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Original poster

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

589 replies

hottubwhocares · 26/04/2025 17:12

We were out today at a family event. We were parked up in the car park of the venue and were getting in our cars to travel home. There was a man parked next to us in the (relatively narrow) bays, window down, chatting to his girlfriend. He was there when we came out and approached our car.

DD age 8 was getting into the back passenger side of our car, so on the same side as his car. I was on the other/driver’s side. As I was getting in, I heard DD start to scream. Basically the man next to us had started to move his car forward and his back wheel had run over the back of her ankle/foot.

I immediately ran round the back of the car, picked her up, helped her into the back seat and took her shoe and sock off to have a look. The top layer of skin had come off and it looked bruised so I went round to his car, said sorry, I think you have hurt her so I am going to need your details.

He and his girlfriend then said ‘Why? I haven’t done anything wrong’. I asked if he was refusing and he said he ‘didn’t even know what happened’ and started mouthing off.

So, I called 999 and of course the second he heard I was on the phone to the police, he started offering his details.

Two police cars then attended. DH is furious with me and says I completely overreacted as DD’s injury was minor (scrapes and bruises) and I ‘see the worst in everyone’. I am very upset about his lack of support when our child was hurt and upset.

FWIW I would never move my own car when a child was down the side and if I had ever done anything like this I certainly wouldn’t be mouthing off at the parent of the injured child!

So, was it an overreaction to call the police?

OP posts:
RinkyDinkDrink · 27/04/2025 07:07

Rumpoleoftheballet · 27/04/2025 07:02

Why was it only your DH’s responsibility and not yours to get your daughter safely into your car? Also it’s highly possible that the driver didn’t realise what he’d done and may have just thought it was a bump in the ground, if indeed he felt anything at all. I hope your daughter is ok but I think you have to take some responsibility too. If the police were able to give you the cctv recording then they would also have given you an update on the matter.

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Oh! There’s another one! Haha!

RinkyDinkDrink · 27/04/2025 07:06

ReplacementBusService · 27/04/2025 06:39

This thread is winning the current batshit insanity award. It's like: "You were lucky. Five people in a row ran over my foot and both of my kids, then hurled abuse at us but you didn't catch me calling 999 like a time wasting namby pamby"

I'd have called 999. It's for a situation which is happening immediately. I hope your daughter is ok, OP.

You missed the callous guilt-trippers seeing somebody who’s had something distressing happen and thinking ‘I know! I’ll make them feel shitter!’

wombat1a · 27/04/2025 07:05

I would say not an emergency, however if you say a child had been runover by a car then automatically I can see the dispatcher grading it as an emergency to get someone there to get it downgraded. No dispatcher is going with non-emergency because if they did grade it as that and it then turned out to be v serious then they would be accountable.

To teach him a lesson I would get DD into physio and bill it to his insurance company so he losses his no-claims at the very least.

Rumpoleoftheballet · 27/04/2025 07:02

hottubwhocares · 26/04/2025 18:29

DD had actually got out of DH’s car (the other side of the man’s car) and was coming to get in mine.

There is no way this would have happened had I been in charge from the off as I would have made sure she was in the car before I started to get in. As it was, I was on the wrong side when it happened

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Why was it only your DH’s responsibility and not yours to get your daughter safely into your car? Also it’s highly possible that the driver didn’t realise what he’d done and may have just thought it was a bump in the ground, if indeed he felt anything at all. I hope your daughter is ok but I think you have to take some responsibility too. If the police were able to give you the cctv recording then they would also have given you an update on the matter.

Chiseltip · 27/04/2025 06:52

birdling · 26/04/2025 17:23

He ran over someone. If she hadn't screamed, would he have continued obliviously? Possibly.
I don't think you over reacted under the circumstances of him refusing to give his details.
If his attitude had been different, that would have been another matter.

So, you'd call 999 because you don't like someone's attitude. .

Chiseltip · 27/04/2025 06:50

Wowzel · 26/04/2025 17:18

No, because he had no intention of providing his details

Different if he'd apologised, shown any remorse...

Still not an emergency.

cluez · 27/04/2025 06:49

BoldRed · 27/04/2025 00:57

Insane that so many posters are insisting ‘her foot wasn’t run over’ despite not being there. I once ran right over my sister’s foot (by accident obviously!) and while it hurt and she was bruised, her foot wasn’t flattened or severed! The kids, who were in the car at the time, often reminisce about the time mum ran over Aunty X’s foot.

How do you run over the ‘back of a foot’ - please explain?

It would have broken her ankle.

He has grazed the back of her heel with his tyre. He’s an idiot and OP has the right to be upset. She should not have called 999, but reported it when she was home. She already had his number plate.

FishersGate · 27/04/2025 06:49

101 not 999. I deal with this all the time. You don't call 999 for the driver not giving details. Take a picture report online or front office. You didn't call 999 for the emergency of the injury

SunshineGem · 27/04/2025 06:43

Bloody hell, no wonder police resources are on their knees!

ReplacementBusService · 27/04/2025 06:39

This thread is winning the current batshit insanity award. It's like: "You were lucky. Five people in a row ran over my foot and both of my kids, then hurled abuse at us but you didn't catch me calling 999 like a time wasting namby pamby"

I'd have called 999. It's for a situation which is happening immediately. I hope your daughter is ok, OP.

Bogeyes · 27/04/2025 06:31

Calling police was the right thing to do

RinkyDinkDrink · 27/04/2025 06:18

BetterWithPockets · 26/04/2025 20:58

Well, hurrah for you!

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Er, thanks.

