Posted this on Motley Fool too.
boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=6843620
This lunchtime, my fiancee and I were on our way out shopping (I am on holiday).
As we turned into a side road, a great big black S-reg volvo estate reversed out of a drive and hit a red L-reg fiat 3 door hatchback just behind the driver side door. It made a huge dent, probably £1,000 worth.
Anyway, I flashed at the volvo to stop. It did not stop. I beeped, nothing. We had proceded half a mile and nothing was happening. I had no choice but to overtake, and in doig so I hemmed the volvo in.
I got out of the car and confronted the old lady driving. Said that she tapped the vehicle but that no damage was done.
I told her that she did a lot of damage to that car and said I was going to inform the owner. Upon saying that, I started to walk the half-mile back to the damaged car, leaving my fiancee and our dog in my car.
Just as I arrived outside the house, this volvo appeared and the middle aged lady passenger told me it was none of my business, to **** off and that it was none of my business. I said it was my business as I saw what happened.
Anyway I knocked on the house and unfortunately got no reply. I told the two ladies that I would return later that day to speak to the householder. I was told not to bother, as it was none of my business.
ANyway, I went back to the house this evening. The car belonged to a friend of the householder, a hairdresser, who had just left a few minutes earlier, upset at what had happened to her car.
I asked the householder if she knew what had happened. She said she did not, nothing was on the car and nobody had come from the house opposite to explain the accident.
I left my number and a few minutes later the girl phoned me up. She was very upset and I told her what had happened. She told me she would confront the guilty parties tomorrow, with her friend. I said I, and my fiancee, would be witnesses on her behalf should she need us. Luckily I made sure I took the full registration number of the black volvo.
I have no doubt that those two women in the volvo had no intention of admitting that accident and I am glad I was party to justice actually being done. Why should the poor hairdresser be out of pocket as a result of poor driving by an old woman and her fishwife passenger.
Anyway, I am not normally worked up by this sort of thing. It's just that somebody dented my previous car in a similar way and I was left out of pocket. I am glad to try and ensure that this girl does not suffer the same fate.
The volvo would have probably been driven better had the two labradors in the back been in the driving seat.
Rant over, sorry.
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Unfortunately this just about sums up peoples behaviour today. This happened to my mothers car a few years ago but no-one else saw it happen.
What can we do. Honesty and respect for other people and property is now a thing of the past. The attitude now is 'if I can get away with it I will'
It's a very sad world that we are forced to live in.
Good on you for speaking up. If only more people would.
A
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Andy, I am going to watch Tom Hanks in `Castaway` tonight. At tleast this is one way of escapism! Another way, is a four day break in the Scottish highlands, but that is a couple of weeks away, and who knows what might happen before then??
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Top Man
Wish there were more honest people like yourself behind the wheels of cars today-as Andy says the attitude now is if I can get away with it I will-car ownership is expensive enough without "nice" people such as the Volvo driver doing damage to another car and then driving off!!!
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a friend of mine had just got her new nissan micra, and the same day that it was delivered, she was in the safeway car park in whitley bay, and some idiot opened the door of the car next to her and damaged the micra, my friend was in the car at the time so confronted the other person, who said that they had not done it, the problem is that the other person was like a female version of phil mitchell, so my friend (maureen) didnt say anything else. so it looks like everybody has this sort of problem.
sorry about rambling on a bit.
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Similar thing happened to me a few years back going up the A12 on the m'bike.
A car joined from a slip-road and there was a lorry on the A12 which pulled out past it.
A few hundred yards on the lorry pulled back into the inside lane whilst the car was still alongside and ran it off the road.
The lorry did not stop so I overtook it, signalled it to pull over and told the driver what he'd done.
He said he would go to the next junction and go back.
I went back, I think down the cycle track, and found the car half in a field.
Ten minutes later, no sign of the lorry.
Having noted the number and owner of the lorry I gave it to the car driver and went on my way.
A few months later I had a nice note from the car driver to say that the lorry driver had been traced, prosecuted for careless driving, and that he'd got compensation to repair the damage to his car.
BTW, our labradors are always first in the car so think that they should drive. And no, we've never had a Volvo!
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something that happened to my dad was this - driving along the motorway, entered area of road works, cars filtering from the left, and as we went passed the cars that were waiting to come out, a large lorry pulled out and hit the side of our ford cortina, but we managed to get the LGV to stop, he was very sorry (even though it took about half a mile to stop the guy), the car was badly damaged but we managed to go on our holiday.
