Does this count as leaving the scene of an accident?

[HarryPottersScar]

DD was in Tesco car park. Man reversed his car the wrong way down a one-way bit of it and has scraped her car. She was stationery. She has dashcam footage. He refused to give insurance details because he said it was her fault and he drove off. She has witnesses too.

Does it count as leaving the scene of an accident?

It's different because it was on private land so is therefore a civil matter (I think).

I bet he wouldn't have driven off if it was a man driving.

I'd still maybe report to police with his vehicle details.

Yes. If the carpark had road markings.

Report it to the police and ask them for a crime number. Tell them you have video.

Also tell your insurance company, for the civil proceedings part (compensation).

Yes this, she also needs to report the incident to Tesco for completeness.

Yes, it counts as leaving the scene without passing on insurance details.

“If, as a driver, your vehicle is involved in a road-traffic accident/collision on a road or public place and one or more of the following occurs:

• a person, other than yourself, is injured,
• damage is caused to another vehicle or to someone else's property - including street lamps, signs, bollards etc.
• an animal, other than one in your own vehicle/trailer, has been killed or injured (animal means any horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog).

YOU MUST:

• stop (whether it's your fault or not), AND
• give your name and address, the vehicle owner's name and address and your vehicle's registration number to anyone with reasonable grounds for asking for those details.

If you don't give your name and address, you must report the accident at a police station or to a police constable as soon as you can, and in any case within 24 hours (this does not mean you have 24 hours in which to report the accident). If you fail to stop, fail to give your and the owner's name and address or the vehicle's details or fail to report the accident, you commit an offence/s.

Some car parks can be classed as public places e.g. supermarket car parks”

He has committed an offence

"A supermarket car park isn't public land. It is private land owned by the supermarket. But the public have access to the car park so it is a public place."

Doesn't matter if it's Tesco or the M25, the man still drove off after being involved in an accident.

Your dd needs to inform the police, provide the video footage if required. The police will pay him a visit and should then provide your dd with an incident number and the man's insurance details. She then needs to provide all this info to her insurance company and log it, even if she doesn't want to claim for any damage.

The police will not pay him a visit. (They're supposed to, but they definitely won't unless there are other factors)

If your insurance have the details they will look it up on the database and contact him/his insurance.

The police will give you an incident number to pass on to your insurance and will wash their hands of you.

Your insurance will double and it will cost much more than repairing any damage caused.

It is enormously frustrating.

@WoodBurningStov I think you're being very optimistic to say the police will give him a visit!

Yes, it's an offence to drive off and not report the accident but it will probably just go through insurance and be dealt with that way. The police won't care if nobody was hurt.

I had someone back into me whilst I was parked (I was in the car) and he refused to give me details and drove off. The police went to his house, gave him a telling off and provided me with his insurance details

I'd say that was the exception rather than the rule @WoodBurningStov.

@WoodBurningStov

I had someone back into me whilst I was parked (I was in the car) and he refused to give me details and drove off. The police went to his house, gave him a telling off and provided me with his insurance details

All you need is to pass the registration number to your insurance company. The he police are not there to sort out admin details and if someone had left the scene with no injured or repercussions they wouldn't ordinarily waste their time going to 'tell people off'

And yet all the motoring sites, and police inform you that if someone leaves the scene of an accident without exchanging details you should inform your local police.

Yes, to be fair you are supposed to tell the police but I'm genuinely shocked they went to someone's house to "tell them off".

Do they really have nothing better to do?!

And yet all the motoring sites, and police inform you that if someone leaves the scene of an accident without exchanging details you should inform your local police.

Right, but common sense must apply, surely?

A minor dint scraping a parked car? Do not waste their time

A massive collision where people are injured? Contact the police

Well it depends how much time the local police have. They're not always 100% occupied with murders and drug dealing. Plus it depends what comes up when they put the reg number into their computer. This guy could have form for this, be uninsured/no MOT/untaxed. Or be wanted for other offences.

The DD has dashcam footage, ie evidence. Our local police force is currently running a campaign asking for members of the public to send in dashcam footage of people committing driving offences.

I would report the incident via the non emergency number (yes, call 101 or whatever it is ), stating I have dashcam footage (make sure this is backed up so it's not lost) and also report it to my insurance company so they can liaise with the other driver's insurance company (assuming he has one) to get her car repaired. You can also put the registration number into the DVLA website yourself to see if he has insurance, tax and MOT.

If he was moving and she was stationery, it's his fault, even if she was stopped somewhere she shouldn't have. What if a pedestrian was standing there, not a parked car?

@Stylishcooncil in fairness, that's not what the law says. If there was any damage or injury and you didn't swap details at the time, you're supposed to contact the police and report it.

The last thing you want to do is get done for failing to report an accident.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

@Stylishcooncil i mean, you can do what you like but the law is pretty clear.

If you don't report it and someone ends up claiming against your insurance, you could be in a whole heap of trouble 🤷‍♀️

Nobody is getting into a whole heap of trouble for not reporting someone who dinged their parked car and drove away.

I would contact the insurance company in the first instance. I suspect that the driver in question may not be insured given that he was in a hurry to get away. In which case the police will get involved.

@Stylishcooncil like I said,you do you but the law is pretty clear and people can (and do) get in trouble for not reporting.

You must report the collision to the police if you were unable to exchange details at the scene, if anyone was injured, or if you suspect that the other person may have committed a driving offence.

www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/collisions/