Would it pay to lie about liability?

bainbridge

bainbridge

bainbridge

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Hi Motors

I was watching Motorway Cops or some similar police documentary the other day and officers attended an accident. A man (about 60) had gone into the rear of a younger man at low speed and nobody was hurt. The officers asked the respective parties what happened, and the younger man said the older man hit him in the rear. The older man told the officer: "It was my fault, I saw the car in front of me pull away and followed, glancing in my mirror but when I looked ahead again the car in front of me had stopped". Recovery trucks attended and normal traffic resumed, however, the older man was report by the police for careless driving.

Now, in my experience watching these shows, if the police attend a low severity accident in which nobody is injured and the parties involved are disputing liability, the police's view is usually: "We'll let the insurance companies sort out who was at fault". I think the older man made it easy for the police to book him simply by being honest. Had the older man kicked up a fuss and said something like "the guy in front slammed on the brakes for no apparent reason" then I reckon the police would trotted out the old "we'll let the insurers sort it out" line. The insurers would have established liability but would nobody would have got booked by the police.

This makes me wonder if it would be prudent to not accept liability to the police, as well as to a third party in the event of an accident.

Any thoughts?
 
In my experience, it's not always down to the attending officer to throw charges around. I've got potential for 6 points sitting above my head right about now that could take months for the police to decide what to do.
 
You don't have to lie. Just don't say anything.

Lying to the police likely has worse consequences if caught.
 
muon said:
You don't have to lie. Just don't say anything.

Lying to the police likely has worse consequences if caught.
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Just curious, how do you not say anything?

"So muon, what happened?"

I mean you can refuse, but that'll raise more questions and have them taking you to the station, surely?
 
Hyburnate said:
Just curious, how do you not say anything?

"So muon, what happened?"

I mean you can refuse, but that'll raise more questions and have them taking you to the station, surely?
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Better than admitting guilt. I doubt they'd take it further for something like this. You can also say you need to speak to your insurance company first.

Either way, better than lying surely.
 
Hyburnate said:
"So muon, what happened?"
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"I'm not honestly sure at the moment, a bit shaken, will need to speak with our insurance companies I think"

A point potentially missed in the op though is that there is zero guarantee any careless driving charge was actually followed through. Whilst it would not be the nicest of situations to deal with a genuine low speed, zero injury accident doesn't seem like the most resource worthy thing to be taken to court
 
bainbridge said:
I was watching Motorway Cops or some similar police documentary
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Despite how often people get reported by the police for careless driving and other similar offences in those shows if you follow it up about half of the cases don't proceed or fall apart due to lack of evidence or not being worth the resources for the relatively low severity of the offence, etc.
 
It was my understanding it has nothing to do with the police unless someone is injured so you don't have to answer any of their questions, its nothing criminal, just a civil thing. You should only ever speak to your own insurance.
 
The police showing up to minor stuff like this just complicates things. I'd say nothing and let insurance sort it out, you can agree to take the blame later on. Insurers want you to just swap details and move on anyway, not argue it out on the street.

If the guy is giving it the whole hand on neck and pretend to have whiplash act, then I'd not accept fault at all and make it difficult for them :p
 
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rodenal said:
"I'm not honestly sure at the moment, a bit shaken, will need to speak with our insurance companies I think"

A point potentially missed in the op though is that there is zero guarantee any careless driving charge was actually followed through. Whilst it would not be the nicest of situations to deal with a genuine low speed, zero injury accident doesn't seem like the most resource worthy thing to be taken to court
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That's pretty good to be fair :)

I agree by the way, I doubt careless driving chargers were succeeded. Unless there is injury there is unlikely to be any charges pushed through.
 
xs2man said:
Pretty sure your insurance policy says not to admit anything at the scene anyway.
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+1. It's been in every policy document that I've seen that you should specifically NOT admit to liability. Doesn't matter whether you're in the wrong or not.
 
Cant you just do the old "No Comment" line, Then sort out with insurers?

I mean police sometime turn up for minor bumps but wont turn up if the offending party has no insurance.
 
Hyburnate said:
That's pretty good to be fair :)

I agree by the way, I doubt careless driving chargers were succeeded. Unless there is injury there is unlikely to be any charges pushed through.
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What counts as an injury? I've been on the receiving end of a careless driving charge and found guilty. No physical injury to the other party involved either, with police more than happy at the roadside to let it lie as one of "those things" that happen. Wasn't until it landed on someone's desk that the CPS got involved and brought about charges.
 
rodenal said:
"I'm not honestly sure at the moment, a bit shaken, will need to speak with our insurance companies I think"

A point potentially missed in the op though is that there is zero guarantee any careless driving charge was actually followed through. Whilst it would not be the nicest of situations to deal with a genuine low speed, zero injury accident doesn't seem like the most resource worthy thing to be taken to court
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I agree this is a pretty good way to react and keep your options open.
 
bJN said:
What counts as an injury? I've been on the receiving end of a careless driving charge and found guilty. No physical injury to the other party involved either, with police more than happy at the roadside to let it lie as one of "those things" that happen. Wasn't until it landed on someone's desk that the CPS got involved and brought about charges.
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Not sure but that's what the police told me, quite similar to you really.

"Nobody injured, not sure what happened (I was knocked unconscious due to the impact) but don't see a reason for charges to be brought but it'll be going to xyz to decide whether to prosecute."
 
Just admit nothing and advise the insurance companies will deal with it.

This is not lying or being evasive just the normal thing to do. The police are generally not interested unless it is a more serious incident.
 
robj20 said:
It was my understanding it has nothing to do with the police unless someone is injured so you don't have to answer any of their questions, its nothing criminal, just a civil thing. You should only ever speak to your own insurance.
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Your understanding isn't correct. Police can investigate either damage only or injury RTIs the same.

For reference it's incredibly unusual for Police to prosecute minor bumps like that. Perhaps the cameras changed the decision making a little bit?
 
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