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Well done it is nice to see that you were prepared to get involved. It would have been so much easier to just ignore what you had witnessed. With your involvement it will be easier to secure a conviction and ensure the Volvo driver gets her just deserts.
Andrew
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We need more people like you.
My wife was driving our car when a guy on a motorbike ran wide on a left hand bend on the inside lane of a duel carriageway and hit the front corner of the car. Of course he was knocked off and and his bike damaged the bumper etc.
Unfortunately my wife never had the quickness of mind (assuming eveyone was as honest as she) to get a witness to say she hadn't left her lane.
Sure enough when the dust settled, this guy claims it was her who came into his lane.
The legal insurance people (you must get this cover!) said it would go to a 50/50 blame because there was no witness to back up my wifes evidence.
Moral: GET A WITNESS.
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A very good "witness" these days is a digital camera carried in the car. I keep my old, low resolution digital, permanently in the car. It allowed me to get a picture to the local newspaper, within minutes, when a local school bus came to grief at the hands of a non attentive tanker driver. Its real purpose though
is to record details of vehicle positions etc in the event of road accident. Potentially very helpful, though, fortunately, as yet, untried, when arguing with insurance companies over accident liability etc.
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I've heard this is a good idea too. I keep a throw away camera in the car for just that purpose (£5quid from Jessops, get one with a flash).
It can be awkward though. Had someone drive into the back of me at a roundabout, and so I got out armed with the camera. Turns out it was someone I knew, so thought it better not to use the camera and perhaps inflame the situation.
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I have a friend who has a camcorder linked to a 8hr long play (household) video recorder in his car. He has it running all the time he is driving.
He even has bullet cams if he wants to use them.
He is known to be a bit of a gadget freak, but this would help in an accident situation, so long as insurance companies accept this type of evidence.
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HHmm, just a bit too much paranoia there me thinks.
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Some time ago, as part of my job, I visited a woman who lived in a council flat. Her flat overlooked the road and the flats at the back overlooked a grassed area. A slim concrete lampost lay on the grass, still attached to it's base by reinforcing wire and electric cables. There were tyre marks all over the grass and mud on the pavement. She explained that the previous night she'd heard an engine revving, screaming tyres, and a crash. She went out, saw the damage and followed the tyre tracks. They led to a car parked under it's owners window. (She knew the car and it's owner). She'd 'phoned the police who asked for a few details and wanted to know if anyone had been injured. Apparently she'd stayed up half the night waiting for a police visit to either herself or the offending neighbour. That morning, just before I arrived, the neighbour had driven his presumably unroadworthy car away. Up to that point the police hadn't involved themselves. I suppose they were waiting for the driver to report his own accident.
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I too carry a throw away camera in case of an accident. Prompted by a friend involved in an accident with a taxi late one night at a crossroads. The guy t-boned him & hadn't even slowed for the give way sign at his junction. No witnesses and police not interested as no reported injuries. Some days later my mate recieved a letter from the guys insurers and guess what? The position of the cars were reversed in his version of events and not only that he had 2 'independant' witnesses to back him up. Mate took it to court and lost.
I quite often witness cars being damaged in car parks and make a point of taking the registration of the offending vehicle if I can't grab the driver before they get away. I leave a note in the damaged cars windscreen and also advise the store manager. I used to leave my phone number until someone accused me of causing the damage. Some folk!
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boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=6844132
UPDATE
The girl just phoned me and said the police are looking to prosecuting the volvo driver for:
(a) Driving without due care and attention; and
(b) Failure to report an accident.
They will find the easily owner of the volvo as I provided the registration number (it was an old lady not some scally who would not have registered the car).
Asked if I could give her my address so that the police could speak to me, I gave it with pleasure.
I will keep this board informed if I hear any more,
FfwlCymraeg
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Well done.
Would that you had been around when some idiot drove into my wife's parked CX Safari while she was on night shift at the maternity hospital in Hyde Terrace, Leeds.
If we remember the Highway Code, no thinking driver should ever reverse out of their drive into the street.
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Aaahhhhhhhhhhhh
But it's EASIER to drive INTO a driveway or parking bay and reverse out blind and without warning against the traffic flow.
But then again we've all seen how easily the forward parkers manage to perfectly align their vehicles bang in the middle and dead parallel to the lines when they drive (try to swing) forward into a parking bay. So there must be something to their way of doing it.
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Good for you FfwlCymraeg, a Knight of the road.
I always carry a throwaway camera...must check on how to use it.
Saxton
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Must get one too.
Only cost about a £5, could be a good investment!
FfwlCymraeg
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