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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to have taken this persons numberplate?

38 replies

SouthernComforts · 03/04/2014 14:22

Earlier I saw a car pulling out of a side street and scrape a parked car really badly - it took the car a few attempts to get away from the parked car so more scraping - and drive off.

I took the numberplate and left it with the shop opposite and my phone number. The shop wrote a note and put it on the car.

The owner of the car just rang to thank me and has reported it to the police and insurance.

Wibu? Was it none of my business? It was obviously not malicious so I hope the other driver doesn't get in too much trouble but I think they should have stopped and left contact details!

OP posts:

HappyAgainOneDay · 03/04/2014 14:48

I did this once. A mini was parked outside a shop in a row and I was waiting for my husband to pick me up after work. A van drove up and clipped the mini as it sharply curved in to park in front of it. The van's number plate was easy to remember because it was a main road name (A40 ...). Three men in the car were laughing away at it. I made a note and took it to the shop for the woman whom I'd seen get out of the mini.

The van driver was taken to court and I attended as a witness. He could see where it was going so pleaded guilty and I didn't have to speak (thank goodness). I couldn't stand the way the men just laughed at what they'd done. Yes, a white van and it was more than 20 years ago

Well done, OP. We need more like you.

hmc · 03/04/2014 14:52

Spot on OP - well done

SunshineCloud · 03/04/2014 14:53

You did an absolutely right thing. I have been in the similar situation twice myself, my car got scratched badly , just outside our house, that time the other driver left a note, so no problem. The other time, we were at Heathrow old T2 car park, came back to our car to find the front bumper ripped off completely. No CCTV footage, as they switched it off, in preparation for demolition.Cost us a fair bit of money to repair. So no YANBU! Well done!

morethanpotatoprints · 03/04/2014 14:55

You really did do the right thing, well done for getting involved.
Nobody knows who the owner was and this could have a huge impact on their life. what a lovely thing to do for somebody.

GinSoakedMisery · 03/04/2014 14:57

You did the right thing. I'd have thanked you if it was my car.

Original poster

SouthernComforts · 03/04/2014 14:58

This isn't a 'come and look at the wonderful thing I did and praise me' aibu

Where I grew up, you kept your head down and your mouth shut if you didn't want trouble, so I guess it's still a bit ingrained. One persons good deed is another persons grass!

Glad to know I'm being daft and the girl on the phone was grateful so no harm done.

OP posts:

MeridianB · 03/04/2014 15:04

Southern, you absolutely did the right thing.

This happened to my car just a week ago. Whoever did the damage would certainly have felt and heard it as they practically took off the corner of my car. The cost of repairs is bad enough but the hassle - taking time off to drop the car at garage and collect it - and the inconvenience of being without it - was a pain, too. It made me feel sick to think they had just driven off.

Original poster

SouthernComforts · 03/04/2014 15:07

They definitely knew, they got stuck on the parked car and had to maneuver off it!! I heard the crunch from across the street.

OP posts:

Original poster

SouthernComforts · 03/04/2014 15:08

No idea how to spell maneuver?! Spell check thinks that is right.

OP posts:

specialsubject · 03/04/2014 15:09

totally the right thing. The driver hopefully has insurance, if they don't there's even more reason to find them.

no-one who is competent to drive could not notice this.

sole - happy to be burgled and not complain?

ConfusedPixie · 03/04/2014 15:11

YANBU. I did it before Christmas. One of the council dustbin trucks hit a parked car and then thundered off down the road. This was at around 6:30am so nobody else about. My landlord and I both saw it, both reported it to the police and then left a note on the car to tell them which house to find us both at.

The guy was really thankful as he had to drive to Wales the next day (from Brighton) and his car was really badly damaged. Without witnesses his insurance company wouldn't have provided him a courtesy car so quickly.

LottieJenkins · 03/04/2014 15:13

There was a FB thing recently where a woman was trying to trace a guy who left a car reg number under her windscreen wiper after he saw a car hit hers.
She couldn't go through the insurance claim without him to be a witness.

ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie · 03/04/2014 16:25

Of course you did the right thing.

I recently posted that a lorry from a well-known department store reversed into my house while I was out and demolished the roof of our porch. Luckily it was witnessed.

The well-known department store has now paid for the damage and I reported the driver to the police for failure to report the incident which the driver apparently "didn't notice" . Do I feel bad about it? No, not at all. Nobody was hurt, it was just a matter of paying some money to get it repaired through insurance, and it would have been easy to simply put a note through the letter box explaining what had happened. The person who should feel bad is the one who drives off leaving someone totally innocent with a hefty bill.

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