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Pot Noodles
I pulled out when it was safe to do so from a parked place. This driver comes shooting down the 20mph road at about 40mph. Our mirrors clipped and folded in. He left a dent in my driver side wing - quite minor. There was no damage on his vehicle that I could see.

I pulled over to exchange details but he got aggressive. Physically and verbally - but not witnesses bar my wife who was with me and his wife had just got out of his car.

So I made a run for it to save my life!

I panicked and drove off and my wife was crying as she was frightened too.

I later reported it to the Police but did not manage to get his registration number. I reported it within 2 hours.

How does this work now? Am I considered as failing to stop. I did report so it would not be failing to report. The police woman at the station hinted that there had been some kind of report at the same time before mine but could not of course tell me about it. So it is hard to know if it was him and if so what he stated.

Have I done my part? Do I need to do anything else? Will they catch him?
I don't know what my chances are here. I am not bothered about my insurance premium going up but do not want to be standing up in court as again I fear for my life too much. huh.gif

Still shocked about this.
Suttar
Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act requires you to stop and provide your details to anybody having a right or reason to require them. What is does not allow is for any driver to become aggressive or threatening. It also does not expect a driver to put himself in danger or in a position where he thinks he may get assaulted in order to provide these details.

You have reported it to the police within a short time after the accident, have acted honestly and complied with Section 170 in respect of reporting the accident. I would suggest that it would not in public interest or the spirit of the legislation to procecute you in these circumstances.

I would suggest the some actions you could take:

1) Make some notes about what happened and document what damage was done to your car. The reason I suggest this is if legal action is taken any court appearance will be months away and your memory will have faded. A sketch plan of what happened allways helps and could be usefull if you need to be interviewed by an officer or have to explain it in court.
2) Keep all correspondance and note the dates you recieved them.
3) There is also nothing to stop you visiting any local shops to see if they have any CCTV of the accident as usually it is only kept for a week.
4) You could also contact your insurance company and inform them of what happened even if you do not want to make a claim but again this is your choice.
roadrunner 163
I would agree, you have introduced a valid defence for failing to stop and have on the face of it reported the incident in person to a police station as soon as practicable.. I suspect there maybe further questions to answer to the police about how the collision occurred but I could not imagine you will be looked at for failing to stop or report.
JSB1
QUOTE (Suttar @ Sun, 28 Nov 2010 - 23:04) *
There is also nothing to stop you visiting any local shops to see if they have any CCTV of the accident as usually it is only kept for a week.

Or, for that matter, asking the old bill if it has any camera coverage of the scene. We're the most camera spied-on nation on earth, and in general the cameras work unless what they happen to be recording puts the police in a bad light.

QUOTE
4) You could also contact your insurance company and inform them of what happened even if you do not want to make a claim but again this is your choice.

You could do this, but be aware your insurance company is likely to record this as an accident, thereby possibly necessitating later disclosure(s), should you change insurer.
AFCNEAL
How long did it actually take to report it to the Police (and why?). 'Within 2 hours'? Most folk would have been straight on their mobile.....
The Rookie
LOL, phone them and they tell you to come in (been there done that), in which case within 2 hours is as close to immediate as it is possible to get!

Simon
Grant_W
QUOTE (Pot Noodles @ Sun, 28 Nov 2010 - 20:52) *
So I made a run for it to save my life!


Did he actually threaten to kill you?
Pot Noodles
Took me two hours because I headed back to home territory - I was only visiting for me mams 50th.
He had a knife and I would rather not put up his precise words here in case someone stumbles upon them but yes there was a threat.

I've been here before and it took 3 years for the case to fizzle out. The other party tried claiming £5,000 worth of damage. My insurer worked against me and said that based on a balance of probability, as I lived in that area and this huge accident was claimed to be a few roads away then that meant I was guilty. I disputed this and offered for them to inspect my car but they then said that if they find any signs of damage whatsoever little or small or any signs of respray then it meant I was guilty. I did not have any signs of damage on my vehicle as it was a bogus claim being made against me. So it took a long time of disputing. By that time I decided I had had enough with Endsleigh and moved to Admiral. Admiral looked at the case and my car and agreed that there was no evidence and after 3 years eventually the case was closed.

Do I need to inform my insurer though? I assume the Police will take any necessary steps if the matter does need to be reported to my insurer.

There is CCTV on the main road so I suppose it would be possible to find out how fast he was travelling and prove that his driving was careless and erratic. Other than that there was no CCTV down the side road where it happened.

