To think it was not an overreaction to call the police?

Well the key thing is that the police thought it was a police matter, so it doesn't matter what your DH, or a load of randoms on the internet think really.

Yes, and I’ve had two of them recently! It’s only now at almost 10 that we are trusting our youngest.

Children often pull doors open quickly without thinking; if a car was parked too close a younger child would just open the door enough to get in even if it meant touching another person’s car!

There have been multiple times over the years that we’ve had to pull the car out so one of us can get in as a car has parked on/ over the line next to us and we can’t get in! My DH (as the driver) once had to get in on the other side and climb through to get to the driver’s seat!

Did he even ask if DD was ok @hottubwhocares ?

It sounds as though it was an accident, but even if you accidentally injure anyone never mind a child, with your car, well my first action would be to check on them. I doubt you would have called the police if he had been a bit more apologetic and not gone into knob mode ?

YABU for calling the police yes . It wasn’t an emergency. What could the police have done? 999 is for emergencies and this wasn’t an emergency. I don’t know what use it is to have the drivers details . He should have been more careful when pulling away , it could have been worse , but it wasn’t .

YANBU for panicking . Which is what happened and why it escalated .

Hope you’re calmer now and hope your DC is ok .

Overreaction, if there wasn’t much room to get in between the cars you should have supervised her till she was in.

They came quickly because OP claimed her child had been run over. If she told the truth and said the child had a small scrape on her foot, I’m sure the police reaction would have been different.

The minimisers on this thread know that the 999 handler is equipped to triage and on this occasion thought it was worth sending officers? And Amazingly actually had some available to send.

the OP did the right thing and 999 call handlers would have given her a different response if she was wrong.

All these people saying it was an overreaction are talking guff!!
Like hell would anyone be cool calm and collected and not react if someone drove over your child's foot and then started mouthing off like they did nothing wrong.
The dispatcher also said it was a police matter and I'll go out on a limb here and say they know what they're doing.

It’s irresponsible to not supervise a child of that age. Even if they don’t injure themselves, there’s an excellent chance they’ll damage the car next to them.

I mean the police came out pretty quickly so I'm thinking no not an over reaction. I can't imagine they'd come out willy nilly.

This, he tried to run over a child’s foot and then leave the scene

They ran over the back of her foot which took the skin off.

They wouldn’t have had their blue light on 🙄
But where someone is going to commit the crime of leaving the scene of the accident without doing the right thing then yes I’d not have trusted him.

Oh, and did you miss the bit where the OP has repeatedly pointed out that she was told by the dispatcher that she was right to call?

Andthe man could've driven to outer Mongolia in the time it took them to answer the phone

I don't think I have ever got in a car before ensuring all my children were in. I certainly wouldn't have let an ,8 year old open the car door herself when the driver was sitting in the closely parked next car.

At 8? Really?

Because it’s done from being called a scrape of skin to “run over foot”

In a crowded carpark it's the drivers responsibility to make sure they don't run over or hit anyone. Every time.

No it was not an overreaction. There had been an accident, your dd was injured and they got mouthy it could have easily escalated.

I sincerely hope your DD is OK. Maybe the numbskull will look next time!

why relevant?

I have never ran over a child in a car park in 30 odd years of driving. I check my mirrors and my surroundings before I move. Surely you do this?

Totally agree. Plus, I've run the non emergency number around about 5 times in the last year at various times of day (I manage a venue) and the waiting time has never been less than 20 minutes. I waited 45 minutes one time.

I called the non emergency line when there was three horses loose in the road. They took so long to pick up I was about to hang up. They told me I should have called 999. One persons emergency is another's non issue.

He was about to do a hit and run surely? If he'd clipped and damaged your car and not stopped that's a hit and run. You have zero proof either once he gas gone. No one gives out cctv for a prang.

If I'm in two minds now I don't call the police after the horse incident because I doubt myself.

What is the relevance of that? People can be and regularly are charged for careless driving etc when their negligent driving causes an accident. They are also liable for damages for injuries caused.

Someone drove over the back of my foot in very similar circumstances and the police definitely felt it was of interest. I believe they charged him. Of course you don’t brush off someone driving over YOUR CHILD! What on earth are you all thinking? He refused to give his details so 999 sounds reasonable to me. Take photos of the foot now and next time (Hopefully there isn’t a next time ever) photos of the scene and man. I’d pop her to the minor injuries for an X-ray mine damaged my already scarred Achilles and hurt for absolutely ages.