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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Think I might've done a hit & run I'm scared!!

135 replies

helloitsme12345 · 29/01/2016 09:37

I'm a new driver and haven't been insured for long. I was driving past a car in a tight space in 2nd gear and all of a sudden i heard a sound to which I didn't pay much attention and I drove off. I looked back and the car had stopped, as I was in a hurry as I was doing school run I drove off and I later realised my wing mirror had been hit and it had been damaged. After I had dropped the kids to school which took about 5 mins maybe less I went back to that road hoping to see the car but it had gone. I'm quite worried the person might've taken my reg number and might make a claim! I've only been insured for less than a month so I'm quite worried. I really don't know what I should do, any tips?

OP posts:
NerrSnerr · 29/01/2016 11:10

Adele you are giving the OP shocking advice. It is against the law to drive away from an accident and not report. The penalty for failing to report an accident is 5-10 points (or worse if a serious accident). The OP cannot ignore this, she won't be punished if she does report it to the police but if the other driver got her registration number and she doesn't inform the police she could be in trouble.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 29/01/2016 11:11

The thing with a banged mirror is, if you stop, the other driver is normally going to be OK about it - at least, that's my experience. I was squeezed over by a big 4 x 4 when I first started driving (yes, we both should have stopped, assessed the situation then one of us should have passed the other but I was inexperienced and she was a cah) and I clipped a mirror of a parked car on my passenger side.

I pulled up as soon as I could and ran back to the parked car - they'd seen the whole thing because they were laying flowers on a grave across the road, true story) There was actually no damage to their mirror (my glass was on the road) and the people were just happy I'd stopped.

But if I hadn't stopped they could have easily reported me and I would have had points - and given I was a new driver, that's a nightmare.

So the moral of the story is always stop.

As to what you do now - I would report as failing to report an accident is an offence. But I wouldn't necessarily get the insurers involved - there may be no damage to the other car at all, or it may be a £20 job.

Adeleslostbeehive · 29/01/2016 11:12

Since when do you have to? I don't understand why anyone thinks that. It's always been perfectly acceptable to pay for your own accidents, most obvious example being when the excess is more than the repairs would be.

Telling them if you don't need them to pay out does nothing but increase your premium next time

Adeleslostbeehive · 29/01/2016 11:14

The banging wing mirrors has happened to me twice this MONTH (in taxis) MN at its dramatic best.

WildeWoman · 29/01/2016 11:14

Go to your nearest police station and self-report.

trufflehunterthebadger · 29/01/2016 11:15

don't worry Op, all you need to do is attend the police station within 24 hours to report the accident and you will have complied with the requirements of the Road Traffic Act. phone 101 to get the incident recorded and a CAD number and they should be able to give you the hours of your local station. you can report at any police station in the country.

and more importantly Don't Worry. as long as you do report to police you won't have committed an offence.

(police 999/101 call handler and deal with this request every day !)

WildeWoman · 29/01/2016 11:17

NerrSnerr's advice is the correct advice here:

"The OP cannot ignore this, she won't be punished if she does report it to the police but if the other driver got her registration number and she doesn't inform the police she could be in trouble."

hmcAsWas · 29/01/2016 11:17

Automatic Magistrates Court and 6 points for failing to report an accident

Vazder · 29/01/2016 11:17

If I clashed wing mirrors I wouldn't bother doing anything. HTH.

Jules125 · 29/01/2016 11:18

Adeleslostbeehive

It is in the small print of your insurance policy that you have to inform them about any accident. Have a read through your policy booklet and you will find this clause. You do not have to make a claim for your damage, but you do have to tell them.

If you do not tell them (and they find out) your insurance will be invalidated (should you need it perhaps for a bigger claim or a claim against you) and probably also cancelled. You will then be put on an insurance database of people who have had insurance cancelled - which will mean you struggle to get insurance or pay an awful lot for it. And you have to declare this forever!

Sorry, but I think you are giving bad advice. You might be right that people do this (and often get away with it) but there is a substantial risk if they are found out. I am a risk taker but I would not take this risk!

hmcAsWas · 29/01/2016 11:20

I know someone who got 'done' for this incidentally

Namechangergeneral · 29/01/2016 11:23

Some people here are so hardline.

OP, it's happened, it's not ideal, sit down, calm down, think who you need to call.

Learn next time.

Spudlet · 29/01/2016 11:29

Would people really go to the lengths of going to the police over a wing mirror?! I lost one a couple of years ago, both cars moving, dark, narrow country road, occupational hazard of living where I do. The other car kept going (I stopped as it was one hell of a bang!). Would never have occurred to me to report it, even if I had got the other cars details.

NerrSnerr · 29/01/2016 11:31

I think it depends on the damage. If someone wants to go through their insurance and the other person didn't stop they'd have to report it to the police.

Papergirl1968 · 29/01/2016 11:35

People are being a lot harder on this lady than the one in the similar thread about someone hitting a wing mirror and driving off called I Am Shaking With Worry - Did Something Soooo Stupid. Just wondering why some of you are being so harsh. She's a new driver for goodness sake.
Op, don't worry, just pick up the phone and report to police to cover yourself, or knock on a few doors if you can remember what sort of car it was and think the owner lived in that street. Don't beat yourself up. We've all clipped other people's wing mirrors and sometimes it makes a huge clatter but doesn't do any damage. If it has caused damage and you trace the driver, pay for it without going through insurance. It wouldn't be a huge amount. And I really don't think the police would do you for leaving the scene of an accident in these circumstances...

likeaboss · 29/01/2016 11:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

INeedNewShoes · 29/01/2016 11:38

The other thread was two years ago. I think Mumsnet has evolved since then...

hmcAsWas · 29/01/2016 11:39

Yes Spudlet I would - because I know someone who got 6 points and fine for not reporting! You have to cover your back

Papergirl1968 · 29/01/2016 11:43

Yep, sorry, just realised the old one is an old message op had commented on and then started a new thread.

BoffinMum · 29/01/2016 11:45

I think the insurance industry would absolutely keel over if we reported every minute knock and scrape. I don't think that is the intention of their terms and conditions at all.

I was touching up the paintwork on my 6-year-old car yesterday and noticed 10 separate paint issues with chips from the road, tiny areas where people had knocked the car doors with theirs, and one place where someone had obviously scraped past the bush on our drive and scratched the paintwork. These are all accidents, and none of them are worth reporting, nor would I expect to. I also did not report the wing mirror incident as that was easily rectified and I would only have been £20 out of pocket.

You have obviously got to use some discretion otherwise you would spend your life on the phone TBH.

Adeleslostbeehive · 29/01/2016 11:45

People wouldn't do it IRl no. They just like being keyboard warriors

CheesyWeez · 29/01/2016 11:45

I've clipped a parked car before and broken my passenger wing mirror. I heard the noise but it didn't register and I took my carpool kids home. Then I noticed, and on the way back I stopped and looked. The other car had no damage.

You can buy stick-on mirrors that you stick on top of your broken mirror (if it's just the glass that is broken. )

BoffinMum · 29/01/2016 11:46

TBH this thread says a lot about the poor design of wing mirrors.

hmcAsWas · 29/01/2016 11:51

OMFG Adele!!! I WOULD report it because almost exactly this scenario happened to a friend (not wing mirror, clipped edge of bumper). Clearly she her registration number had been taken by a someone because she ended up going to court over it and getting 6 points and a fine.

I really want the OP to report it - to avoid any potential come back on herself

TitClash · 29/01/2016 11:52

Well now you've changed your story.

Go and report it straight away, and say what happened.

It will be a lot worse if they have to come after you.

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