Hit parked car (maybe), left scene, but reported

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Sat 30 Dec 2023 21:00
Hit parked car (maybe), left scene, but reported - Quizzical
Hello all,

Looking for some advice about an incident I was involved with yesterday, any help appreciated.

On my way to return a hire car, I drove up a local high street. At a narrow section, I encountered a car coming the other way and moved over tight to the side of the road as the other driver squeezed past. When I started moving again, I severely scratched the rear offside door of the car on a bollard which was on the corner of the road.

I didn’t stop, panicked a bit, drove a couple more streets further on my journey, stopped, looked at the damage got back in and completed the journey to the car hire place.

Once there I told them about the run-in with the bollard and they charged me the full £1000 excess. I was of course very annoyed with myself and not a little embarrassed.

I had a very sleepless night last night worrying about the incident, particularly as it wasn’t totally clear in my mind whether the incident had actually played out as I thought, or whether this was wishful thinking and I had actually hit a parked car.

I returned to the location this morning and there is no sign of damage on the bollard, but also no sign of damage to a vehicle. However, looking at the road layout in the cold light of day I don’t see how I would have hit the bollard so must assume a non-zero probability that I have hit and damaged someone’s parked car and then left the scene. And if this was the reality then in addition to it being s***ty to damage someone else’s car, there may be cctv, witnesses and so on.

Given this and in an effort to take responsibility, I made a police report online this morning (within 24 hours) explaining the above and that I cannot be certain that I didn’t damage a parked car.

I have also phoned the hire car company accident line, who said they didn’t have any reports against the VRN and it would be best if I spoke to the hiring branch. Spoke to the branch, asked if I could/needed to update my damage report and they said that as I had already paid the full excess, they would just deal with it if an insurance company got in touch with them.

It’s been a torrid day or so to be honest and I am bricking it about the consequences I might face if I did hit a car, particularly as that would mean I failed to stop (though actually I now understand I should have stopped anyway for the bollard).

With the understanding that every situation is different, (and working on the assumption I hit a car) I would appreciate any advice/insight people have about the following:

1 - how likely is it that following up with a police report will mitigate leaving the scene?
2 - if another party never comes forward, how likely are the police to try and prosecute me for driving without due care? Appreciating that sc***ing anything in a car isn’t exactly showing due care- but I wasn’t speeding, on the phone, under the influence- it was a bad manoeuvre under pressure, with some tiredness mixed in
3 - if the other party does come forward - does that change how likely the police are to try to charge me?
4 - How long might I expect to wait to hear from the police in response to my initial report or will they just wait until someone does come forwards?
5 - and if I don’t hear anything, I have to keep worrying for a year, right?
6- are the police likely to actually turn up at my door and arrest me? I really don’t want my kids to see that
7- should I do more with the hire company to get their view on record? Insist that they take my RTC report reference number at least?

Thanks for reading if you have made it this far. If anything it has been an opportunity to get my thoughts into more order. As I say, any advice appreciated.

Edited by Quizzical on 30/12/2023 at 21:06

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Sat 30 Dec 2023 22:39
Hit parked car (maybe), left scene, but reported - bathtub tom
When I started moving again, I severely scratched the rear offside door of the car on a bollard which was on the corner of the road. I didn’t stop, panicked a bit, drove a couple more streets further on my journey, stopped, looked at the damage

So you admit there was damage to your hire car?

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Sun 31 Dec 2023 09:47
Hit parked car (maybe), left scene, but reported - Andrew-T

My guess is that as there has only been damage to property (not persons) the police may show little interest. You have reimbursed the hire company and it seems unlikely that any imagined car owner will come chasing.

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Sun 31 Dec 2023 11:39
Hit parked car (maybe), left scene, but reported - gordonbennet

If a car or private property was hit and the poster drove off then there's several charges possible, if there's evidence.

If you scaped a bollard without knocking it over then the chances of someone reporting it is slim.

Whether the police could be bothered when they don't turn up for hours if at all for far more serious incidents is another question entirely, i doubt you'll hear anything else.

That's a not very handy bill at the car hire place, puts one off hiring.

Edited by gordonbennet on 31/12/2023 at 11:42

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Mon 1 Jan 2024 07:50
Hit parked car (maybe), left scene, but reported - Falkirk Bairn

Hitting & damaging "street furniture" is expensive.

Son had access to all family cars. Went round a local roundabout and spun on patch of diesel. Car spun around and hit a concrete bollard which was then lying at around 80 degrees.

Distant neighbour was right behind my boy and confirmed he was driving carefully and it was he who said his car skidded on the same patch of diesel but he did not hit anything.

Reported to police, who told council. Phone call from council - £300 to fix bollard - it only needed 2/3 slabs lifted, bollard straightened and the slabs replaced. I said a contractor would fix it.

One Sunday morning 6 am ish, 2 x bags of B&Q sand we set off - 30 mins later job done with help! A contractor, working on installing a new bus shelter came across with a huge rubber hammer and sorted a 2x2 slab that was slightly cobbled - £10 note for 5 mins work had him smiling. Photos taken of before and after. Phoned council asking them to examine the repair. Heard nothing more.

The car repair took longer and was almost £1,000 ..........32 years ago - paid it as the excess was £600 and a black mark for my then 18 year old son (& my insurance)

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Mon 1 Jan 2024 23:26
Hit parked car (maybe), left scene, but reported - Adampr

1. I don't think it counts as a failure to stop if there is no-one there to provide your details to.

2. Accidents happen. The threshold for careless driving is fairly high and isn't going to beet everytime.someone clips a wing mirror.

3. If a party comes forward with evidence of careless driving, yes, but it was an unfamiliar car and a tricky situation. If your version is correct, I don't think any evidence would change that.

4. Realistically, a couple of weeks. It depends on the damage to the other car and how much the owner cares. If it's cosmetic, they may just put it down to experience as they don't want to lose their NCB by reporting it.

5. I wouldn't worry at all. You were insured and you reported it to the police.

6. That would be extremely unlikely. You have already reported it and they would have already arrested you if they thought there was any point. If it does get reported to them, they're more likely to phone you and ask you to come into the station.

7. No. They've have taken your money and their insurers will deal with it.

If you really want to pursue it, you could pop back a few times and see if you can spot a car in the area that has damage matching what you would have caused. Did you have any paint on the hire car that would let you know what colour car you hit? If you find the car, you could leave a note apologising and referring them to the hire company to pursue a claim.

I would also look into getting the excess back. Did you have a separate excess policy? Do you have any weird car or home contents insurance that might cover it?

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