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I think if there's no injury and you've exchanged details you can leave the scene but you have a time frame to report the incident to police I think 24 hours? Whether that's the driver or the person that's been hit I'm not 100%. Id assume the driver otherwise it's failure to report an incident?
I think its just the way it is sometimes. The problem is that you said it was 'no doubt in your mind it was deliberate' but thats not really a basis for fact, he could have got really wound up and not been paying enough attention and that caused him to run into you which would be undue care etc but not assault.
If someone comes at you with a baseball bat its not so hard to claim assault, if someone is in a vehicle where not paying enough attention can cause accidents claiming assault is very much harder and very rarely happens.
I would just be happy your not hurt and that as its an RTC his insurance are very likely to sort out repairs etc. and take that and consider it a result.
They've gone for what they can prove. Assault will get thrown out of court, he'll be found not guilty and you're left with nothing.
RTC, he'll know he's on a lesser charge but you've got a realistic prospect of conviction, his insurance will pay out without too much quibble.
hard to prove criminal intent.
Crime recording is supposed to record the crime as reported. Not what is reasonable to charge.
it would surely affect crime stats etc?
Yes. Which is why they don't do it. Also increases violence against a person stats.
Assault will get thrown out of court
There are a lot of people trying to convince a jury at the Old Bailey otherwise at the moment.
Of course it's been downgraded
You forget that cyclists aren't regarded as people anymore, ergo crimes against people no longer apply
Of course it’s been downgraded
You forget that cyclists aren’t regarded as people anymore, ergo crimes against people no longer apply
Well that's kind of my viewpoint being honest. I don't see why I can't at least report it as assault, and they do some extra digging. If that ultimately ends up fruitless, they can still call it an RTC / charge for failure to stop at the scene. Either way, the insurance situation is unaffected? I don't really see what I have to lose by reporting it properly.
Anyone else care to chime in?
It's stupid isn't it. Take the vehicles out of the equation and it's assault. Add vehicles it's an RTC. Kill someone because of your negligence - manslaughter. Kill someone with a car - oops.
This happened to me when I was 15, leaving school. An enraged ice-cream seller who was in the habit of parking in the school driveway pushed me on my bike out onto the busy A1 then drove across, mounted the pavement, jumped out and punched me in the mouth breaking three teeth. Police went round later and found he had 7 stitches in the back of his hand. They told me he already had a conviction for assault. What did he get? A suspended sentence. What did I get? Weeks of dentist visits, crowns and £290 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
Wow sorry to hear about that Globalti, must've been terrifying.