Thank you all for your responses. Fingers crossed they catch him and do something about one of the many psycho's on our roads.

Grant_W
If he had a knife then you should have dialed 999.

The fact you were not local isn't an issue here, every time you passed a policeman or police station within the two hour period you actually comit the offence of failing to report. However the important issue is the fact it has now been reported

Yes you should report the matter to your insurance.

Without an registration number I doubt they will catch him. Do you think the sort of person who uses a knife to sort an RTC will report the matter to the police?
fandyboy
Guys like that usually drive without a license or insurance and in a stolen car so I don't think he'll be making a report/claim against you anytime soon.
Pot Noodles
Spoke to insurer who asked if I was making a claim or not.

I said "No" because the damage is so minor on my vehicle I can pop the little dent out and I have some panel beating skills to get the wheel arch curve back. Insurer basically informed me that I have done everything I need to do as long as I have informed the Police in a reasonable time then this does not constitute a failure to stop. I wish I had a phone to dial 999 but I panicked and fled the scene. I know this probably makes me look guilty for something that was not my fault. Anyhow, insurer informed me that I have up to 6 years to make a claim but the telephone call notifying them of events can be used as evidence to state that I notified my insurer within a timely manner as well. This goes hand in hand with the Police information that they may or may not receive.

I've been in a situation before on a bus when a knife was pulled out on a bus driver. I called the Police then and they said they would be there within 10 minutes. Mean while the aggressor had left the scene. The Police arrived in under 25 minutes and 8 years later now nothing has become of it. The CCTV was not working on the bus at the time either. I still get on the same bus and the same bus driver ends up thanking me once in a while for calling the Police but they never turned up on time and all officers were busy. I would have felt that in my case, that me running away and then calling the Police could be seen as wasting Police time as they would have advised me to go to the station and make a report.

The fact was that I felt I had to get out of there to be safe. I feel okay in myself because I feel I did the right thing even if I did report it 2 hours later. I was in a terrible state and had no idea where the nearest Police Station was.

What happens now? Can he make a claim against me? If he called his insurer before I did does this mean I am in trouble? I am assuming he did call his insurance.
I guess I have to leave the rest to the Police. Looks like I have done everything I can given the circumstances and the rest I can do is to keep you all posted on any updates.
Grant_W
QUOTE (Pot Noodles @ Mon, 29 Nov 2010 - 13:35) *
I know this probably makes me look guilty for something that was not my fault.


Well you did pull out into the flow of traffic. Even if the other driver was speeding and you wouldn't be able to prove he was, should he decide to claim against you, you may have to stand an element of blame.
Fredd
I'm getting fed up with deleting posts from members who should know perfectly well that this forum is for helping people with their problems, and that one of our basic rules is "don't like, don't help". If you don't think the OP is deserving, or don't believe them, then butt out and leave it to others.
JSB1
Pot Noodles, I don't read anything in what you've written to make me think you could get into trouble over this, so consider doing what's been suggested above but which you haven't (yet?) done - and then relax.

If it had been a day or more before reporting it, then maybe it would be another matter, but exactly as The Rookie wrote:
QUOTE
within 2 hours is as close to immediate as it is possible to get

It is quite understandable after such an unnerving experience (as the recipient of unsolicited violence) that you would take a little time, an hour or so, to gather yourself - and then to choose to go to a police station whose location was familiar to you (i.e., to drive to one local to your home). Your reference to CCTV gave several of us the impression that at least part of your journey was not rural, in which case your average speed was probably not too high, so again the period of time is no cause for concern.

Once you were away from the other vehicle and it was clear you were not being followed, I probably wouldn't have recommended you calling 999, as that is for rapid response, emergency help. Presumably you thought the same.

You haven't done anything wrong. Summary: Rest easy.
Aretnap
QUOTE (Pot Noodles @ Mon, 29 Nov 2010 - 13:35) *
What happens now? Can he make a claim against me? If he called his insurer before I did does this mean I am in trouble? I am assuming he did call his insurance.


Theoretically he might be able to claim against you if his car was damaged and he could make a case that the accident was your fault (eg if you pulled out without checking your blind spot). However, in order to do this he'd have to stick his head over the parapet and he'd end up having to explain to the police why he waved a knife at you. So if I were in his shoes, I'd just be keeping very quiet, and hoping you didn't get my registration number.

As Fandyboy said, the sort of scrotes who try to settle arguments about minor traffic accidents with knives are the sort of people who as often as not don't have insurance in the first place, so he may well not even have an insurer to call (or not) anyway.
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