commuting-accident insurance arise worldwide, for instance for workers with chronic conditions who suddenly and involuntarily lose control of their route while commuting. The ruling therefore offers a reference point for discussions elsewhere about how social security systems handle accidents arising from an acute health crisis during the commute, without coverage becoming unlimited as a result.
Source: Zuckerschock auf Abwegen – Schutz der Unfallversicherung bleibt?, 05.10.2026
Additional research: Wegeunfall | § 8 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 SGB VII – sozialversicherung-kompetent.de
