Driving to the shops with family aboard this morning.. just pootling along out of my village and a landrover defender coming the other way. I pull right in by the hedge and he doesnt slow down and smashes my drivers side mirror (I think its just the casing).
I recognised the driver as an old boy of about 80 that lives in my village and went and caught up with him in my local shop a few minutes later.
I told him he had just driven into me and smashed my wing mirror.
His reply was that his mirror was fine. But.. thats your fault i said as you drove into me and smashed my mirror.
No… he replied.. its your fault because you didnt pull over far enough!!

WTF.. wouldnt give me his name or details. I walked away before i lost my temper.

What do i do?? Report him to the plod?? Forget it?
I know its probably only £30 for a new mirror cover but it was his attitude that had me fuming. I could feel the mist descending and was glad i walked away

Report to the plod, leaving the scene of an accident.

What a bellend.

Sadly having a bad attitude isn’t illegal.

And you have no way of proving it was his fault. Insurance would more than likely say 50/50, and the police would probably agree.

It’s a total pisser when it happens, but for cost of it I would just pay it and move on.

lesson learned – stop but dont pull over till they have stopped/slowed down .

then youll have a smashed in front end , but youll get his details 😉

I think I’d report him for leaving the scene. Even if he tries to blame you, HE’S the one who’s broken an actual law.

Unlikely plod would do anything, so just put it down to experience.

Then go round and smash his wingmirror off.

I think I’d report him for leaving the scene. Even if he tries to blame you, HE’S the one who’s broken an actual law.

I think you’ll find you both have, as neither have reported it to the Police. He is quite within his rights to say that the OP ran into him, but because his mirror was fine he didn’t worry about it.

Either way it’ll go 50/50 at best, so your cheapest option is just to buy a new mirror.

If you can get him to repeat what he said to you to the insurance company you might win. The only way it would be 50/50 is if he lies about what actually happened – not possible to be that if one party is stationary.

He is quite within his rights to say that the OP ran into him, but because his mirror was fine he didn’t worry about it.

I guess he’s within his rights to say that the OP threatened him and stole the milk from his fridge as well.

I think I’d report him for leaving the scene. Even if he tries to blame you, HE’S the one who’s broken an actual law.

He has technically, but proving he even knew there had been an accident would be very hard.

Land Rover Defenders make noises that sound like wing mirrors being smashed all the time, he would just say he had no idea that someone had hit his car, so had no reason to stop.
And then when someone came up to him at the shop, he looked at his car and there was no damage so he presumed it was someone trying to con him.

Move on, life’s too short.

Wee on his door handles. Or better still, smear poo on them.

Had similar myself recently – old boy bumped into my car (really minor but I wanted to have the details in case it was going to be an expensive fix that I didn’t spot at the time), refused to believe it was his fault and wouldn’t give me his details. He then started to accuse me of being a conman so eventually I rang the police for advice. They told him over the phone to give me his details but he still refused.

Eventually they called out a car, they got his details, gave me the piece of paper right in front of him then proceeded to give him a bollocking for wasting their time.

I wasnt thinking of claiming off insurance it was more his attitude that riled me. If he had been anyway apologetic i would have just left it

I think you’ll find you both have, as neither have reported it to the Police.

Why would that be an offence ?

You don’t need to report damage only accidents to the police.

He has technically, but proving he even knew there had been an accident would be very hard.

Land Rover Defenders make noises that sound like wing mirrors being smashed all the time, he would just say he had no idea that someone had hit his car, so had no reason to stop.
And then when someone came up to him at the shop, he looked at his car and there was no damage so he presumed it was someone trying to con him.

Move on, life’s too short.

It made a massive thwack.. i guess he very well be deaf and blind at his age.

report him for drink driving (annonomously natch) 😉

You don’t need to report damage only accidents to the police.

You do if you don’t stop to give your details to the other driver and damage has been caused. Hence the old boy is in trouble with that one, the OP not.

Had similar. Was parked up in a parking space and a car clatter my wing mirror, damaging his too. Honked the horn but he didn’t stop.
Followed him for about a mile and caught him up (I was raging) was behind him for a bit, flashed my lights indicating to him (politely) to pull over which he did when I pulled out my phone to take a pic of his plate.
Had a conversation with him and he denied hitting me at all- with his passenger wing mirror hanging off which he hadn’t noticed- lol, then stated I was parked too far from the kerb so was my fault. I pointed out that none of the other cars had had any problems passing.
He flat out denied it so I explained that maybe the police should attend and then I’d notify my insurer with the incident number and his details.. At that point he told me there was no need for anyone else to be involved and covered the costs to get it fixed.
Then I had to go and explain to my wife why I wasn’t there when she came out the hairdressers, thankfully our 6 month old slept through it all.
Bit daft with hindsight but I honestly didn’t want him getting away with it.