4kids3pets · 27/04/2025 06:09

Personally if the cars were close not sure why an adult wasn't next to her helping and double checking safety, second for a foot to be run over she couldn't have been getting into the car as wrong way around, plus if car door was open he would have hit door first surely and if door wasn't open then he would have hit more than a foot...I dunno way over reacting and not what I would have done tbh

cookingthebooks · 27/04/2025 05:47

hottubwhocares · 26/04/2025 17:24

Because the law says that if you cause injury in a car accident then the police should be called? As opposed to a collision with no injuries which is a civil matter

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I worked in insurance sorting out RTA issue for years so I’m probably more up to speed on these issues than the average person. When it says ‘police should be notified’ it doesn’t mean ring 999, the non emergency line once you get home is fine. All you need in future is the licence place number, just snap a pic of it and all their details can be retrieved via the online systems. You don’t need someone to give you their details as all details are held online and insurance companies have access.

999 is for life at risk and VERY serious incidents only. Imagine another person hiding from an armed intruder in their home scared for their life having to listen to hold music because your 8 year old has a scraped foot and you rang 999! Jeez

BoldRed · 27/04/2025 00:57

Insane that so many posters are insisting ‘her foot wasn’t run over’ despite not being there. I once ran right over my sister’s foot (by accident obviously!) and while it hurt and she was bruised, her foot wasn’t flattened or severed! The kids, who were in the car at the time, often reminisce about the time mum ran over Aunty X’s foot.

Eggtoastie · 27/04/2025 00:56

Well can't the police decide that? I'm sure if they get a 999 call they still rank them in order of priority. 101 might get back to you in a day or two. This wouldn't have been appropriate in this situation if he was actually leaving the scene of an accident

DiaryofaProvincialLady · 27/04/2025 00:46

Leafy3 · 26/04/2025 17:52

It was, and the police themselves said so.

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Wrong. The despatcher told OP it was a "police matter" NOT that it was a 999 matter. A subtle but very important distinction which 99% of posters on here are not getting.

The despatcher made this statement because OP told the despatcher her child had been "run over". This was also wrong - the child had been grazed by a car wheel passing her heel.

It was a 101 "police matter" NOT a 999 "police matter".

Crazyworldmum · 27/04/2025 00:45

Any incident that has a injury should have police attend , so you did what you should . Plus a car going over her foot is massive , I wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up tomorrow with a massive bruise and was broken or seriously hurt . Plus he was at driving with correct caution so police could and should speak with him

sandyhappypeople · 27/04/2025 00:38

Newmumhere40 · 26/04/2025 22:54

Of course she did! He injured the child. Clearly the idiot can't judge space when driving his vehicle!

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In fairness, if it was his back wheel that hit her foot/ankle, it could be that she stepped back from her door as she opened it (about to get in) at the very moment he started to move, and she had inadvertently stepped back too far, so really was an accident, BUT he must have seen her moments before as she had just walked in front of his car and come down the side of it, so he should have just bloody waited or at least looked in his mirrors before pulling out.

I think the police was the right call with him refusing to give his details, if this was an 'after the fact' incident it would never be followed up, as he could just say he wasn't the one driving, or if he'd had a few to drink it would be out of his system, or if the car had no mot/insurance etc, or address details out of date (which OP said they were, which is an offence of it's own), I can't imagine the police wasting one second of their time tracking someone down or trying to prove anything, when there was no significant injury, it just wouldn't be worth their time.

FunMustard · 27/04/2025 00:08

The man ran over a child's foot and was going to leave the scene, which is illegal. I am completely baffled by those of you sniping at OP for using 999. I think most people whose child had been run over would have done that if I'm honest. I know I did (although for an ambulance) when my son was hit by a car, although the man didn't drive off.

The police are also allowed to say no, not a police matter, as they didn't, I'd say good for you OP.

ReadingSoManyThreads · 27/04/2025 00:01

@hottubwhocares you absolutely did the right thing here. I cannot believe people are saying this wasn't a 999 matter! It absolutely was, a crime was in progress which absolutely warrants 999. I sometimes wonder if those saying call the non-emergency line have ever had to call it before. I had to call it once and I was on hold for one hour waiting to get through.

You did the right thing, and was not an over-reaction. Very disappointing that your DH doesn't think his own child getting run over and injured by a car, whose driver then refuses to give his details, isn't a police matter. Hopefully he doesn't actually have a driving license, if he does, he needs to re-read the Highway Code.

Charel2girl5 · 27/04/2025 00:00

I have just skimmed through a lot of reactions here, some are mind bogging! Firstly my DH would have kicked off massively (usually an absolute laid back guy). Secondly, police without a shadow of a doubt, at least you have evidence if you want to peruse through civil court. Wishing you well. X

RinkyDinkDrink · 26/04/2025 23:48

Peaceandquietandacuppa · 26/04/2025 23:21

Looks like loads of people are in the “don’t make a fuss” brigade.

You did the right thing OP! If he wasn’t aggressive then it might have been different, but he was likely to drive off. The police would have told you off for calling if it was a waste of time, but it wasn’t.

I’d be fuming with DH that his fear of upsetting a stranger takes precedent over his own DD?!

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No they’re just mean, I’m sure they’re top-level fussmakers in real life!

RinkyDinkDrink · 26/04/2025 23:47

StarDolphins · 26/04/2025 22:05

This all sounds very dramatic and I think you overreacted. Yes she has scuffs/bruises but he’s not run over her foot. You sound quite neurotic and it will
pass down to your DD.

Let’s hope being mean to strangers who’ve been through something traumatic doesn’t pass down.

Cornishclio · 26/04/2025 23:36

You did not over react and if the man was refusing to give details then it was definitely a police matter. Your husband should have seen your DD over to your car though. The man could have driven forward just as she was crossing in front of his car. Car parks and young children need constant supervision.