SHould I have phoned the police?

Sadgeek

Sadgeek

Sadgeek

Associate
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
1,445
Location
Plymouth
I was involved in an accident this morning, and I'm not happy about the way the other driver was re-acting.

Going through Bordon there's a set of lights which have two lanes. Left lane for straight ahead, right lane for turning right only (up until Christmas this was ahead too).

I moved into the right hand lane as I was turning right, the lights were red. Next thing I know, a van came as close up my behind as he could get. The left lane was full.

The lights turn to green so I moved forward slowly (there was a lorry on the inside which was sitting over the lane marker) until it was clear to go. Just as I turn right, the van behind me has decided he wants to go straight over this junction and I'm not turning quickly enough for him so he tries to overtake me whilst I'm turning right. Bang, there goes my front wing and he takes off down the road, deciding to stop 200yds or so down the road on the wrong side of the road.

I made it across the junction, but the o/s front wheel bucked under, where the suspension had sheared from the impact.

The driver comes up the road shouting at me asking what I thought I was doing etc, and never once apologised for being such a prat as to overtake on a set of lights like he did. A total numb-nut, I was just waiting for him to hit me. Apparently he thought it was my fault for not indicating (which I was, even though the lane was right-turn only). Even if I hadn't hit him, there was no way he would have got back into the left lane before the bollards in front, so he would have gone to the right of the next set of lights on the wrong side of the road.

Tbh, I was so shaken over the accident that I just let him have his say, whilst noting down his van's numberplate.

Right, after war and peace, the question. Do you think I should have called the police to see whether they would have done anything about his (imo) dangerous driving?

Would it be worth popping into a local station to report it?
 
I probably would've. Did you take his insurance details?

Can't hurt to call into a cop shop/call the central helpline.
 
Indeed, if he was ranting and you thought he was going to assualt you, I would've phoned the police there and then.

Still report him though.

Burnsy
 
paradigm said:
I'd have called the police the second he appeared to be aggressive towards me tbh.
Click to expand...

Me too and I would have checked the van to see what company he might have worked for and would have complained to them aswell.
 
I would have called the police there and then, but you can still report him now, I would if I were you.

Can you remeber if his can had a company name on it? If it did you already have his regestration and name (I assume) so you could kindly inform them of the way he acted and let them know that you felt strongly enough about it to inform the police.
 
I would have phoned the Police. After all the problems I have had in the past trying to win insurance cases against liars, you need all the help you can get.

Did you get any witnesses? I believe this is one of the most important things to try and do the moment you step out of your car. Forget talking to the other driver for a moment; find yourself a witness before they all drive off!

I had a white van drive down the side of my old Ibiza Cupra when I was sat stationery at a crossing. I had to chase him down the road beeping and flashing before he eventually pulled over about 300m down the road. It took me a year of writing many letters, providing photos, maps etc and eventually his insurance company gave in and I won :)

Had I found a witness it would all have been so much easier!
 
mark66 said:
I would have phoned the Police. After all the problems I have had in the past trying to win insurance cases against liars, you need all the help you can get.

Did you get any witnesses?
Click to expand...

Despite everyone on the left lane probably being a witness, no-one bothered to stop. I guess they all needed to get to work etc :confused:

I did get his registration, name and company, but as usual, nothing more than that. I've had to get the company details from yell.com. My insurers have said that they will do the chasing for his details from what I have given them.

He didn't take anything from me, other than the car registration and my name...

At least my car is on my business's insurance, so they will end up out of pocket if this turns into a crock.

I've not had much luck with this car:
  • December 04 - car drove into back of me. They admitted liability
  • November 05 - car drive into nearside on dual carriageway when they swerved to avoid braking traffic in front of them. Again, they admitted liability
  • April 06 - This one, and I would expect his insurance to admit liability.

I've got some photos too, though as they were only on my phone, they're not great quality.

And now the insurance have sent me a hire car... a poxy vectra diesel (sorry for all those people who believe this is a good car. Not in my eyes I'm afraid).
 
Last edited:
The way i see it then the best way with a crash like that is to stop dead straignt away blocking off as much traffic as possible, that way you are garaunteed witnesses and police presence no?
 
Ultra_Extreme said:
The way i see it then the best way with a crash like that is to stop dead straignt away blocking off as much traffic as possible, that way you are garaunteed witnesses and police presence no?
Click to expand...
Not as easy as it sounds i dont think.
 
Phone the police, I belive you are meant to report all accidents.....
as there is a crime of faliure to report and accident....
 
Not surprised about no one stopping. Its not just for car crashes, I was driving back from taking my gf to see her mates for a night out and there was a taxi stopped with its hazrds on and a guy layed out on the pavement.

The guy turned out to be a bit on the tipsy side and had fallen down an embankment and knocked himself out. The taxi driver said there must have been at leats 30 cars drive by without stopping before I got there :rolleyes: Whilst I couldn't do too much the taxi driver was just pleased to have someone else there especially as he came too whilst he was still on the phone to the emergency services.
 
Was said:
Phone the police, I belive you are meant to report all accidents.....
as there is a crime of faliure to report and accident....
Click to expand...
That only applies to reporting it to your insurer. Normally you would only call the police if someone is injured.
 
Was said:
Phone the police, I belive you are meant to report all accidents.....
as there is a crime of faliure to report and accident....
Click to expand...

Last time I was involved in a serious accident, first thing I did was call the police. After five minutes they phoned back to say they 'couldn't find the road' and as long as no-one was hurt and the road wasn't blocked then they didn't need to be there.
 
Only phone the police if theres an injury. Get a witness and photos or your'll end up with 50/50 liability. If people dont stop get their number plates and you can get the details later from that.

You could make a complaint against him I guess but at the moment your going to have enough trouble just proving it wasnt your fault
 
GlasgowTitan said:
You all say phone the Police...Is that phone up 118 and ask for local police number or 999?
Click to expand...


If someone is hurt, the other party is behaving in a threatening manner, or the accident is causing major disruption to traffic then I would dial 999 without hesitation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom