driver not stopped after an accident – WWSTWD

my lads just told me someones driven into the side of him on a roundabout and didnt stop, even tho my lad was gesturing at him to pull over.  hes got a good pic of driver and reg.

apparently the damage is minimal, slight scratch that hes not bothered about, so hes asked me if he should report him to the police, and if so whether that automatically involves insurance as he doesnt think its worth a claim, and doesnt particularly want his premiums to rise.

i suppose ideal situation for him is he reports the driver who then gets done for not stopping, and insurance isnt involved.  is that possible?

thanks

Who took the photo?

Sadly, this may be worth considering.

Your son sounds wise TBH. Much though it grates he has little to gain and much to lose by pursuing.

Annoying but I’d let it go. Likely to be more hassle for him with little to gain.

My lad took the photo. So if he reports it, is he then involved with insurance automatically?

Hmm. Can he report it anonymously somehow? Say he’s a witness, saw this happen, the driver didn’t stop even though the other driver was gesturing at him to pull over. I got this picture of the offender if that helps?

And then the police say “well we’ve had no reports of anyone being a victim of a hit and run, but if they come forward we’ll get back to you”.

The ‘runner’ can just say “wasn’t me”. The ‘witness’ can’t ever gives any details of the victim (themselves) without giving the game away. And the police won’t do anything about someone sending them a photo of a car with no evidence of a crime and no victim.

So if he reports it, is he then involved with insurance automatically?

It probably says in his policy that he is required to report any accidents. I suppose he could report to the police without reporting to the insurer but then you are on dodgy grounds. Doing nothing and moving on and no one is any the wiser. It would be nice if the other driver got some comeuppance but it’s likely to come to nothing and reporting to the insurer will likely put your sons premium up.

If he took the picture while in control of his vehicle it may bite him in the arse if it comes to legal goings on so I’d be a bit cautious about pursuing it.

He should declare any accident to his insurance company so is he really sure that scratch he’s not bothered about wasn’t already there and he’s somehow mistaken about there having been a collision?

I always say this because it’s true, not as advice.

You have to report accidents and to not do so is fraudulent, could result in insurance being cancelled in future, which would cost way more than any premium rise. The ins cos use history as an indicator of future claims and you are witholding info from them that is material to them in assessing their risk, etc…

OK, that’s the fact. Now what to do.

Sounds like if the damage is minor, and no-one else has a stake in the game, how the hell would they ever know? Your decision on that risk. Personally on this I’d be struggling between that and the **** that did it getting away scot free. But even on that, your word vs theirs if you don’t have dashcam or witnesses. I can’t see a way to report to police without also informing insurance and/or the risk of it ending up on the database increasing substantially and then the scenarios above becoming more likely.

(sorry, just realised your son, read your for his, etc.)

I’d be inclined to park it in the ‘shit happens’ compartment of his brain.

He’s right that it would affect his insurance premiums so if the damage is minimal and he’s OK I’d be keeping quiet.

The risk here is that the other driver realises they’ve scratched their car worse and goes to their insurer and claims your son was the one who drove off or just that he was at fault.

Even if he can prove that he stopped he may get issues from failing to disclose the incident to the insurer if the other party claims and has his details (e.g. reg no).

There’s also a specific requirement under the road traffic act about not being able to exchange details at the scene of a collision iirc.

I’ll not labour the moral argument here but next time it might not just be a car that they scrape before driving away.

As a middle aged bloke with sensibly priced insurance I’d report it as I’d think the hassle / premium tweak outweighed the downsides.

Ok thanks all. His mates advised shaming on Facebook but I’ve asked him what he wants the result of that to be. No point knowing who he is if he’s not pursuing anything I suppose.

Thanks

Report it.  As if the other driver does he’s got a failure to report.

You can down play it to the police but I’d still report

My lad took the photo. So if he reports it, is he then involved with insurance automatically?

That’s not my concern. Unless he is one of a vanishingly small number of if people who carry a camera that isn’t also a phone then I think he could be nicked for using a phone whilst in control of….

He’s read this and is torn….

Can he report it to police and just not involve insurance and if they find out then play dumb? Wasn’t worth reporting so I didn’t etc etc?

I think that might be what I would do.  I’m very good at playing dumb and making grovelling apologies.

there’s at least one insurance claims investigator on here, and with the reputation of trying to get out of any claims nowadays. Your call.

I don’t think there’s a legal requirement to stop if there’s no injury is there?

Report it

“I don’t think there’s a legal requirement to stop if there’s no injury is there?”

Indeed there is.  The main difference  injury makes is that in addition to stopping and swapping details you also need to produce your insurance certificate to the other party.

legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/170

I don’t think there’s a legal requirement to stop if there’s no injury is there?

Yes, to exchange details.

https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/collisions/

What to do if you’re involved in a road traffic collision
stop at the scene – it is a legal requirement to stop as soon as it is safe to do so
switch off your engine
switch on your hazard lights
check for any injuries to yourself and any passengers
exchange details with anyone involved – name, address, car registration number
provide your insurance details if requested
If you’re having trouble getting these details from someone involved or they have left without giving details, call the police on 101 while you’re still at the scene of the collision.

How to report your collision
You don’t need to report a collision to the police if you’ve exchanged details, nobody was injured and there are no allegations of driving offences.

You must report the collision to the police (within 24 hours) if you were unable to exchange details at the scene, if anyone was injured, or if you suspect that the other person may have committed a driving offence.