Fuzz, take it you got his number, regardless of who he says was at fault, he left the scene. Sounds like you were also stationary at the time of the accident, which with that kind of driver is always a very very sensible idea.

Must be the day for it, Eon van rammed me on a roundabout from behind this morning, claimed it was my fault as ” I was in the wrong”

Weird

Some people do that. few years ago someone smashed into the side of my Suburu legacy (sideways not the sor tof thing that fits into a blind spot), reversing from 15 metres away, at speed, towards a major road out of a little lane.

Said they were not to blame?!?!? I asked to hear their version of events (by this point needing a chuckle), I think when they told it to their insurance company their version, the company capitulated.

Still took 9 months.

If, as a driver, you are involved in a road-traffic accident and damage is caused to another vehicle or to someone else’s property and details are not exchanged at the scene, BOTH drivers must report the accident at a police station or to a police constable as soon as they can, and in any case within 24 hours.

Road Traffic Act 1988 s.170

I would report it tbh if he can hit a car and not notice that is my main concern..could be a childs face next time etc

I have actual experience of this scenario.
I techincally had right of way (no such thing though in HW) as oncoming traffic had to move over (round parked cars) to my side of the road (no parked cars). I stopped to let a bus through and muppet boy decides to push his way through when I’d started to drive off, he could have nipped in between the parked cars, but chose to carry on, clash of wing mirror ensued. My mirror glass broke, his also plus the drivers side window. Turned round, said served him right and I went home. He then reports it to the police who came knocking a week or so later.
Firstly in insurance terms it’ll come down to 50/50.
HOWEVER, he’s refused to give you his details AND left the scene of an accident where damage has ocurred. Therefore he can be done for this by the police.
Get it reported to plod and let them sort it out.
I ended up with 5 points and an £185 fine when plod (who told me “dont worry about it”) decided to send me to magistrates court. Bastards

cloudnine – Member
Driving to the shops with family aboard this morning.. just pootling along out of my village and a landrover defender coming the other way. I pull right in by the hedge and he doesnt slow down and smashes my drivers side mirror

So you all suffered from whiplash , and trauma due to the other drivers actions, your wing miror being smashed makes the vehicle undrivable until its repaired by our authorised repairer.
Please contact http://www.lendacar.con , and we will provide you with free legal protection, and pursue your claim for whiplash, damages to your vehicle, and trauma suffered by your family as well as supplying a new hire car while yours is in for repair.

Unless you have a witness then insurance is a waste of time as they’ll force you to admit knock for knock. Ring the Police and report him for leaving the scene and hope they put him on a radar, who knows he may drive out of the local after a few too many too and his invincible attitude may get the better of him and his license

i’d just report the accident and comply with the law if i were you. he had his chance. he’ll get done. the penalties for failure to report/provide details are pretty severe.

Next time you see his Landy parked up, cut his brake lines.
Problem solved!

yes if that does not make him stop nothing will 😉

Reported to the police..

now go and wee in his shoes…

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqAfUw6l3iY[/video]

Glad you reported it to the Police.It could well be that his eyesight and/or judgement are not up to driving and he is in denial(hence the attitude) or doesn’t even realise it himself.Police should check his competence to drive because next time it could be a child’s face.

Similar incident, only at 1am, residential area, but no parked cars.
Even had a group of loitering youths as witnesses.

Chased the guy down to get his plate, then decided to back off in case I got the opportunity for a throat punch in!

Police station next day to report.
2weeks later got a “No further action” letter (which incidentally included the offending drivers address 😈 , and yes I gave it great thought).

Wing mirror obliterated plus peppered paintwork along the shoulder of the door 👿

Nothing will come of it. Best for your own sanity to let it go!!

I think for a small collision you can leave the scene as long as it’s reported within 24 hours…*think*

I would report it. As said above, he may genuinely not realise what he did. In which case he’s not fit to drive – esp something of that size, and for his own and other people;s safety, he needs to consider his driving more carefully (or give up his licence)

Report it. He has a small window of opportunity to do the same, if not IME it could be up to 9 penalty points on his licence, and you get his insurance to make new.

If you dont report it, and he does it will be you with up to nine points on your licence and a hefty insurance bill for the next 5 years. Happened to a good friend of mine. He was stationary and was hit, lost his mirror and the other driver did not stop. My friend is a car mechanic, so although a bit pissed off he just replaced the mirror and thought no more of it.
The court wanted to disqualify him for 12 months but ended up piling 9 points on him instead as he needed to drive to keep his job. They hit him with a £600 fine as well…..

I would knock at his house every day asking for the money

If you report the accident your insurance will go up. I’d leave it and take it on the chin.