IIRC having had two kids through the driving test in recent years, you have to provide details to anyone with reanable grounds for needing them.

So technically, the other guy has committed an offence of leaving the scene, your son would have the offence of leaving the scene (but I guess if the other guy has already done that what’s the point in staying / are you compelled to remain there forever??), not reporting an offence (of the guy leaving the scene) and not reporting to the police.

thanks everyone.

he’s now reported it, so we’ll see what happens.  not sure if the police would keep him informed or not, id guess probably not, but i think he’s done the best thing.

main thing is nobody was hurt, our grandaughter was in a car seat next to the (albeit slight) impact.

thanks again

Thanks for the info about the stopping. I vaguely remembered there being something do to with injury, but obviously not correctly!

He’s done the right thing by reporting it.  He’s legally required to.  The risk of ignoring it is the other driver reports it (perhaps saying your son’s “gestures” seemed aggressive to chose not to stop).  If the other driver reports and you don’t – you’ll get fined and points!

I’d report it.

Using your phone whilst driving is three points IIRC, I’d perhaps not mention that part.

Using your phone whilst driving is three points IIRC, I’d perhaps not mention that part.

his girlfriend took the photo when he got out of the car.

As good a cover story as any. ?

Just curious, is the other car insured etc?

Also, your lad will have to declare this incident for the next 5 or 6 years(?) at every renewal not he had informed the insurance.

I informed my insurance of a minor collision when a guy hit the back of my car when I was stationary. I told them no claim was going to be made but just wanted to inform them.

The next renewal, with another company, I got a very strongly worded letter from the new insurer that I hadn’t informed them of a collision and my insurance would be cancelled if I didn’t contact them to clear up the matter asap. It never occurred to me that I needed to declare the incident as it was so minor and no claim was made… and it wasn’t even my fault.

Live and learn. 🙂

Using a phone whilst driving incurs a £200 fine and six penalty points if convicted which would result in a bit increase in insurance costs.

It sounds like that would not apply in this case if the girlfriend, who was a passenger, took the picture but it is worth bearing in mind.

If you have the reg of the other car I would have used the .gov web site to check MOT and tax status. On that page there is a link that can check the insurance status. You are not meant to use it to check random vehicles but in this case I would make an exception – maybe use a VPN to anonymise your query.

Drivers are increasingly becoming selfish idiots. I have just ordered a set of cameras for my bike as I am sick of being put in dangerous situations on a regular basis. It will not stop that but at least I can report the truly dangerous ones.

Interesting thread!  I had a driver pull out of a parking space and just lightly graze the side of my passenger door.  I suspect they didn’t realise they had hit me as they just drove off.  Luckily I had my dash cam on which even recorded the G force of the impact (slight though it was).

I reported it to the Police who came round to view the footage and asked me what I wanted to do about it. I said that I feel like I’m making a big fuss about nothing as it was only a scuff that’d probably polish out but if I hadn’t reported it and the other drive did then I could be in trouble!  He assured me I had done the right thing.  I didn’t take it any further and left the scuff on the door alone.

The Police visited the other driver and gave them “words of advice”.

This was five years ago now – it never occurred to me to tell my insurance company about it.  The Police didn’t ask to see any of my documents either but I dare say they could have checked on-line.  To my knowledge its not affected my premiums in any way.

It never occurred to me that I needed to declare the incident as it was so minor and no claim was made

I have a suspicion that nowadays insurance companies use “minor incident no claim made” history as a proxy for “had a bang but settled it directly with the other driver for cash” – and so rate you as a higher risk.

i did wonder why he’d driven off so i recommended my lad check the details online.  he’d already done it, car was taxed and insured.

I’ve had a car written off in the last 5 years, it made minimal difference to the next premium going via compare the market.  OH had a claim a while back and that made only a similarly marginal difference, about £50/year in the first year? I think it adds about £10 to my other car policy and my motorbike.

If he was 18 driving a banger then maybe I’d consider just letting it slide. But if he’s >23 or so then I doubt it’ll actually make a difference and he won’t be left with a devalued car.

Anyone willing to hit another car and drive off should clearly be reported, they are unfit to be on the roads either because they are incompetent or because they have reason not to stop.

Report it to the police on 101 – how are the police supposed to do their job if crimes don’t get reported? The driver could have previous convictions or go on to commit a more serious motoring offence.

As for insurance that’s completely up to you, but if you do claim your better doing it with a police crime number.

This was a hit and run in my town Friday night, drove over the guys head apparently. The image used by other agencies shows a large amount of blue absorbent material and the taped outline of the car.

I’ve no idea of what went on in that alleyway but the driver is someone that can’t have not known what happened at the time let alone now.

We share the roads with them.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/24486597.familys-tributes-paid-man-died-rawtenstall-crash/

There’s been two in my area recently

https://www.surrey.police.uk/news/surrey/news/2024/07/man-charged-with-murder-following-fatal-collision-in-sunbury-cross/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx8249egl2lo

I don’t actually know details of either but have heard the Esher one was road rage / ramming. Interesting that both have resulted in murder charges coming fairly promptly.

Not to downplay the Stockport tragedy, or the MEN bomb or the London Bridge attacks, but I almost find these incidents harder to get my head around – a terrorist or psychopath going on a spree is for a reason (not justifying it, merely saying they have in their head a reason for it, have planned it, whatever). But eg: a moped rider cuts you up and you lose your rag so much that you then murder them while the red mist is down. And we share roads with them.